The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) confirmed on April 8 that two Chinese citizens working at a gold mine in southwestern Nigeria were kidnapped on April 5.

The U.S. 7th Fleet announced on April 6 that the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group had entered the South China Sea on April 4, to conduct “routine operations.”

Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a 90-minute over the phone with his Japanese counterpart, Toshimitsu Motegi on April 5, during which Motegi raised Tokyo’s concerns over: China’s treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang; Beijing’s electoral crackdown in Hong Kong; and recent incursions of Chinese vessels near the disputed, Japanese-administered Senkaku/Diaoyu islands.

An article in the Washington Post (April 7) claimed that Phytium, a Chinese company with close links to the PLA, manufactures microprocessors produced at factories outside Taipei by the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), which now makes the world’s most advanced chips, having surpassed the United States.

The US Commerce Department placed seven top Chinese supercomputing centres/companies on its Entities List, saying that Beijing’s growing efforts in the field could have military uses that pose dangers.

A report on a Chinese portal on April 7, acknowledged that "Pakistan and China cooperate very closely working in the military industry. They have introduced warships from China many times before, such as the F22 frigate, and the 054A frigate is the latest frigate of the Chinese Navy."

TikTok owner ByteDance Ltd. told Caixin (April 7) that an Indian court’s decision will “unblock” its money in the country as it awaits the outcome of a tax evasion probe following its argument that such a freeze was hurting its ability to operate locally.

The Global Times (April 6) reacted to an editorial in the Times of India (ToI) captioned "Taiwan message: New Delhi-Taipei cooperation is both mutually beneficial and a pointed signal to China", calling it "a senseless step to test China's bottom line on the Taiwan question".

Bloomberg reported (April 9) that Shenzhen-based Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd.’s Kwok Ying Shing has become one of the most active Chinese tycoons in Hong Kong with numerous new purchases.

China's Central Discipline Inspection Commission (CDIC) disclosed on April 2 that a series of corruption cases involving the top brass at financial institutions in Anhui province underscores the poor oversight of its rural credit system.

China Cosco Shipping Corp. Ltd., the world’s No. 3 shipper by capacity, said it expects to book a stunning jump in profits for the first quarter this year, buoyed by a continued rebound in the ocean freight market as the world economy emerges from the worst of a downturn caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s (MCT) estimated that there was a 144.6% year on year increase in the number of people who travelled over the Qingming holiday, representing a 94.5% resumption of pre-pandemic travel levels.

China's State Council Information Office issued a White Paper titled "Poverty Alleviation: China's Experience and Contribution" on April 5.

China has launched a digital yuan—the first for a major currency. The technology is currently only in trial stage among around 100,000 citizens, but it is envisaged as eventually replacing cash and debit cards, allowing the government to effectively monitor all domestic transactions.

People's Daily (April 8) published an article by Liu Kun, China's Minister of Finance, captioned 'Strive to achieve high-quality financial development (in-depth study and implementation of Xi Jinping’s thoughts on socialism with Chinese characteristics in a new era) ——In-depth study of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important expositions on improving political judgment, political comprehension, and political execution.

Quoting China's Ministry of Education, Xinhua (April 8) said China plans to recruit 84,330 college graduates as teachers in rural primary and middle schools in 2021 as part of efforts to promote rural vitalization.

The People's Daily (April 9) disclosed that Ningbo in Zhejiang province is building a 20 billion yuan ($3.05 bln) rocket launch site to meet surging demand for satellite launching and develop the industrial cluster of the commercial aerospace sector.

The test flight for its newly developed airborne swarm carrier, which is an unmanned aerial mother ship that can carry multiple smaller drones and release them in the air for missions like reconnaissance and attack, was conducted by the company which developed it namely Zhongtian Feilong.

Beijing Youth Daily (April 6) reported that Lt General Wang Haijiang, till recently Commander of the Tibet Military Region, has been transferred and taken over his new assignment in Xinjiang.

The CCP theoretical fortnightly Qiu Shi (Seeking Truth) published (April 6) an article on learning Party History where it summarised 'General Secretary Xi Jinping's 9 requirements for learning party history'.

On April 5, the CCP Central Committee and the State Council jointly released Opinions on “Strengthening the construction of socialist legal culture.”

The authorities have ordered Chinese movie theatres to promote at least two screenings of propaganda films each week until the end of the year, in anticipation of the upcoming 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Chinese Communist Party on July 1.

The 'National Cooperation between the East and the West and the Work Promotion Meeting of the Central Units for Fixed-point Assistance' was held in Yinchuan, Ningxia on April 8.

An article in the Epoch Times (April 4) stated that since the CCP came to power, its military academy has trained six presidents, eight defense ministers, more than 100 commanders, and a large number of military personnel for Africa.

Argentina's LaNacion (March 23) reported that over the past decade, China has financed and built a major railroad and solar, wind and nuclear energy projects and has swapped $19 billion in currency to help Buenos Aires through a major financial crisis.

Nikkei Asia reported (April 2) that Refinitiv Oil Research estimated this month's arrivals at 3.75 million ton (27 million barrels), topping the previous record in January of 3.37 million ton.

The People's Daily (April 4) publicised that congratulatory messages had been received from foreign governments on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China.

Cha Daojiong, a Double-appointed professor at Peking University School of International Relations and School of South-South Cooperation and Development, in an article published by The Paper (March 30) captioned 'How do China and the United States manage their differences?' said it is difficult for the two countries to manage their differences but suggested steps for the next four years.

U.S. Ambassador to Palau, John Hennesey-Niland became the first sitting envoy to travel to Taiwan in an official capacity since Washington cut formal ties with Taipei in favour of Beijing in 1979.

Reacting to growing international criticism of human rights violations of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region by the Chinese authorities, China has launched a major PR offensive, comprising Rap songs, photo exhibitions and the musical -- “The Wings of Songs” -- targetted at the United States and Europe.

The Joint Staff Office of the Japanese Defense Ministry said (April 4) that the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning and five escort vessels passed through a key waterway off Japan on their way to the Pacific Ocean.

South China Morning Post (April 3) disclosed that in 2019, a China-backed consortium – SMB-Winning – won a US$15 billion contract to develop blocks 1 and 2 of the high-grade iron ore reserves in the Simandou mountains, a 110km (68-mile) range deep in the interior of southeastern Guinea.

Voice of America (April 2) citing China's official media said Alibaba has recently established a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) committee at its headquarters in Beijing.

The People's Daily (April 3) reported that a press conference was held on April 2, under the aegis of the State Council Information Office where Liang Yan, Deputy Director of the State Bureau of Grain and Material Reserves, Qian Yi, Director of the Planning and Construction Department and spokesperson, and Qin Yuyun, Director of the Food Reserves briefed reporters on the grain and material reserves during the Five-Year Plan period.

Li Bo, Vice Mayor of Chongqing Municipality has stepped down from his post on March 31, to accept the appointment as a Deputy Governor of the People's Bank of China (PBoC), although the central bank has yet to make an official announcement.

Xu Zhen, former chairman and Communist Party secretary of the Shanghai Clearing House (SCH) has been charged with corruption and bribery.

The Central Discipline Inspection Commission (CDIC) announced on April 4, that 65-year old Yin Jiaxu, who was Communist Party chief and Chairman of China North Industries Group Corporation (Norinco) -- one of China’s largest weapons manufacturers -- until his retirement in 2018, is being investigated for “serious violations of discipline and the law”.

Writing in "International Outlook" (Issue 2, 2020) Yu Xintian of the Shanghai Institute of International Studies, said China's diplomacy must explore ways to respond to new types of major powers, abandon the thinking and strategies of traditional major powers; re-recognize the importance of regions, and integrate them more deeply and comprehensively; and guard against traditional ideological disputes.

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on April 4, urged the United States to truly respect China's core interests and take a correct view of China's development.

Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying has drawn derision for using a fake photograph of “Black slaves” to accuse the United States of hypocrisy over alleged forced labour in Xinjiang, according to the Apple Daily (April 3).

China's State Council Information Office (SCIO) will release a white paper titled "Poverty Alleviation: China's Experience and Contribution" on April 6, and hold a press conference the same day at 10 a.m.

China Daily (April 4) front-paged a report on the Qingming (Ching Ming) Festival, also known as Tomb Sweeping Day, when Chinese people honour nature and their ancestors, that this year was on April 4.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a press conference in Beijing on March 30, that the foreign ministers of Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines had been invited to visit China from March 31 to April 2.

The Global Times (March 30) publicised that on March 26 and 29, PLAAF aircraft surrounded the island of Taiwan from both west and east in two exercises.

The Global Times (March 24) reported, based on Indian media messages, that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi not long ago sent a mail to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan.

On March 30, China’s government endorsed changes to Hong Kong’s legislature that reduce the proportion of directly elected representatives from 35 of 70 seats to just 20 of 90 seats.

The South China Morning Post (April 1) reported that a survey released on April 1, by the American Chamber of Commerce (Amcham) showed that more than a third of multinational firms in Shanghai are considering moving all or part of their operation out of China or to another Chinese city when tax exemptions on allowances for foreign employees expire next year.

Chengdu is speeding up the construction of a new international airport that will make the southwestern Chinese city the third in the country with two international airports, following Beijing and Shanghai.

On March 20, China's Ministry of Civil Affairs and 22 other departments jointly issued the "Notice on Eliminating the Breeding Soil of Illegal Social Organizations and Purifying the Ecological Space of Social Organizations".

According to the New York Times (March 29), a 19-year old girls involvement in a sex scandal involving senior Chinese officials has attracted nationwide notice.

After Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted a ceremony to celebrate the end of a three-year campaign to take on organized crime, Politburo member and Secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission Guo Shengkun, announced in Beijing on March 29 that he would head a central small leading group to spearhead the battle against organised crime.

Writing in the Apple Daily (March 10), US-based Chinese dissident Wang Dan said that Chinese President Xi Jinping is carrying out a “de-Deng (Xiaoping)ization” to elevate himself among Chinese leaders and place himself next to Mao.

Qiu Shi (Seeking Truth) in its 7th issue of 2021 released on March 31, published an article by the CCP CC Organisation Department titled: Do a good job in the study and education of party history for party members and cadres.

The Qiushi Journal, 7th issue of 2021, for the first time, published the full text of the speech by President Xi Jinping at the Mobilization Conference of Party History Study and Education on February 20, 2021.

The CCP CC Politburo met on March 30 to review the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting High-quality Development in the Central Region in the New Era".

One of 15 countries that maintain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, Paraguay’s foreign ministry was cited by Diplomat (March 27) as saying it had been approached earlier this week by brokers claiming to offer batches of Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccine in exchange for Paraguay cutting its diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

Taiwan’s Defense Minister and Deputy Director of Taiwan’s main defense research institute was quoted by Diplomat (March 26) as telling reporters this week that Taiwan had begun mass producing a new long-range ground-launched missile to bolster its defenses against mainland China.

Laos has appointed 64-year old Khemmani Pholsena, a former schoolmate of Chinese President Xi Jinping to serve as a top aide to the Southeast Asian nation's new leader.

During Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to United Arab Emirates (UAE), an agreement on China-UAE cooperation on COVID-19 vaccine and epidemic control was reached.

Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency reported that during Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's 2-day visit to Iran, the two foreign ministers Javad Zarif and Wang Yi, signed an agreement, which is expected to include Chinese investments in key sectors such as energy and infrastructure, that reflected China’s growing ambition to play a larger role in a region that has been a strategic preoccupation of the United States for decades.

Radio Free Asia reported (March 27) that Kazakh authorities had detained at least 20 people for staging anti-China protests in towns and cities across Kazakhstan on March 27.

China’s Consul General to Rio de Janeiro, Li Yang in a tweet blaming Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau for the diplomatic crisis referred to him as a “boy”.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported the statement by its spokesperson Hua Chunying on March 26 when the video of "Daniel Dunbrier's Speech at the "Xinjiang Truth Pursuit-Canadian Symposium" was played live.

Liu Zongyi, Secretary-General, China and South Asian Studies Centre, Shanghai Institute of International Studies, in an interview with the Chinese news-portal Guancha on March 24, claimed that the border standoff has lasted for so long.

Janes (March 23) reported a build-up of armour at Rudog (Rudok), Ngari (Ali) Prefecture (bordering the eastern Ladakh), TAR. The report states that at least 448 pieces of armour have been identified in positions near Rutog.

The People's Daily (March 22) reported that the Central Military Commission (CMC) issued an “Announcement on Commending Advanced Units and Individuals for Military Logistic Work” when it commended ten logistics 'danweis' and twenty individuals within the Logistics Department.

China Daily (March 25), citing China's Ministry of Transport, reported that the railway linking Nyingchi and Lhasa in TAR is expected to open by the end of June.

The People’s Daily (March 23) published a Zhong Sheng (钟声) commentary that stressed “Xinjiang-related issues” were not “human rights issues” at all but “issues of counterterrorism, deradicalization, and anti-splittism.” It said accusations of “so-called ‘genocide,’ ‘forced labour,’ and ‘religious oppression’” were “the biggest lies of this century” (本世纪最大的谎言).

Writing in the China Leadership Monitor, Minxin Pei wrote (March 1, 2021) that "the Chinese government began to implement a new form of social control – grid management – about fifteen years ago.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi started a six-country tour of the Middle East this week. According to a statement from the Foreign Ministry, Wang Yi “will pay official visits to Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, and a working visit to Oman from March 24 to 30.”

Nikkei (March 23) disclosed that Toyota Motor is planning to produce the key components of fuel cell vehicles in China, starting as early as next year.

Following the sanctions imposed on March 22, by the UK for the first time on Chinese individuals and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on March 26 sanctioned 9 British personnel and 4 entities that maliciously spread lies and false information.

The individuals sanctioned by Mainland China and their families are prohibited from entering the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao of China. They and companies and institutions associated with them are also restricted from doing business with China.

On March 22, Global Times published its version of the verbal feud that was going on for the past two days between the Chinese Embassy in France and French Senator Alain Richard. Occasioned by Alain Richard's planned visit to Taiwan, it said French media outlets and members of parliament launched a fierce attack against the Chinese Embassy in France and the Chinese Ambassador, Lu Shaye.

South China Morning Post (March 24) said that speaking at a hearing with the Senate Armed Services Committee, U.S. Admiral John Aquilino told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the point at which China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) would be equipped for a mission to take over Taiwan was “much closer than most think”.

In a video released by Global Times on March 23, the Editor-in-Chief of Global Times Hu Xijin pointed to the apparent coincidence in the Russian Foreign Minister visiting China on the same day the strategic talks were underway between senior U.S. and Chinese officials.

CGTN reported (March 25) that Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on March 24 and agreed to oppose any interference in the internal affairs of other countries and defend the interests of developing countries.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, talking to the Chinese media at the start of a two-day visit to China, said Moscow and Beijing were compelled to develop independently of Washington in order to thwart what he said were U.S. attempts to curb their technological development.

The Beijing-based SCS Probing Initiative claimed (March 22) that a U.S. Air Force RC-135U Combat Sent electronic intelligence aircraft flew a mission over the Strait of Taiwan on March 22 morning, approaching nearly 25 nautical miles from the coast of mainland China.

The Hong Kong government on March 25, confirmed that it had told 14 countries to stop accepting a British travel document that many of its young people use to apply for working holiday visas in Europe, North America and parts of Asia.

The People’s Daily (March 14) published a page-four Zhong Sheng (钟声) commentary condemning “a small number of Western countries” for having recently issued “so-called statements” on the NPC Decision, revealing their “sinister intention” to “treat Hong Kong as a chess piece to contain China’s development.”

The Global Times publicised that following the imposition of sanction by the US and European countries, domestic travel to Xinjiang has registered a sharp increase.

Caixin (March 26) said China aims to boost its overall airport capacity by nearly half in the next five years, with an emphasis on regional facilities.

The 2021 China Development Forum started online and on-site in Beijing on March 20.

A report in the South China Morning Post (March 20) stated that during a massive dig at the Sanxingdui site in Guanghan, Sichuan, which started from 2019, almost 500 artefacts made from gold, bronze, jade and ivory more than 3,000 years ago were uncovered.

The PLA Daily (March 18) disclosed that a comprehensive training base of the Tibet Military Region had received the first batch of spring recruits.

Xinhua and the People's Daily (March 15) disclosed that the Central Military Commission recently issued the newly revised "Work Regulations of the Chinese Communist Party Army Disciplinary Inspection Committee", which will come into force on April 1, 2021.

Xinhua on March 23, quoted Li Jun, Assistant Director of the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission (CMC) to say that there will be no military parade during this year's celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Li Jn made the statement at a press conference in Beijing on March 23.

Writing in the People's Daily (March 25) He Xiuchao, Party Secretary of the Central University of Finance and Economics, recalled Xi Jinping's injunction that: "Party, government, military, and civilian studies, east, west, south, north, middle, and the party leads everything".

In accordance with the requirements for vocational education in the "14th Five-Year Plan" national economic and social development and the 2035 long-term goal, China’s Education Ministry updated a national list of vocational courses to include subjects like 5G, big data and cloud computing, as the government tries to equip the workforce with the necessary skills to transform the country into a technology superpower.

China's State Council Information Office issued a 28-page report on March 24 on the condition of human rights in the United States in 2020.

Reporting (March 18) that the Central Military Commission Chairman and China's President Xi Jinping had signed the 2021 training mobilization order, the PLA Daily (March 18) disclosed that the order emphasizes the need to strengthen simulation, networking, and confrontational means, explore training methods such as "technology + network" and greatly increase the content of training technology.

Xinhua and the South China Morning Post separately reported (March 25) Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit on inspection to Fujian Province from March 22-25.

A Global Times (March 19) article sought to keep India appeased by saying that 'India will not downgrade as a US' appendage like Japan since New Delhi seeks major power autonomy.'

Reuters (March 20) quoted Major General Yao Yunzhu, who retired from the PLA think-tank Academy of Military Sciences (AMS) and is presently Director Emeritus of the Centre on China-America Defence Relations under the AMS, as saying at the China Development Forum attended by an international audience of business and policy leaders forum in Beijing on March 20 that the failure of this week's United States-China meeting to build strategic trust has heightened the need for Beijing and Washington to improve their crisis management regime.

In an article in Global Times (March 20) it's Editor-in-Chief Hu Xijin commented that after US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin's visit to India, the joint statement between US and Indian defense chiefs did not mention China.

The Philippines coast guard reported that about 220 vessels manned by militia were seen moored at Whitsun Reef, which Manila calls Julian Felipe Reef, on March 7.

Global Times (March 19), quoting a Japan Ministry of Defense Joint Staff press release of March 19, reported that China's new 10,000-ton Type-055 destroyer 'Nanchang' accompanied by the Type 052D guided missile destroyer Chengdu and the Type 054A guided missile frigate Daqing passed through the Tsushima Strait and sailed toward the Sea of Japan on March 18.

Xie Ru, Vice Chairman of the Jiangxi Provincial Political Consultative Conference, was quoted by People's Daily (March 19) as saying that colleges and universities in the country should use “examples of poverty alleviation to teach ideological and political lessons will help demonstrate the strong leadership, organization and execution of the Communist Party of China, and demonstrate the selfless dedication and noble character of party members and cadres in poverty alleviation, so that young students can deeply understand China.”

A meeting of the Party History Study and Education gave a Report to the Central Propaganda Group meeting on March 20 in Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, where Zhang Shujun, a member of the Central Propaganda Group and former member of the Central Party History and Documentation Research Institute, spoke.

The People's Daily (March 18) published an article by Xu Jianfei of the School of Marxism, Yangzhou University, who wrote about learning from Party history.

The Central Propaganda Department, the Central Organization Department, the Central Party History and Documentation Research Institute, the Central and State Organ Working Committee, the Ministry of Education, the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission, and the Beijing Municipal Committee jointly organised a meeting in Beijing on Party history.

The Beijing-appointed Panchen Lama, Gyaltsen Norbu in a speech at the CPPCC on March 11 criticised foreign interference in Tibetan affairs saying that “anti-China forces” care nothing for the Tibetan people and only raise issues of religious freedom in order to hinder China’s development.

The trial of two Canadian citizens Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who have been detained in China since December 2018, soon after Canada arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at the request of the United States, is to start in China on March 19. Court hearings are to be held on March 19 and 23.

Reacting to the US 'human rights issue' discussed during the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council, where multiple countries criticized its worsening human rights situation, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the self-claimed "beacon of human rights" should really shed light on itself sometimes.

An article authored by Yuan Li of China'sMinistry of Education and Foreign Language Exchange and Cooperation Center, published in Guangming Daily (March 17) said "as two world powers, China and the United States" should not block people-to-people exchanges and urged that Confucius Institutes, which he claimed are "a purely language and cultural education project" and "were unreasonably suppressed in the United States" should be permitted to function.

Writing in Caixin (March 17), Professor Wang Jisi, President of the Institute of International and Strategic Studies at Peking University, in a speech at the Lanting Forum in February in Beijing addressed the issue of “rebuilding political trust” between China and the United States.

Chinese Ambassador to the US gave a joint interview with Xinhua News Agency, China International Television, and Phoenix Satellite TV just 24 hours before the Sino-US high-level strategic dialogue in Anchorage on March 17.

Commenting on the high-level US-China meeting on March 18 and which the US insists is only a dialogue with no promise of future meetings, Xinhua (March 17) said "For China and the United States, whose relations have plunged to the lowest point since their establishment of diplomatic relations in the 1970s, the arrival of the long-awaited official dialogue between high-ranking diplomats undoubtedly sends a positive signal.

The 2-day talks between the US and China opened in Anchorage, Alaska on March 18 with the US represented by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and NSA Jake Sullivan and China by Politburo member and Director of the Central Foreign Affairs Committee Yang Jiechi and State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

At least 39 people were reported killed in Myanmar as Chinese-financed factories were set ablaze in the poor, industrial Hlaing Tharyar Industrial Zone suburb of Yangon on March 14.

The European Union agreed on March 17, to blacklist Chinese officials for human rights abuses, the first sanctions against Beijing since an EU arms embargo in 1989 following the Tiananmen Square crackdown.

In a statement on March 17, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken disclosed that the US State Department has identified 24 PRC and Hong Kong officials, including 14 Vice-Chairmen of the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee and officials in the Hong Kong Police Force’s National Security Division, the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, and the Office for Safeguarding National Security, whose actions have reduced Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy.

China Cyberspace Authority and the Ministry of Public Security summoned 11 tech companies including @BytedanceTalk @Xiaomi @AlibabaGroup and @TencentGlobal for talks on March 18, to discuss and assess voice-based social media and deep-fake tech.

China's Economic Daily reported on March 13 that the People’s Bank of China had announced (March 12) that it will launch a trial that will allow multinational corporations (MNCs) greater freedom to exchange currency to help companies reduce the cost of hedging foreign exchange risk.

A report in Naval News (January 2021) stated that the Chinese Survey ship, the Xiang Yang Hong 03, has been operating in a 500,000 square km area in the Indian Ocean.

A report of the Washington-based think tank the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) disclosed in February that China is building at least 16 silos in the missile training area west of Wuhai in Inner Mongolia.

Politburo member and Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) Xu Qiliang spoke at the delegates’ meeting of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and of the People’s Armed Police (PAP). He said that the past year has been extremely unprecedented.

Writing in the People's Daily (March 17), Qu Qingshan, Dean of the Central Party History and Literature Research Institute, disclosed that the CCP CC Propaganda Department, in accordance with the instructions of the Party Central Committee, had "officially" published the 180,000-character "Questions and Answers on the Study of Xi Jinping Thoughts on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era".

PBSC member and Vice Premier Han Zheng held a symposium at the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on March 16 to kick-off work related to the 14th Five-Year Plan and the 2035 Long-Term Goal Outline.

Chinese Politburo member and CPPCC Chairman Wang Yang, while on an inspection tour (March 14-17, 2021) to the Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region called for fully implementing the Party's policies on governing Xinjiang for the new era and consolidate the foundation for enduring peace and stability in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The leaders of the Quad countries had a summit meeting on March 12, where they committed to hold an in-person leaders’ summit this year. The leaders' issued a joint statement after the meeting.

The US Federal Communications Commission on March 12 designated five Chinese companies as posing a threat to national security.

Zhang Xiaoming, Executive Deputy Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council said at a press conference called by the State Council on March 12 after the NPC Plenum: "My colleagues in the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office and I were sanctioned by the US last year, and we are very proud of that".

An article in Nikkei Asia (March 12) stated that U.S. and China are engaged in psychological warfare over how to define the upcoming meeting between the US and Chinese officials in Anchorage, Alaska on March 18.

According to the 21st Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on China-India Border Affairs held on March 12, China and India agreed to hold another round of commander-level talks as soon as possible to further ease the situation on the ground and jointly safeguard the hard-won peace and stability in the border areas.

State-owned CCTV telecast its Focus Today Programme (March 12) headlined 'India strengthens its underwater combat power, the United States is eager to tie India to the "Indo-Pacific tank"?' I

Well known Chinese Professor of International Relations at Renmin University and America expert Jin Canrong was interviewed by the popular news portal Guangcha.com on March 7.

The US-based pro-Beijing Duowei News on March 9, 2021, published an article on China's expanding military influence in Africa. The Global Times had published a similar article on February 1, 2021.

The report China’s Space Narrative, a collaboration between the China Aerospace Studies Institute and CNA’s China and Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Division, disclosed on March 13 that by November 2020, China was home to over 160 commercial space companies, over half of which were founded in the last seven years.

Radio Free Asia reported (March 11) that Sichuan International Studies University had issued an internal notice on March 8, to recruit student information officers.

An article in the Guangming Daily (March 14), quoting Chinese President Xi Jinping's statement on replacing minority languages with Mandarin, said that the 'national common spoken and written language' has for decades played a major role in 'the development of politics, economy, culture, education, transportation, and information technology in ethnic areas.

A CCTV programme on March 13 pointed out that the "Outline of Long-term Goals for 2035", or the "Planning Outline" mentioned 20 main indicators in five categories: economic development, innovation drive, people's livelihood and welfare, green ecology, and safety assurance. It is divided into three sections.

CCTV reported (March 9) that at the Plenary Session of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and People's Armed Police Forces (PAPF) at the Fourth Session of the 13th National People’s Congress meeting, six representatives including Xiang Xiang, Xin Yi, Qi Huguang, Xiao Dongsong, Wang Huiqing, and Wang Qifan spoke on accelerating national defense technological innovation, developing new territories and new quality combat forces, innovating the sergeant system, innovating the work of talents, and doing a good job in our military.

A Xinhua report (March 13) clarified that the "14th Five-Year Plan" and the '2035 Long-Term Goal Outline' announced at the NPC had clearly stated that the legal retirement age should be gradually delayed in accordance with the principles of "small-step adjustment, flexible implementation, classified promotion, and overall planning."

Zhang Shuhua, a member of the CPPCC and Director of the Institute of Political Science at CASS, proposed (March 10) promoting "male masculinity" in literature, education and television.

A South China Morning Post (March 13) article disclosed that Xu Jin, a Delegate to the CPPCC, had last week suggested that the government remove English as a core subject in compulsory education and as a requirement for university entrance examinations, said learning English, or any other foreign language, was a waste of time and resources.

The New Tang Dynasty TV (March 7) disclosed that the Propaganda Department of the Qilian County (of Qinghai Province) Party Committee had published a speech by County Party Committee Secretary He Bin on February 25, 2021, on its Qilian News website.

In an article in the People's Daily (March 12) where he mentioned Xi Jinping 17 times, Zhang Anmin, Secretary-General of the CCP CC's Organisation Department, pointed out that CCP CC General Secretary Xi Jinping had asked that: “Leading cadres at all levels, especially senior cadres, must base themselves on the overall strategy of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

U.S. agricultural exports to China in 2020 rose to 55.5 million tons and comprised one-quarter of all farm shipments three years after the start of a bruising trade war, according to U.S.

The US State Department released a statement by US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken on March 11, evening in apparent reaction to the passage of the Hongkong Reform Bill by China's NPC on March 11, and asserting that "the United States condemns the PRC’s continuing assault on democratic institutions in Hong Kong".

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken confirmed on Twitter on March 11, that "I will meet on March 18 with People’s Republic of China Director Yang Jiechi and State Councilor Wang Yi in Alaska to engage on a range of issues, including those where we have deep disagreements."

Russia and China have unveiled plans for a joint lunar space station. The Russian space agency Roscomos said in a statement on March 9, that it had signed an agreement with China’s National Space Administration (CNSA) to develop a “complex of experimental research facilities created on the surface and/or in the orbit of the Moon”.

The Global Times (March 8) cited Chinese experts saying the US attempts to gather allies "will end up in dismay, as other members in the club have an "all-for-itself" agenda, and won't tie themselves to the US' scheme".

An official TAR government website quoted Che Dalha, Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), as saying (March 6) that TAR authorities should “strive to begin construction [of the dams] this year”.

The Global Times (March 7) citing video footage released by 'Passion News', a news portal run by the Chinese Communist Youth League Central Committee, said the PLA Navy recently commissioned its second 10,000 ton-class Type 055 large destroyer with Hull No: 102 named after Lhasa.

The People's Daily (March 4) publicised the Xinhua (March 3) report that the Central Military Commission (CMC) had issued the "Notice on Carrying out Party History Study and Education in the Whole Army" and instructed that arrangements be made for "the whole army to carry out" the year-long "Party History Study and Education" campaign.

China Daily (March 9) said that Li Hong, Deputy General Manager of the State-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.(CAST) and Delegate to the CPPCC, disclosed on the sidelines of the ongoing CPPCC session that CAST plans to carry out the maiden flight of its Smart Dragon 3 carrier rocket in the first half of next year.

The Hongxin Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (HSMC), Located in an industrial park outside the city of Wuhan and which was meant to become a $19.8 billion showcase homegrown microchip industry producing cutting-edge chips using 14- and 7-nanometer technology capable of challenging the West, has quietly closed down.

China's Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao said (March 8) on the sidelines of the NPC session that China has formally ratified the 15-country Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) free trade agreement in the Asia-Pacific region.

The South China Morning Post (March 10) reported that He Yiting, former Executive Vice President of the Central Party School and a close associate of Chinese President Xi Jinping, has warned against the rise of domestic nationalism while tensions between China and major powers were rising.

Li Guoying (李国英) was appointed minister of the Ministry of Water Resources.

China's Foreign Ministry reported Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's remarks at the press conference (March 7) on the sidelines of the NPC

The NPC approved the 'Decision on Improving the Electoral System of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region' on March 11, 2021.

Complying with Xi Jinping's instructions that SOEs should be "bigger, better, and stronger", the 14th Five-Year Plan has encouraged SOEs to focus on their core business.

Premier Li Keqiang declared in his Government Work Report to the NPC (March 5): "We will give priority to domestic circulation, and work to build a strong domestic market and turn China into a trader of quality. We will leverage the flows of the domestic economy to make China a major magnet for global production factors and resources, thereby promoting positive interplay between domestic circulation and international circulation."

China’s Minister of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and Vice Chairman of the Economic Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Miao Wei was quoted by Caixin (March 8) as saying China will need another 30 years to become a true manufacturing powerhouse.

The draft of China’s 14th Five-Year Plan outlines a drive for self-reliance in science and technology and reveals that over the next five years, China plans to invest substantially more in research on basic technology.

Fox News reported (March 6) that the U.S. Senate had unanimously passed 'The Concerns Over Nations Funding University Campus Institutes in the United States (CONFUCIUS) Act' this week. The Act tightens restrictions on Confucius Institutes.

Nikkei Asia reported (March 4) that China has begun construction of a 319.8 billion yuan ($49.4 billion)-rail line that would greatly improve access to Tibet.

A draft Bill for improving Hong Kong’s electoral system was submitted to the National People’s Congress (NPC) for review on March 5.

Xinhua (March 5) reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping took part in deliberation with his fellow deputies from the delegation of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on March 5, at the fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress.

China raised the IncomeTax exemption limit for individuals earning 5000 Yuan a month to 10,000 Yuan a month.

Military deputies to the NPC and members of the CPPCC put forward opinions and suggestions on a number of issues about national defense and army building.

Jia Qingguo, a CPPCC delegate and Professor of International Relations at Peking University, submitted a proposal to the CPPCC calling for the removal of “unnecessary” approval processes for academics engaging with think tanks and overseas exchange opportunities.

Global Times (March 7) said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was invited to discuss "China’s foreign policy and foreign affairs relationship" related questions from Chinese and foreign reporters.

Speaking at a 90-minute-long press conference on March 7, on the sidelines of the NPC session, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi appeared to put a positive spin on ties with Japan and India. In response to concerns from Japan about China’s new coastguard law, Wang Yi said the law was not targeted at any nation.

China has budgeted 1.36 trillion yuan (US$ 209 billion) for national defence, an increase of 6.8% over last year. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang stressed PLA training in his Report.

The Report allocated 185.092 billion yuan on public security, up 0.7% from last year.

In his Report on the Work of the Government, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang set a GDP growth rate target of 6%, lower than the expectation of many Chinese economists that either Beijing would forgo the numerical target altogether or set an ambitious 8% growth rate.

Xinhua (March 2) reported that the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) and the US State Legislative Leadership Foundation jointly held the 5th China-U.S. Provinces and States Video conference of the Legislature Cooperation Forum. it said this forum is the first China-U.S. exchange and cooperation mechanism activity resumed after the new U.S. government took office.

The Global Times (March 3) noted that US President Joe Biden signed an executive order on February 24 to review the global supply chains of four key products including semiconductors, in a bid to shake off dependence on overseas suppliers, especially Chinese ones.

PLA Major General Jin Yinan, a Professor in China's National Defence University (NDU) and member of the Chinese Communist Party who teaches national security strategy, international conflict and crisis management and is a prolific writer, gave a talk on February 27, 2021.

Taiwan's CNC reported (March 3) that Lithuania is considering leaving the Beijing-initiated "17+1 forum" and building links with Taiwan.

The State-owned Enterprise (SoE) State Grid Corporation of China, which provides electrical grid services to 26 Chinese provinces together covering 88% of China’s total geographical area, disclosed its decarbonization plan on March 1.

Reuters (March 2) reported that China Eastern Airlines signed a firm order with the state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) for five of China's home-built C919 jets, which will compete with Boeing Co's 737 and the Airbus SE A320.

The US$20 billion semiconductor manufacturing project backed by the Chinese government has gone belly-up, Wuhan Hongxin Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (HSMC), on February 26 announced its decision to dismiss all employees.

An article in Bloomberg (March 2) stated that China just can’t produce what the world needs by way of chips and chipmaking machinery.

47-year old Zhang Wei, who was till recently Deputy Manager of COSCO Shipping Lines, has been appointed a Vice Mayor of Shanghai.

Bertrand Guillet, Director of the Château des ducs de Bretagne (Musée d’histoire de Nantes) announced a few months ago that it had been forced to postpone its exhibition 'Son of the sky and steppes : Genghis Khan and the birth of an empire' to October 2024 due to last summer’s hardened stance by the Chinese government towards its Mongolian minority.

The CCP International Department (CCP/ID) disclosed (February 22) that it, along with the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) Party Committee, held an online “Stories of the CCP” thematic briefing on Xinjiang from Ürümqi.

The Oriental Daily newspaper reported (March 3) that former Next Digital Executive Director Stephen Ting had been detained on fraud allegations. The Hongkong Police in a separate statement on March 2 evening confirmed the arrest of a 61-year-old man “after an in-depth investigation by the National Security Department.”

A symposium on “Improving the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ System, Implementing the Basic Principle of ‘Patriots Governing Hong Kong’” was held on February 22, in Beijing. Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council (HKMAO) Director Xia Baolong (夏宝龙) gave a lengthy speech on the subject of “patriots governing Hong Kong.”

The latest Hurun Global Rich List 2021 released last week showed that one in every two newly minted dollar-denominated billionaires last year were in China.

In the run-up to the NPC session, the People's Daily (March 3) published an article quoting comments by NPC Deputies on the 14th Five-Year Plan.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang presented a 36-page Report on the Work of the Government to the NPC session on March 5, 2021. Delegates to the CPPCC and others also attended and will discuss the Report but not vote on it.

The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) opened in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 3, Former TAR Party Secretary Zhang Qingli announced the opening of the conference. PBSC Member and CPPCC Chairman Wang Yang delivered a speech. More than 2106 CPPCC Delegates attended the session.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron, According to Caixin (February 26) the Chinese Foreign Ministry released a statement on February 25 calling for joint efforts for an early entry into force of the China-EU investment agreement.

Separately, a document dated February 15, 2018, which was declassified and released on January 20, in the final days of the Trump administration emphasised Washington's intent and resolve to defend Taiwan from Beijing in the event of an emergency.

Writing on the East Asia Forum (February 26) Cui Lei, Research Fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, a think tank affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, argued that Mainland China is in no position to take Taiwan by force.

As relations between China and Taiwan sour further, the South China Morning Post (February 26) disclosed that officials in Beijing had said a ban had been imposed on the import of pineapples from Taiwan as a “normal biosafety measure”.

Reports on February 28 evening disclosed that the authorities had arrested 47 pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong, adding to the lengthening list of people being punished under the National Security Law recently imposed by China.

The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) February 26, published an article by Xu Guangmiao, a lecturer at the China Institute of Border and Oceanography, Wuhan University, which says China needs to reinforce its role in the Arctic order. He advocates building of the "Arctic Community of Shared Future".

A Guangming Daily (February 28) article on the start of recruitment of college students to the PLA, disclosed that military experts and grassroots chief officials had been invited to the Suzhou Jianxiong Vocational and Technical College in Jiangsu Province and other educational institutions to express their views on the mental and psychological preparation required for college students to join the army.

The South China Morning Post (February 27) reported that the Shenzhen Keweitai Enterprise Development Corp, which sells drones under the brand All Tech, published an article on its official WeChat account on February 25, saying the company is very proud of its role in helping the Chinese army during the border clash.

According to the latest new-energy vehicles (NEV) development plan released on February 25, pure electric vehicles should make up half of the new cars sold in Shanghai by 2025, according to an aggressive plan that comes as localities are looking for ways to slash carbon emissions to meet ambitious national pledges.

Speaking at a conference in December, but the text of which was published by a magazine affiliated with China's Ministry of Finance only in February, China's former Finance Minister Lou Jiwei, who is presently Director of the CPPCC’s Foreign Affairs Committee, warned that China’s fiscal situation is “extremely severe with risks and challenges”.

China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment announced (March 1) that the China national Carbon market will launch online Trading by end of June. The Minister of Ecology and Environment Huang Runqiu visited both Hubei and Shanghai inspecting the national ETS Registry and Trading platform.

Xinhua (February 25) reported that China had officially established a National Rural Revitalization Bureau on February 25 on the former site of the defunct State Council Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development in Beijing.

The Xinhua and CGTN announced (March 1) that the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top political advisory body, will hold its fourth session on March 4, in Beijing.

Xi Jinping chaired the 28th collective study session of the Politburo which discussed improving the social security system covering all people.

Chinese President and CCP CC General Secretary Xi Jinping chaired a meeting of the Politburo on February 26. The meeting discussed the Fourteenth Five-Year Plan for the National Economic and Social Development, which the State Council plans to submit to the Fourth Session of the Thirteenth National People’s Congress for review.

The Financial Times (February 16) reported that China is exploring whether it can hurt U.S. defense contractors by limiting supplies of rare-earth minerals that are critical to the industry.

A People's Daily article (February 25) titled 'the 50th Anniversary of China-U.S. Reopening the Door of Exchange: Respect each other and seek common ground while reserving differences (prosperous years)' briefly recounted some of the contacts between the leaders of the two countries since 1972.

Speaking on February 22, 2021, at the opening ceremony of the Lanting Forum on "Dialogue and Cooperation, Controlling Differences-Promoting Sino-US Relations Back on Track", State Councilor Wang Yi said China and the United States should work together to reopen dialogue and “build up goodwill” to repair their damaged relationship.

Radio Free Asia (February 22) and UK's Daily Mail (February 20 & 21) reported that “Hundreds of independent schools left in dire financial straits by the coronavirus pandemic are being targeted by Chinese investors.”

The South China Morning Post (February 25) reported that Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena told Ceylon Today on February 20 that “the previous government made a mistake on the Hambantota port deal when they cancelled the lease and gave it on a longer period of 99 years plus another 99 years once the first term ends”.

The Canadian Parliament overwhelmingly voted in favour of declaring the atrocities in the Xinjiang genocide. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau abstained from voting on the motion, which passed 266-0.

The Strategist (February 25) published a report revealing that each night for more than a week, unregistered flights between Yangon and Kunming have been transporting unknown goods and personnel from China to Myanmar.

Nikkei Asia (February 25) stated that at the beginning of February, India raised import duties on roughly 30 products in a move that seeks to rebalance trade with China and develop local industry. The levies on solar lamps and cells are now between 15 and 20% from the previous 5%. Cellphone charging devices, which were tariff-free, were slapped with a 10% levy.

Citing Bloomberg (February 22) the Chinese financial magazine Caixin (February 23) stated that China regained its position as India’s top trade partner in 2020, as New Delhi’s reliance on imported machines outweighed its efforts to curb commerce with Beijing after a bloody border conflict.

China's business magazine reported (February 21) that Huawei expects that its smartphone shipments this year will drop by more than 60 per cent to about 70 million units. Huawei’s smartphone shipments in the fourth quarter of 2020 fell by 40 per cent.

Population statistics published by the National Bureau of Statistics of China show a sharp decline in birth rates in Xinjiang amid reports of mass internment and population control of ethnic minorities in the region.

CCTV (February 25) telecast a special report publicising that on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, "A Brief History of the Communist Party of China", compiled by the Central Propaganda Department and organized by the Central Party History and Literature Research Institute, has been published by the People Published jointly by China Press and CPC History Publishing House, for nationwide distribution.

Xinhua (February 24) announced the release of a new book titled "Excerpts from Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao on the History of the Communist Party of China" edited by the CCP CC's Institute of Party History and Documentation and recently published by the Central Literature Publishing House for distribution nationwide.

China News (February 24) reported that on February 23, an explosion was reported at a restaurant 650 meters (0.4 miles) away from the CCP headquarters in the Zhongnanhai district in Beijing possibly causing one death, while six people were injured.

Xinhua (February 24) disclosed that the CCP CC and State Council had recently issued the "National Comprehensive Three-dimensional Transportation Network Planning Outline".

The People's Daily (February 25) published an article by Zhao Xiaoyan, a Deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC) and a researcher at the Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, on providing technical training and promotion for local farmers in rural areas.

The People's Daily (February 24) published an unusual article spread over 3 entire pages (page 1-3) portraying Chinese President Xi Jinping as a visionary leader and extolling him as personally responsible for eradicating poverty.

According to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the U.S. Special Envoy for Iran, Robert Malley, had a conversation with Chinese Communist Party officials about the Biden Administration’s rejoining the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement.

In a lengthy article published by the CASS on February 18, Hu Jian, a researcher at the Soft Power Research Center of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, contested US academic Allison’s theory of "Thucydides Trap" regarding the relationship between the rising power and the preserving power, calling it "inherently contradictory".

Hu Xijin, Editor-in-Chief of Global Times, wrote an article critical of the US in the Global Times (February 18) and portrayed it as an incompetent country.

CCTV (February 20) reported that the US aircraft carrier USS Roosevelt's battle group carried out a "comprehensive exercise" where "the SEALs provided forward target data, the Marine Corps at the expedition base provided missile strike options, and carried aircraft and surface ships of the aircraft carrier battle group"

China's state-run news agency Xinhua on February 19, published an article saying that “China’s military authorities have honored two officers and three soldiers, including four who received the awards posthumously, for defending the country’s western border.”

Just before the third Quad meeting of the US, Japan, India and Australia since 2020 to be held on February 18, Chinese experts said China should keep a close watch on the Indo-Pacific region and mark its red lines.

CCTV (February 20) reported that CMC Chairman Xi Jinping and the Central Military Commission had recently approved the issue of the "Decision on Building a New Military Training System."

An article in the Diplomat (February 20) reacting to a report in The National Pulse entitled “Biden Quietly Revokes Trump’s Ban On Chinese Communist Propaganda In Schools”, said the Confucius Institutes are a creature of China’s United Front Work Department (UFWD).

The state-run CCTV telecast (February 20) a report of a symposium to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Comrade Hua Guofeng held on February 20 in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. PBSC member and Secretary of the CCP CC Secretariat Wang Huning attended and delivered a speech.

Caixin (February 19) reported that China’s National Health Commission had suggested to northeastern regional governments that they assess the impact of fully abolishing limits on the number of births and put forward a pilot program for implementing a comprehensive family planning policy in the region.

The People's Daily published (February 21) a nearly 5000-character article by Politburo member Yang Jiechi highlighting China's contribution to multipolarity. Yang Jiechi said China 'holds high the banner of a community with a shared future for mankind and firmly safeguard the authority of the United Nations.

CCTV (February 19) publicised that Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Chairman of the State and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, had replied to the centenarian soldiers of the Shanghai New Fourth Army History Research Association on February 18, and extended sincere greetings and good wishes to them.

The state-run CCTV (February 20) telecast a report on the Party History Study and Education Mobilization Conference held in Beijing on February 20, where Chinese President Xi Jinping gave an "important" speech.

China's state-owned CGTN announced (February 21) that the CCP CC had issued its Central Document No: 1 on Agriculture. This is the first Document of 2021.

Caixin (February 18) quoted a Bloomberg report which said that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce had in a report, highlighting the cost of a full decoupling of the world’s two largest economies, claimed that American companies would lose hundreds of billions of dollars if they slashed investment in China or the nations increased tariffs.

On February 11, Cambodian Defense Minister Tea Banh told Radio Free Asia's Khmer Service that the fourth Golden Dragon exercise, which was due to take place from March 13 to 27, and involved around 3,000 Cambodian and Chinese troops engaging in live ammunition drills, including training on the use of tanks, armoured vehicles, and demining equipment, would be cancelled this year.

Foreign Policy (February 17) assessed that the widespread protests against the February 1 military coup in Myanmar have taken on an increasingly anti-Chinese tone, with rallies held outside the Chinese Embassy in Yangon and calls growing for boycotts of Chinese goods and services.

The Japan Times (February 17) reported that according to the 11th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters based in Naha, two China Coast Guard (CCG) ships entered Japanese territorial waters off the Senkakus and the Taishojima island at around 4:15 a.m. on February 16.

Radio France Internationale (RFI) Chinese Edition reported (February 10) that the just-concluded 17+1 Summit between China and the Central and Eastern European countries is showing a changing relationship. There are now 15 European countries that are connected to China via railway for cargo transportation.

Li Zhanshu, Chairman of China's National People's Congress (NPC), proposed the formation of the joint committee for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, or CPEC, in a virtual meeting held with Asad Qaiser, the Speaker of Pakistan's National Assembly, toward the end of January. Both directed their secretaries to form the joint parliamentary oversight committee.

A US Defence Blog disclosed that China is to buy 400 aircraft from Ukraine to build hundreds of new military aircraft. It stated (January 17) that, Ukraine's Madasi company was awarded a $800 million contract to support the production of China's JL-10 trainer aircraft.

This year's recruitment to the PLA will be held in two rounds with one starting on February 20 and ending on March 31, and the other scheduled between August 15 and September 30.

CCTV (February 18) reported that the Party Central Committee and the Central Military Commission had approved the newly revised "Regulations on Political Work in the Army" that were promulgated and implemented recently.

The European Consumer Organization filed a complaint with the European Commission on February 17, accusing the popular short-video app TikTok of violating the rights of users and exposing underage viewers to inappropriate material.

Caixin (February 15) reported that the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), is crafting a package of policies to support finance for green development as part of efforts to play a more active role in the nation’s fight against climate change.

A report published by Caixin (February 18) disclosed that new research suggests that "hundreds of Chinese heart disease patients died avoidable deaths, with more still suffering heart attacks and strokes, after 100,000 went untreated in unnecessary trials of widely used medication".

Radio Free Asia (February 16) reported that on February 14, the CCP CC General Office and the State Council's General Office jointly issued the “Opinions on the Implementation of the Inheritance and Development Project of China’s Excellent Traditional Culture,” highlighting the need to “rejuvenate China’s traditional culture comprehensively by 2025.”

The Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of Tianjin, on February 14, issued a “Notice on Attentively Watching the TV Series ‘Crossing the Yalu River,’” asking all CCP organizations in government agencies and civil groups to watch the TV program streamed by the state-owned China Central Television (CCTV).

A lengthy article by Dong Zhenrui of the Central Party History and Literature Research Institute was published in the Chinese version of China Discipline Inspection Commission Daily on February 18, underlining that 2021 is the first year of "a new journey of comprehensively building a modern socialist country. Standing on such a new starting point, we need to establish a correct view of history".

China's Supreme People's Court issued a policy document on February 18, on integrating 'socialist core values' into court judgments/rulings and in the reasoning and explanation of the law.

Speaking at a UN meeting on February 17, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said nations must cooperate, respect science and reject misinformation, with the Security Council leading by example. Caixin (February 28) quoted him as urging the world to reject “vaccine nationalism” and promote fair and equitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, saying that China has exported vaccines to 22 countries.

The People's Daily (February 8) reported that while speaking at a meeting of the National Party History and Documentation Department's main leaders in Beijing on February 7, Ding Xuexiang, Politburo member and Director of the CCP CC General Office, emphasized the importance of deepening the study and propaganda of party history, especially Xi Jinping Thought.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang chaired an Executive Meeting of the State Council on February 18 to listen to a report on the implementation of the proposals of the 'Two Sessions' in 2020, and seek opinions on sustainable and healthy economic and social development.

The People's Daily (February 14) published an article captioned 'Working together to open up a bright future for Sino-US relations is the right thing to comply with public opinion and the general trend, and both sides should act'.

The Chinese site 'qq' on February 10, published a short article captioned "India has withdrawn! China and India disengaged on the front line. Has China won? Will India come again?"

An article published by Nyingtri (Nyingchi)'s official website highlights the success of civil-military integration in Nanyi Town, Minling County, Nyingtri.

China’s railway passenger traffic plunged almost 70% during the 15 days before the Lunar New Year as authorities urged people to “celebrate in place” and avoid unnecessary travel to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

State-owned CCTV News (February 14) highlighted that Technological independence and self-reliance is the strategic support of national development" and that the Central Economic Work Conference held at the end of last year had prioritised that the first key task of this year was to strengthen the national strategic scientific and technological capabilities.

Reuters (February 11) reported U.S. President Joe Biden's comment on February 10 that the Pentagon would review its strategy toward China, looking at pivotal areas including intelligence, technology and Washington’s military footprint in the region.

China's CCTV (February 11) reported the US President Biden's telephone call to Chinese President Xi Jinping in February on the eve of the Lunar New Year and said he had conveyed greetings on the occasion to the Chinese people.

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payn disclosed (February 9) that China formally arrested a Chinese-born Australian journalist working for the state-owned CGTN, the English-language channel of China Central Television, on suspicion of illegally supplying state secrets overseas.

The South China Morning Post (February 5) reported that China's Ministry of Education issued an alert on February 5, to “conduct proper safety risks assessments, and be cautious in choosing to go to or return to Australia for their studies”.

CCTV telecast a report highlighting the China-CEEC Leaders Summit held in video mode on February 9.

A report critical of India and posted on the Chinese news portal .163.com on February 11, with the caption 'Biden made a call in vain: the frontline units of the Chinese and Indian armed forces disengaged in a planned way', claimed that the defusing of the more than half a year's crisis is "a huge bad news for the United States".

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on February 10, 2021, in Beijing on February 10: Q:It is reported that the Chinese and Indian militaries started disengagement in the Pangong Lake area on February 10. Can you confirm that?

A People's Daily (February 6) article, while sharply criticising Jimmy Lai (aka - Li Zhiying) owner of Hongkong's Apple Daily as "leader of the Gang of Four" and sparing "no effort to mess up Hong Kong", also criticised the US.

Caixin reported (February 9) that Chinese regulators on February 8, summoned Tesla Inc. representatives over safety issues with its vehicles and told the electric-car maker to improve internal management and comply with Chinese law and regulations.

According to data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) on February 9, China vehicle sales rose 29.5% in January, aided partly by the Lunar New Year, as the market continued to rebound from a period of weakness exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic in the first half of 2020. Some 2.5 million vehicles were sold in China in the first month of 2021.

The Chinese financial magazine Caixin reported (February 9) that the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) had set up a joint venture with SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication), the global network that processes transactions between financial institutions in different countries.

China's state-owned CCTV announced (February 11) that China's first Mars exploration mission, Tianwen-1, successfully entered the orbit of the ring fire, achieving the first step of "circumnavigation, patrol".

China’s Ministry of Public Security disclosed on February 8, that around 10 million newborns were entered into Hukou, the Chinese household-registration system, in 2020.

Ms. Geng Xiaonan, a publisher and friend of Xu Zhangrun, a former professor at Tsinghua University Law School, was charged with "illegal business operations."

An article by Li Xingang of the Department of Politics and Law Education and Research, Zibo Municipal Party School, Shandong Province and published in the "Chinese Cadres Tribune" on February 8, 2021, disclosed that the CCP Central Committee had begun examining ways to improve implementation of the Party's Rules and Regulations.

The South China Morning Post (February 11) disclosed that the Chinese Communist Party had on February 10 expelled former Shanghai police chief Gong Daoan, setting the stage for him to stand trial.

CCTV on February 8, reported that on the eve of the Spring Festival Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, on February 7 inspected Yuncheng, Shanxi, where he emphasised that "under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core", things that benefit the people should be done practically and well, and people's livelihood should be continuously improved in the course of sustainable development.

Xinhua (February 10) reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping conveyed Spring Festival greetings on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee and the State Council, to all "Chinese people of all ethnic groups" on February 10 at a reception in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Canada, citing “deep concerns” about the national security law, announced that Hongkongers who recently graduated from Canadian educational institutions will soon have a new pathway to permanent residency as Ottawa launches a three-year open work permit for them.

Two articles in China's state-owned Global Times (February 6) sought to project China's advantageous position vis-a-vis the US. One article stated, "China's down-to-earth diplomatic approach is gradually showing its effectiveness.

The United States Navy conducted its first freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) under the new Biden administration on February 5.

The Global Times (February 1) reported that the PLA sent warplanes for exercises near the Taiwan Straits almost every day in January 2021. A separate Liberty Times report claims that only on January 1, 8, 10 and 21, did the PLA not enter Taiwan’s ADIZ.

Hong Kong’s Census and Statistics Department said on February 2, that Hong Kong posted its steepest decline in retail sales since records began in 1981 as the number of visitors to the city collapsed and local residents tightened their belts amid the coronavirus pandemic, dealing another blow to the city’s already struggling economy.

China’s Permanent Mission in Geneva and the Xinjiang government jointly held a video presentation titled ‘Xinjiang is a Good Place’ on February 3. Diplomats from more than 50 countries in Geneva including nearly 20 ambassadors, UN Human Rights Office officials, Human Rights Council Special Mechanism experts and other guests participated.

A lengthy article by Zhang Yun, a research fellow at the China Tibetology Research Center, was published by the Global Times (February 7) claiming that "the 29-Article Ordinance for the More Efficient Governance of Tibet promulgated in 1793 was an important law related to the governance of Tibet in the Qing Dynasty.

China's Commerce Ministry spokesman disclosed (February 4) that China is readily considering joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) to promote economic globalization and regional economic integration.

Xinhua (February 6) announced that Beijing will issue digital currency worth 10 million yuan (US$ 1.55 million) to local residents via lottery in 'virtual red envelopes' on February 7, to boost consumption during the upcoming Spring Festival holiday.

CCTV (February 4) reported that during this year's Spring Festival a total of 17.924 million passengers travelled home nationwide, a decrease of 77% year-on-year.

Chinese chipmaking champion Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. reported declining revenue and profits during the final quarter of 2020, and its shares slid as much as 10% on February 5, after the company warned that U.S. sanctions were crimping its ability to buy equipment so it could expand to meet customer demand.

Naval News reported on February 1, that China has built a massive new yard for building nuclear submarines.

Xinhua (February 4) reported that China's Ministry of National Defense had announced on February 4, that China conducted a land-based mid-section anti-missile interception technology test within its territory, and the test achieved its expected goals.

CCTV (February 6) reported that Xi Jinping had "inspected a certain aviation division of the air force" on February 4 morning and extended Chinese New Year greetings to officers and soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army, officers and soldiers of the Armed Police Force, civilian personnel of the military, and militia reserve personnel.

On January 20, the Director of the Legal Affairs Committee of the National People’s Congress, Shen Chungyao, announced during a meeting of the NPC Standing Committee that schools in “minority areas” were no longer allowed to teach their own languages, declaring such education to be “unconstitutional”.

Xinhua (February 3) published a list of seven “new buzzwords” that surfaced during recent sessions of the province-level people’s congresses.

Xi Jinping travelled to Guizhou province on February 3-4, 2021, at the beginning of the annual Chinese New Year.

China has appointed 71-year-old Xie Zhenhua, a familiar name in Beijing’s climate bureaucracy and diplomacy, to serve as Special Climate Envoy.

Radio Free Asia (RFA) announced on February 3, that the U.S. State Department said President Joe Biden's Administration will continue to promote policies supporting human rights for Tibetans living under Chinese rule and work with allies to press Beijing to engage in dialogue with exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

Global Times (February 2) highlighted that in his recent speech to the National Committee on US-China Relations, Chinese Politburo member Yang Jiechi had signalled that trade issues could be compartmentalized from political disputes which, Global Times pointed out, is also in line with China's overall foreign policy stance of managing differences while seeking common ground.

In his speech on key foreign policy issues at the US State Department on February 4, 2021, US President Joe Biden said, while referring to China, "we’ll also take on directly the challenges posed by our prosperity, security and democratic values by our most serious competitor, China.

The UK Regulator Ofcom on February 4, withdrew the licence for CGTN to broadcast in the UK, after its investigation concluded that the licence is wrongfully held by Star China Media Limited.

An article published by Global Times (February 1) on the military take-over in Myanmar, reported Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin's comment on February 1, that "China is a friendly neighbour of Myanmar, and we hope all parties in Myanmar can properly handle differences under the constitutional and legal framework and safeguard political and social stability".

According to a Chinese Foreign Ministry release, China's Ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong visited Gwadar from January 27 to 28, 2021.

Singapore’s primary Chinese language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao (January 28) reported that a major reorganisation of The Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (LOCPG) is imminent.

Hongkong's Education Bureau (EDB) issued a circular on February 4, instructing that "Safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests is the constitutional duty of the HKSAR. This is also the common responsibility of all Hong Kong residents (including school staff and students)."

Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported (February 1) that Qinghai province authorities are restricting travel in Tibetan-populated areas ahead of the start of Lunar New Year, from later this month. Tibetan sources say.

The Washington Post (February 2) reported that Tommy Zwicky, Vice President of Communications for Huawei's Denmark office, resigned in December after a Washington Post report detailing Huawei’s test of face-scanning software that police could use to identify Uighurs.

Xinhua (January 27) reported that the Central Military Commission (CMC)'s General Office had publicised (January 26) plans for the construction of military history venues across China.

Asia Times (February 2) quoted a CNN report on a recent research by China’s Second Military Medical University and Navy Military Medical University, published in the British journal Military Medicine, revealed that the PLA Navy's submariners reported severe psychological problems at much higher rates compared to People’s Liberation Army (PLA) forces as a whole.

The Beijing Daily published (February 2) a list of China's pioneering tech giants, but Jack Ma was missing.

Ms Geng Xiaonan, a Beijing publisher who supported Xu Zhangrun, former Professor of the Law School of China's Tsinghua University, was formally charged along with others for "illegal business operations".

The People's Daily (February 1) reported that the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) had on January 31, 2021, announced that online self-publishers (also called We Media) must first obtain a “permit” before posting news information. The CAC will implement “review before publishing” management for live streaming and interactive content.

The People's Daily (February 2) reported that the number of journalists permitted to cover the Fourth Session of the Thirteenth National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Fourth Session of the Thirteenth CPPCC National Committee, which will open in Beijing on March 5 and March 4, 2021, respectively, will be restricted.

The People's Daily on February 4, front-paged an important 6324-character article detailing the outlines of a serious effort to promote the role of the Young Pioneers in primary schools and among the youth.

The CCP CC United Front Work Department (UFWD) convened a meeting in Beijing on January 18 of UFWD Directors from all across China. Politburo Standing Committee member and CPPCC Chairman Wang Yang spoke at a meeting.

The People's Daily (January 25) reported that the Fifth Plenary Session of the CCP's 19th Central Discipline Inspection Commission was held in Beijing from January 22 to 24, 2021.

The People's Daily (January 28) disclosed that Chinese President Xi Jinping heard Carrie Lam’s 2020 Work Report on Hong Kong via video conference on January 27.

The South China Morning Post reported (January 29) that China's Vice President Wang Qishan while speaking to US business leaders and former officials at a videoconference on January 29, was quoted by China Radio International as saying “Upholding the spirit of non-conflict and non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation, focusing on cooperation and managing differences are the keys to promoting the healthy and stable development of Sino-US relations.”

The Special Communications Organization (SCO) -- the telecommunications branch of the Pakistan Army -- is about to lay a fiber optic cable between Rawalpindi and the port cities of Karachi and Gwadar.

China's Global Times publicised (January 29) that it had launched the second Type 054A/P frigate for Pakistan at the Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard in Shanghai on January 29.

The South China Morning Post reported (January 31) that Pakistan is looking to develop new overland border crossings with China to boost military interoperability with Chinese armed forces.

As the US aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt entered the South China Sea on January 23, to promote the "freedom of the seas," China announced (January 29) that it will conduct military exercises in the South China Sea this week.

Recent reports disclose that on January 23 -- three days after Joe Biden's inauguration as the new US President -- Chinese military aircraft simulated missile attacks on a US aircraft carrier during an incursion into Taiwan’s air defence zone.

The Global Times (January 29) reinforced the warning given on January 28, to Taiwan by Senior Colonel Wu Qian, spokesperson of China’s Ministry of National Defense, and asserted that "Taiwan and the US should be sent a message.

South China Morning Post (January 29) disclosed that Beijing will stop recognising British National (Overseas) passports as travel and identification documents from January 31, and may retaliate further against Britain’s offer of a pathway to citizenship for 5.4 million eligible Hongkongers.

A Global Times article (January 29) exulted that "the economic output of China, the world's second-largest economy, came a step closer to the size of the US' GDP, breaking through the 70 per cent mark in 2020 when the world economy took a heavy blow from the raging coronavirus" It quoted experts as saying the proportion is forecast to rise this year.

China will begin laying the final stretch of a cross-border fiber optic cable in Pakistan that will create the Digital Silk Road, serving the geostrategic interests of both countries.

The South China Morning Post (January. ) reported that the PLA had increased joint operations and officer cross-training to boost war readiness.

China's Ministry of National Defense (MND) announced a new system of military ranks for PLA officers where the Military rank determines the officer's ranking, salary and emoluments, perquisites, etc.

The latest (2021/02) issue of Qiu Shi, the Party theoretical fortnightly journal issued on January 16, published an article on the recent new Regulations on United Front Work.

The People's Daily (January 28) published an article titled 'Adhere to system thinking and build a big security pattern' by Professor Ma Zhenchao of the National Security College of People’s Public Security University of China.

In an article captioned 'Study the 100-year history of the Party' (a monograph celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China), the People's Daily (January 29) sought to emphasise the “correct” view on the Party’s history and outlined what it described as “the theme and the mainline of the party's history.”

Xinhua reported (January 28) that Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CCP Central Committee chaired a meeting of the Politburo on January 28 to review multiple reports.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and South Korean President Moon Jae-in agreed during a late night 40-minute discussion on January 26 to “promote high-level exchanges” between the two countries and to reschedule a visit by Xi Jinping to Seoul that was postponed last year due to the coronavirus pandemic and also work out a “blueprint for the development of bilateral ties over next three decades”.

In a front-page article in the South China Morning Post (January 29) Terry Su, President of Lulu Derivation Data Ltd, a Hong Kong-based online publishing house and think tank specialising in geopolitics, views the election of President Joe Biden as President of the US and the unprecedented, blatant liberal crackdown on the reactionary masses as an instance of the United States putting aside much of the prudence and moderation it has demanded from other countries, in the name of good fighting evil at a defining moment.

Citing Bloomberg (January 26), Caixin quoted US President Biden's Press Secretary Jen Psaki as saying that U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration is approaching its relationship with Beijing with “patience” and plans to review hard-line policies that were a hallmark of Donald Trump’s presidency. Psaki said, “We’re starting from an approach of patience as it relates to our relationship with China.” She added, “We’re starting from an approach of patience as it relates to our relationship with China.”

Senior Colonel Wu Qian, the spokesman of China's Ministry of National Defense, said (January 28) that recent military drills by the People's Liberation Army in the Taiwan region were aimed at provocations by Taiwan separatist forces and foreign interference. He warned that "Taiwan secession means war."

The South China Morning Post (January 26) reported that a People's Daily commentary (January 25) had accused the new head of the Hong Kong Bar Association, for a second day in a row, of having “lost professionalism and rationality”.

IMF has projected GDP growth in 2021 for China at 8.1%.

Caixin reported (January 29) that the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (ICBC), the world’s largest commercial lender by assets, is expected to soon get a new President.

China’s three major state-owned airlines put off delivery of more than 100 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus last year — but kept every single order from Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China in a show of support for the domestic manufacturer during the coronavirus pandemic.

The South China Morning Post (January 24) reported that Guangdong province, one of China's biggest manufacturing hubs and its up-and-coming hi-tech region with grand ambitions to rival Silicon Valley in the United States, will open 11 new universities this year, with more to come in the next few years.

The Straits Times reported (January 26) that the Chinese government was under pressure due to rising food prices just before the New Year Festival.

A People's Daily article (January 28) captioned 'Enhance the appeal of ideological and political education in the army' stressed that "Political work is the greatest feature and advantage of our army, and an important guarantee for maintaining the nature, purpose, and true qualities of our army.

Jiang Jinquan, the new director of the Central Policy Research Office – the Party’s in-house brain trust – published (January 25) his first article in the Study Times.

Radio Free Asia (January 18) reported that a Chinese official notice shows that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is stepping up its efforts to extinguish the ethnic language and culture of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang chaired a symposium on January 22, with a few industry experts and business leaders to gather input on the drafts of the 2021 Government Work Report (GWR) and the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) outline.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum’s virtual “Davos Agenda” conference on January 25, Chinese President Xi Jinping warned that a "new cold war" could turn hot, and must be avoided.

After reports surfaced in the Indian media about the construction of a new border defence village on the banks of the River Tsari Chu in the Upper Subansiri district, approximately 4.5 kms within Indian territory, the MEA issued a statement suggesting that the village was built “along” the border.

Over 20 Chinese PLA soldiers were injured during a clash on January 18, at Naku La in north Sikkim. 4 Indian Army personnel were injured. The brawl occurred when an Indian Army patrol challenged the Chinese patrol. India has taken up the matter militarily and diplomatically with Beijing.

Taiwan said four Chinese J-16 fighter jets, six H-6 bombers and one anti-submarine aircraft had entered its “air defence identification zone” on January 23.

Chinese media CBN reported on January 22 that as of January 21, 18 Chinese provinces had released economic data for 2020. Among them, in terms of regional GDP growth, all provinces except Hubei have turned positive.

Chinese authorities have reportedly upgraded the charges against detained Chinese writer and human rights lawyer Xu Zhiyong to “subversion of state power,” a more serious charge than the previous charge of “inciting subversion.”

The Global Times reported (January 23) that China's National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, which ended its 25th session on January 22, passed its coastguard legislation. Chinese experts said China will safeguard sovereignty regarding the dispute with Japan over the Diaoyu Islands.

Speaking at the annual conference of the Central Discipline Inspection Commission (CDIC) on January 22, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered an "important" speech where he 'pointed out that 2020 is an extraordinary year in the history of New China.

Recalling that two years ago he had asked "that the greatest challenge we face in the 21st century is not China’s rise, but America’s decline. China’s rise so far has been peaceful, but can the United States’ decline be equally peaceful?", Retired PLA Senior Colonel Zhou Bo in the South China Morning Post (January 22) referred to competition with China.

In an interview with China Newsweek on January 18, Zhang Baijia former Deputy Director of the Party History Research Office of the Central Committee under former General Secretary Hu Jintao, said this is an important year for China as "2020 is the year of a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and the launch of the "14th Five-Year Plan".

In an important and lengthy interview with Beijing News (January 18), Yuan Peng, President of the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR) said: "The United States is sick, China stabilises the world and changes". Contrasting the differences between the US and China, he said when Biden came to power, the epidemic, the economy, and race faced difficult problems.

Caixin (January 19) said Chinese foreign policy experts had told Caixin that with U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's appointment of two senior National Security Council (NSC) officials on Asia-Pacific and China affairs, including Kurt Campbell to a newly created post designed to coordinate Asia policies across the federal government, signalled that the incoming Biden administration may want to continue outgoing President Donald Trump’s “Indo-Pacific” strategy of countering and being tough on China in the region.

In a statement issued minutes after Biden took over as US President on January 20, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: "Over the past few years, some anti-China politicians in the United States, out of their selfish political interests and prejudice and hatred against China and showing no regard for the interests of the Chinese and American people, have planned, promoted and executed a series of crazy moves which have gravely interfered in China's internal affairs, undermined China's interests, offended the Chinese people, and seriously disrupted China-U.S. relations."

Asia Sentinel (January 18) disclosed that an Indonesian fisherman found an underwater drone near the Selayar Islands in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, on December 26.

Qian Feng, Director of the Research Department at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, wrote in the Global Times (January 19) that "India has lately engaged in quite some eye-catching actions.

Anthony Blinken, who has been nominated for the position of US Secretary of State, was quoted by Reuters as saying about Taiwan at his confirmation hearing at the US Senate on January 19, that the US would uphold its commitment to ensure that self-ruled Taiwan, which China sees as a renegade province, has the ability to defend itself.

Taiwan’s representative to the United States, Hsiao Bi-khim, was invited to the inauguration ceremony of the new US President Joe Biden at the Capitol on January 20. Hsiao Bi-khim tweeted a video of herself standing in front of the U.S. Capitol building on January 20.

Caixin (January 19) said that with its digital commerce accounting for more than a third of its economy, China is looking for ways to more effectively tax domestic e-commerce titans like Alibaba, Tencent and Didi Chuxing.

China's Ministry of Commerce announced (January 20) that China is attracting a flood of foreign direct investment (FDI) as its economy continues its comeback from the fallout of its Covid-19 epidemic.

Caixin reported (January 19) that as per official Chinese data, China’s GDP grew 2.3% in 2020 as the world’s second-largest economy managed a steady recovery from the fallout of its Covid-19 outbreak a year ago.

Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei's second daughter Annabel Yao, after graduating in computer science from Harvard University in the US recently announced her plans to enter the entertainment industry by launching a music video called 'Backfire' amid heavy publicity and a documentary about herself called Exceptional Princess.

The New Zealand Herald (January 20) reported that China's highest-profile entrepreneur, Jack Ma, appeared on January 20 in a 48-second online video, ending a 2 1/2-month absence from public view that prompted speculation about the future of the e-commerce billionaire and his Alibaba Group.

A Jamestown Foundation study of January 13, 2021, stated that the Chinese authorities were authorised in 2020 to spend more than US$ 6.6 billion for systematically collecting, analysing, and deleting web posts from the country’s 900 million internet users.

Xinhua (January 13) reporting on the seminar on the 'study and implementation of the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China for major provincial and ministerial cadres' organised by the Central Party School and that started on January 11, said CCP CC General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered an important speech at the opening ceremony, teaching a key lesson for the "critical minority".

Addressing the National Public Security Bureau Directors' Meeting held in Beijing on January 18-199, 2021, State Councillor and Minister of Public Security Zhao Kezhi told the provincial police chiefs on January 19, to prioritise security and social stability in their work this year, making sure all the major events will go well to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the CCP.

Xinhua (January 18) reported that the '2021 Working Conference on Taiwan' was held in Beijing on January 17 and 18. PBSC member and CPPCC Chairman Wang Yang attended the meeting and delivered a speech.

The state-owned CGTN (January 20) reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping inspected (January 19) the preparation work for the 2022 Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang chaired a State Council plenary meeting on January 20, where key documents for the upcoming 'Big Two' Sessions were reviewed. Specifically, the State Council reviewed drafts of The 2021 Government Work Report and The 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) Outline.

An article in the Wall Street Journal (January 9) revealed that Politburo member and former Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi is scheduled to visit Washington this week.

Liu Baolai, former Ambassador to the UAE and Jordan, former Vice President of the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs and presently a senior researcher at the China Foundation for International Studies (CFIS), wrote an article titled “The Middle East: inscrutable in 2021", in Guojiwang on January 6, 2021.

A report in Tibet Times disclosed (January 7) that Tsona Dzong (County) arrested 18 Tibetans on the charges of separatism on January 2 from Shingyon village, Tsonga Dzong, Lhoka (in Chinese: Shannan). 11 of those arrested are females and 7 are males.

Taiwan government data showed that Taiwan’s population shrank for the first time ever in 2020, and it faces a burgeoning demographic crisis similar to those affecting South Korea and Japan. Births last year plunged to 165,000, down seven percent from 2019. Deaths also overtook births for the first time, pushing the island’s overall population down 0.2 percent to 23.56 million. Taiwan’s birth rate has been falling continuously since 2000, a period where wages have remained stubbornly stagnant.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced (January 10) the lifting of all restrictions on contacts with Taiwan by any arm of the US Government. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and Taiwan foreign Minister both promptly welcomed the announcement.

The Taipei Times said (January 6) that Taiwan's Institute for National Defense and Security Research said in its latest 200-page report titled '2020 Annual Assessment of the People’s Republic of China’s Political and Military Developments' on Chinese political and military developments that Chinese academics have added “brain dominance” to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s traditional “three warfares” strategy: public opinion warfare, psychological warfare and legal warfare.

The PLA Navy aircraft carrier 'Shandong' returned to the Sanya Naval Base on January 7, 2021.

Xinhua (January 4) and Newsweek (January 4) separately reported that the recent military orders that Beijing issued appear to suggest that China might be preparing to launch a war in the South China Sea or Taiwan or against U.S. military targets.

China's Ministry of Commerce issued Order No. 1 of 2021 on January 9, 2021, for the purpose of counteracting the impact on China caused by unjustified extra-territorial application of foreign legislation and other measures, safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests, and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, legal persons and other organizations of China.

China's State Council Information Office issued a White Paper on January 10, titled "China's International Development Cooperation in the New Era". The 8-chapter 45-page White Paper outlined areas where China would provide aid including the BRI.

A lengthy article by Dong Zhenhua, Deputy Director of the Department of Research and Philosophy Professor of the National School of Administration Department of the Central Party School in Guangming Daily (January 8) captioned: 'Persevere and cast your soul with great ideas' asserted that "A country and a nation cannot be without a soul.

A report of the Shanghai Academy of Sciences (SAAS) reveals that Thomas Zimmerman, appointed by President-elect Joe Biden as a Special Assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel and as Deputy Lead for National Security Personnel on the Biden-Harris Transition team, has prior experience working in China as a visiting scholar at the Department of International Relations of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (SASS).

A lengthy article captioned 'the morbidity of American democracy' was published by Guangming Daily (January 16) which explained that "America’s democracy may only be as short as fifty. Years of history can only be traced back to the "Voting Rights Act" of 1965, which in its form stipulated that no one should be deprived of the right to vote because of race and color".

A Chinese businessman Hang Wei is poised to take over the recently bankrupted New Richmond, Wisconsin, U.S., aero engine manufacturer Engineered Propulsion System (EPS) through the Hongkong-based company, HyperMacher that he founded.

Shares of smartphone-maker Xiaomi Corp. closed down more than 10% in Hong Kong on January 15, as the U.S. Defense Department added it to its blacklist of enterprises with alleged links to the China's military on January 14, alongwith the Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China Ltd. The surprise move means that Americans need to divest from the company, which benefited from U.S. sanctions against its rival Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. and became the world’s No. 3 smartphone maker in the third quarter last year.

At a regular press briefing on January 15, People’s Bank of China (PBoC) Deputy Governor Chen Yulu said the Ant Group Co. Ltd. is working on a timetable to overhaul its business while ensuring operations continue.

Overseas investors will face tighter scrutiny from January 18, as the Chinese government's 'Measures for the Security Review of Foreign Investment' take effect requiring national security reviews for certain types of foreign investment activity.

A team of rice experts led by 90-year old Yuan Longping, a leading agricultural scientist, Chairman of the International Seawater Rice Forum and academician with Chinese Academy of Engineering, announced (January 15) at a 2-day international forum in Sanya, Hainan, on a saline-alkali tolerant type of rice called seawater rice that 400,000 hectares of saline-alkali lands have been obtained nationwide for producing and commercializing the rice this year.

The Epoch Times and Radio Free Asia (January 14 & January 13 respectively) reported that on January 13, Zhong Shanshan, CEO of Chinese Wantai Biosciences and the richest man in China and Asia, abruptly resigned citing “personal reasons.”

Nikkei reported (January 16) that China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said (January 15) that it is drafting a 29-part Law to strengthen regulation over China's rare earth metals industry.

China's Economic Daily (Jingji Ribao - January 17) published a lengthy interview with Xue Qikun (薛其坤院士) captioned “The quantum technology revolution is a major historical opportunity". Xue Qikun is with the Department of Physics of Tsinghua University and briefs the Politburo annually on Emerging Technologies.

Ouyang Ziyuan, a Chinese Academy of Sciences academician and first chief scientist of China’s lunar probe project, suggested (January 13) that China should establish a space station in lunar orbit rather than one orbiting the earth. He said “It’s better to build the space station in moon orbit so the future moon landing would not be as difficult as the former Apollo program”.

The Global Times (January 17) disclosed that Plateau Special Forces of the PLA Tibet Military Command have been equipped with the latest combat uniforms with a camouflage pattern that can perfectly hide them in the surroundings.

Global Times (January 17) quoting the Chinese defense industry magazine Ordnance Industry Science Technology said China's Type 003 aircraft carrier, which is expected to be very different from the previous two with much larger displacement and featuring electromagnetic catapults, could be launched in 2021 and enter naval service around 2025.

Wang Yang, Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), presided over a meeting of CPPCC chairpersons to discuss preparations for the CPPCC’s annual session. The meeting decided that this year’s session will commence on March 4 and discuss in detail formulation of the 14th Five-Year Plan.

Ministerial-level officials concluded their four-day (January 11-14) workshop on Xi Jinping’s new development philosophy at the Central Party School.

The Strait Times reported (January 18) that 57-year old Dr. Li Shulei, a member of President Xi Jinping's inner circle was last month appointed Executive Vice President of the Central Party School prior to next year's Party Congress suggesting to analysts that he is probably being positioned to take over as President of the Central Party School from Chen Xi.

January 18th marks the 16th death anniversary of the late former CCP CC General Secretary Zhao Ziyang. Zhao Ziyang's daughter Wang Yannan, son-in-law Wang Zhihua and others went from his former residence at No: 6, Fuqiang Hutong to the cemetery in Changping Tianshou Garden in Beijing. Nearly 10 plainclothes police officers were stationed outside Zhao Ziyang's former residence at Fuqiang Hutong.

Myron Brilliant, head of international affairs for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce was quoted by Reuters (January 13) as saying he sees “every indication” that a high-ranking delegation of Chinese officials will visit Washington early in the administration of President-elect Joe Biden.

Xinhua (January 14) publicised Chinese President Xi Jinping's reply of January 6 to Howard Schultz, Honorary Chairman of the Board of Directors of Starbucks Corporation of the United States, encouraging him and Starbucks to continue to play an active role in promoting Sino-US economic and trade cooperation and the development of bilateral relations.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on January 14 issued a statement imposing visa restrictions on People’s Republic of China (PRC) individuals, including executives of state-owned enterprises and officials of the Chinese Communist Party and People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, responsible for, or complicit in, either the large-scale reclamation, construction, or militarization of disputed outposts in the South China Sea, or the PRC’s use of coercion against Southeast Asian claimants to inhibit their access to offshore resources in the South China Sea.

The U.S. announced (January 14) a full and total ban on Xinjiang cotton and tomato products, following a partial ban from September 2020. The total ban also applies to products processed or manufactured in third party countries and effectively bars 20 percent of the world’s cotton from entering the U.S. because it is tainted by forced labor.

“America Against America”, a book authored during an academic visit to the U.S. in 1988 by the CCP's top theoretician and No: 5 top leader, Wang Huning predicted that America’s emphasis on “individualism, hedonism and democracy” would eventually cause rifts that sapped its competitive drive. It said countries like Japan -- built on “collectivism, selflessness and authoritarianism” -- had the upper hand and forecast the U.S.’s decline due to domestic conflicts.

An article critical of the US and authored by Dr. Zhang Jian, Assistant President of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR) and concurrently Director of the CICIR Institute of European Studies, was published in the Guangming Daily (January 12) under the caption 'The decline of American values'.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi embarked on a four-nation tour of Southeast Asia.

The South China Morning Post reported (January 10) that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Nigeria, Congo (DRC), Botswana, Tanzania and Seychelles between January 4 and 9.

The state-owned CCTV (January 11) telecast as its lead news item Chinese President Xi Jinping's congratulatory message to Kim Jung-Un on his re-election as General Secretary of the Korean Workers Party (KWP). parties and the two countries".

In 1984, the Chinese Communist Party decided to establish schools for Tibetan students in Chinese provinces and cities as part of the so-called “nationwide aid to Tibet.”

A hard-hitting editorial in the Global Times (January 10), in response to the U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo’s announcement on January 9, 2021, entitled “Pompeo may have started the count-down of Taiwan’s final days,” stated that “Pompeo once again is frantically digging holes and placing mines for Sino-US relations and the Taiwan issue.

The South China Morning Post (January 13) reported that the NPC Standing Committee will consider denying Hongkongers with BN(O) status the right to vote in the city at its upcoming session from January 20-24.

In a bid to rein in the soaring youth unemployment, the Hong Kong government is offering employers a monthly grant of HK$10,000 (US$1,290) for each recent college graduate they hire as part of efforts to encourage jobs for young people in the Greater Bay Area.

Commenting on China’s new white paper on international development cooperation in an article in the Diplomat on January 13, Zhang Chao, an assistant researcher at the Institute of European Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Tang Yuxuan, a research associate in the International Development Cooperation Academy at the Shanghai University of International Business and Economics, observed that this is the third such white paper that China has published on its development efforts, and the first since 2014.

In a lengthy article in the Economic Daily (January 12), Ma Baocheng, a Researcher at the Central Party School (National School of Administration) Xi Jinping Research Center for Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era, emphasised that "Safety is the prerequisite for development, and development is the guarantee of safety".

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers stated (January 13) in a post that Semiconductor chip shortage issues will continue to disrupt China’s production of automobiles in the coming months.

Caixin (January 11) reported that China’s large maker of microchips, the Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC), has received a brief reprieve after being told last week that its shares would immediately be barred from the OTCQX Market, an over-the-counter Wall Street securities market.

Caixin (January 9) reported that after tightening regulations the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, China's top banking regulator, fined several state-owned banks and financial institutions a total of nearly 200 million yuan ($31 million) for violations mostly in wealth management and small business loans.

China's Hebei Province issued an emergency order on January 6, to prevent disruption of fresh milk and chick deliveries during the region's Covid-19 lockdown this month. Hebei's capital city Shijiazhuang has been locked down, and authorities have limited transportation all over the province after 39 new cases prompted testing that turned up another 354 cases.

13 members of the 15-member W.H.O. team arrived in Wuhan, China on January 14.

The Global Times (January 13) and state-owned CCTV publicised that a new type of military-use exoskeleton suit that is powered and that can be used for carrying ammunition, and known as the portable ammunition support assist system for individual soldiers, is due to enter service with the PLA border defense troops. The new type of exoskeleton suit can provide 20 kilograms of assisted strength to its user and relieve more than 50 percent of the burden and greatly reduce risks of waist injury.

China Daily (January 12) quoted a Shanghai official as saying that renovation of the Memorial for the site of the CCP's First National Congress in Shanghai will be completed by May for the upcoming centenary of the founding of the Party in July.

On January 9, China's Political and Legal Affairs Commission met in Beijing system to discuss their priorities for the coming year. It emphasised that the number one priority for 2021 is having the right political orientation.

The 25th session of the 13th NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC) will be held from January 20 to 22. The NPCSC used to hold regular bimonthly sessions in even-numbered months, but seems to have abandoned that routine after the CCP’s recent Five-Year Plan on Building the Rule of Law in China directed the standing committees of people’s congresses to meet more frequently.

Xinhua (January 10) released the Plan to Build the Rule of Law in China (2020-2025).

Xinhua (January 11) reported that a special seminar on the study and implementation of the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CCP CC "for major provincial and ministerial leaders was held in the Central Party School on January 11.

An article in the Wall Street Journal (January 9) revealed that Politburo member and former Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi is scheduled to visit Washington this week.

Liu Baolai, former Ambassador to the UAE and Jordan, former Vice President of the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs and presently a senior researcher at the China Foundation for International Studies (CFIS), wrote an article titled “The Middle East: inscrutable in 2021", in Guojiwang on January 6, 2021.

A report in Tibet Times disclosed (January 7) that Tsona Dzong (County) arrested 18 Tibetans on the charges of separatism on January 2 from Shingyon village, Tsonga Dzong, Lhoka (in Chinese: Shannan). 11 of those arrested are females and 7 are males.

Taiwan government data showed that Taiwan’s population shrank for the first time ever in 2020, and it faces a burgeoning demographic crisis similar to those affecting South Korea and Japan.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced (January 10) the lifting of all restrictions on contacts with Taiwan by any arm of the US Government. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and Taiwan foreign Minister both promptly welcomed the announcement.

The Taipei Times said (January 6) that Taiwan's Institute for National Defense and Security Research said in its latest 200-page report titled '2020 Annual Assessment of the People’s Republic of China’s Political and Military Developments' on Chinese political and military developments that Chinese academics have added: “brain dominance” to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s traditional “three warfares” strategy: public opinion warfare, psychological warfare and legal warfare.

The PLA Navy aircraft carrier 'Shandong' returned to the Sanya Naval Base on January 7, 2021.

Xinhua (January 4) and Newsweek (January 4) separately reported that the recent military orders that Beijing issued appear to suggest that China might be preparing to launch a war in the South China Sea or Taiwan or against U.S. military targets.

China's Ministry of Commerce issued Order No. 1 of 2021 on January 9, 2021, for the purpose of counteracting the impact on China caused by unjustified extra-territorial application of foreign legislation and other measures, safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests, and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, legal persons and other organizations of China.

China's State Council Information Office issued a White Paper on January 10, titled "China's International Development Cooperation in the New Era". The 8-chapter 45-page White Paper outlined areas where China would provide aid including the BRI.

A lengthy article by Dong Zhenhua, Deputy Director of the Department of Research and Philosophy Professor of the National School of Administration Department of the Central Party School in Guangming Daily (January 8) captioned: 'Persevere and cast your soul with great ideas' asserted that "A country and a nation cannot be without a soul.

The 10 Chinese nationals caught on December 10, for operating a terror cell in the capital city of Kabul have been allowed by the Afghan authorities to leave the country on January 3.

In an Op-Ed published by London’s Daily Telegraph, George Brandis, Australia’s High Commissioner in London and former senior Australian government minister, offered sharp observations on the significance of the dispute between Canberra and Beijing that intensified over the course of 2020 and saw China restrict a raft of Australian exports.

Bloomberg reported (January 5) that, in a surprise move, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) said it will no longer delist China’s three biggest state-owned telecommunications companies, backtracking on its earlier decision.

China's state-owned CCTV on January 5 telecast a programme on the rioting in Washington DC with the caption: "Pressure recording reveals that Trump still wants to "turnover" Will Washington become a "battlefield"?

Zhao Gancheng, a senior researcher at the Shanghai Institute of International Studies posted an article on China's social media on January 3, where he said: "The downward trend in Sino-Indian relations does not seem to be over yet".

Well-known Chinese news site NetEase reported on December 28, that, according to multiple Indian media sources, the Indian government has informally asked all airlines not to fly in any Chinese customers. It said this includes domestic airlines as well as foreign airlines.

The South China Morning Post (January 6) reported that in a rare move, the US State Department made public the schedule of the closed-door talks, to be held online at 6.30 pm on January 6, in Washington (7.30 am Thursday in Taipei) with Clarke Cooper, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, among those taking part.

Hongkong Police arrested dozens of Hong Kong’s opposition lawmakers and activists on January 6, morning under a major National Security Law operation, with local media reporting as many as 50 were being detained.

Several thousand Tibetans in exile voted on January 3, 2021, in the first round of the two-round elections for the President (Sikyong) and the parliament of the Central Tibetan Administration. This primary round was to elect candidates for the two offices, with the main elections to be held on Sunday, April 11, 2021.

Asia Times reported (January 6) that China had denied visas to a 10-member WHO team leaving for China to enquire into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. W.H.O. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was quoted saying he was "shocked" by the visa ban.

On the fifth anniversary of the PLA Rocket Force (PLARF) on December 31, 2020, Bayi TV, a subsidiary of the Chinese military media "China Military Network," launched five short films, which showed conventional warheads, short-range, medium-range, intercontinental ballistic missiles, and long-range cruise missiles.

According to the Chinese Media Observer network, a new box-type rocket launcher has been inducted in the PLA.

Global Times (January 4) said the state-owned CCTV had revealed (January 3) that China's military post at the highest altitude in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) was the Gamba Post north of Sikkim at an altitude of 5,592 meters.

On December 22, the Chinese Academy of History, a subsidiary of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), published a highly controversial 4,000-character article entitled "Being Down to Earth, Youth Without Regrets! Educated youth going to the countryside is a great feat to promote social progress!".

The All-China Women’s Federation, recently said that women comprise 37.5 per cent of the 4 million members of the Party’s neighbourhood and village committees, which enforce Party mandates and maintain social order. But, the higher women move up the rungs of government hierarchy, the fewer their female peers.

On January 4, the Central Discipline Inspection Commission/National Supervisory Commission official website announced that Deng Huilin, Deputy Mayor of Chongqing, had been expelled from the party, sacked, and remanded to the Procuratorate for a criminal investigation.

Xinhua (January 5) reported that the CCP CC had issued a circular confirming the revisions comprising 14 Chapters and 61 Articles approved at a meeting of the CCP CC Political Bureau in November 2020.

Xinhua disclosed (January 5) that the CCP had issued a new rule book for CCP members on January 4, which said that cadres can make complaints about their superiors but are prohibited from airing them in public. China Daily (January 5) said the rules list 13 rights of CCP members.

The Global Times (Chinese version - January 7) reported that the state-owned CCTV (January 6) had covered the meeting of the National Propaganda Ministers held in Beijing on January 6.

On January 4, Xi Jinping, Chairman of the Central Military Commission, signed the Central Military Commission’s Order No. 1 of 2021, issuing a training mobilization order to the entire army.

Xinhua reported (January 7) that the Politburo Standing Committee held a day-long meeting on January 7 to listen to the work reports of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the State Council, the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the Supreme People’s Court, and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate and the work of the Central Secretariat report.

Nikkei reported (January 1) that Japan has begun to develop unmanned, remote-controlled fighter aircraft capable of breakneck manoeuvres that will be deployed as early as 2035, to counter advancements in China's military technologies and the rise of drone warfare.

The Yomiuri Shimbun reported (January 3) that 4 Chinese government ships were confirmed by the 11th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters in Naha as sailing in the contiguous zone off the Senkaku Islands, which are part of Okinawa Prefecture, on January 1, night.

Writing in the Guangming Daily (January 3), Su Xiaohui, Department of China Institute of International Studies, Deputy Director of the Institute of American Studies, stressed that China's foreign policy is based on the tradition of five thousand years of outstanding civilization and it has been recognized as a country of etiquette since ancient times.

Two U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers USS John S. McCain and USS Curtis Wilbur sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait on December 31 provoking a protest from Beijing. This is the 13th sailing through the strait by the U.S. Navy this year.

China’s largest producer of electric vehicle batteries, The Fujian province-based Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL), is boosting its capacity with investments totalling 39 billion yuan ($6 billion) in three centres around the country.

The Tibetan diaspora is getting ready to vote in its elections to be held later this year. Seven candidates, including one woman, from 26 countries are enrolled for the 2021 elections.

In a lengthy interview to the People's Daily (January 2), China's Minister for Science and Technology Wang Zhizhang emphasised, inter alia, the leading role envisaged for S & T. He said that "The influence and support of strategic scientific and technological forces are directly related to the improvement of China's comprehensive national strength and international competitiveness.

CCTV Channel 13 broadcast a military news item on December 27, 2020, about an information-based integrated combat drill held by a light and high-mobility Integrated brigade of the Tibet Military Command at an altitude of more than 4,500 meters.

38 PLA veteran soldiers staged a protest on New Year's Day in Shandong province.

Xinhua (January 2) reported that after Xi Jinping, Chairman of the Central Military Commission's approval the CMC had issued the "Interim Regulations on the Management of Active Duty Officers".

People's Daily (January 2) highlighted CCP CC General Secretary Xi Jinping's remarks at the Central Rural Work Conference where he said: "Food security is an important foundation for national security, and ensuring food security is always the top priority of the country's governance".

A Chinese Foreign Ministry press release reported Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi's speech on December 11, 2020, at the opening ceremony of the Symposium on the International Situation and China's Foreign Relations in 2020 in Beijing entitled "China's Diplomacy in the Midst of Once-in-a-Century Changes and Pandemic: Being Responsible to the Country and Doing its Part for the World".

Speaking on condition of strict anonymity, a Pakistani government official told Nikkei (December 29) that the ITI railroad will connect to China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region through Pakistan's ML-1 railway line.

Dawn (December 30) quoted the Home Minister of Balochistan as saying (December 29) that the provincial government has stopped the fencing work in Gwadar and “The local people will not be kept away from decision-making about Gwadar and a decision about fencing would now be taken after taking the local people into confidence over the issue.”

The South China Morning Post highlighted (December 30) the remarks of Russia's Ambassador to China, Andrey Denisov at the Russian Embassy in Beijing on December 29 that China and Russia do not need to establish a military alliance because their relationship is strong enough already.

Bloomberg reported (January 1) that the British Ambassador to the U.S., Ms Karen Pierce had said in an interview that China and Russia must not emerge as the winners from the coronavirus pandemic.

In the last week of December, US President Trump issued an Executive Order "to protect American investors and pension holders from funding Communist Chinese military companies (CCMCs)".

Hu Xijin, Editor-in-Chief of the Global Times, in an article in the newspaper on December 29, criticised individuals in the West and the Western media for encouraging the Chinese citizen-journalist Zhang Zhan to break Chinese laws and post reports on the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan in February and the Hongkong protests on the social media.

The EU concluded the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment in Brussels on December 30, 2020. Justifying the controversial deal, a Press Release that day said the cumulative EU foreign direct investment (FDI) flows from the EU to China over the last 20 years have reached more than €140 billion.

The PLA Navy announced (December 28) that China's indigenous aircraft carrier Shandong has passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct training in the South China Sea.

Ten Hong Kong fugitives, arrested at sea in August by mainland Chinese authorities while trying to flee to Taiwan, were sentenced to between seven months and three years’ jail by a Shenzhen court on December 29, 2020. The two younger persons were handed over to the local police.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at the regular press conference on December 28, that Indian media reports that China seems to be gradually abandoning its initial funding commitments to Pakistan under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor [CPEC] are groundless.

Nikkei Asia reported on December 24, 2020, that Moutai (aka Maotai) Liquor, one of China’s most famous baijiu, a 100 proof distilled spirit made of wheat and sorghum, often appears on the gift list of wealthy individuals, and sometimes of corrupt officials.

Epoch Times (December 2) disclosed that an internal document it had obtained revealed that a delegation from Hebei province used official visits to foreign countries to help private companies gain access to advanced technologies overseas.

The Global Times (December 28) publicised that the PLA is making progress in modernizing and expanding its arsenal and this will continue over the upcoming year.

The NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC) has sought comments from the public till January 29 on the following draft Laws among 4 others: draft amendment to the NPC Organic Law [全国人民代表大会组织法]; draft Anti–Food Waste Law [反食品浪费法]; draft Anti–Organized Crime Law [反有组织犯罪法]; draft revision to the Military Facilities Protection Law [军事设施保护法]; and draft Law on the Protection of the Status, Rights, and Interests of Military Personnel [军人地位和权益保障法].

Global Times (December 28) publicised, to mark the 127th birth anniversary of Mao Zedong, that a discussion group comprising younger generations of post-1990s or 2000s has been formed mainly for reading the Selected Works of Mao Zedong together on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo. Some Sina Weibo posts displayed photos of young people reading the book.

The National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) held a New Year's tea party in the CPPCC Auditorium on December 31.

Chinese President Xi Jinping's 1,106-word New Year Address delivered on the China Central Radio and Television Station and the Internet was reported by China's entire official media on December 31.

On December 22, a Chinese citizen and his interpreter survived a gun assault on a car showroom in the outskirts of Karachi.

Asia Times (December 25) said that citing security concerns in Balochistan, Pakistan authorities have planned to fence off the entire 24-square-kilometre area surrounding the Gwadar seaport to secure what they call the “crown jewel” of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Japan's Kyodo news agency (December 25) asked at the regular Chinese Foreign Ministry press briefing (December 25) in Beijing for China's response to the Indian Foreign Ministry said the previous day that two Indian freighters arrived near ports in Hebei in June and September respectively, but China hasn't allowed them to harbour in the port and go through clearance citing pandemic regulations.

An 11-member team of senior Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials led by Guo Yechau, Vice Minister of the CCP CC International Department, reached Kathmandu on December 7.

The South China Morning Post reported (December 27) that Hongkong Police is searching for nearly 30 people on suspicion of violating the national security law.

Alibaba Group Holding’s U.S.-listed shares tumbled the most ever, according to Caixin (December 26) due to concern over China’s inquiry into alleged monopolistic practices at the e-commerce company. The stock fell 13% in its biggest one-day drop on record. The decline took Alibaba to its lowest level since July, and the stock is now down 30% from an October peak.

Caixin (December 26)) reported that China’s NPC is expected to revise the Charity Law in an effort to loosen overly stringent regulations governing online donations that threaten to throttle the fast-growing practice.

Officials in Ankara said (December 24) that Sinovac Biotech Ltd.’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate has shown an efficacy rate of 91.25% in Turkey, as per the latest results of clinical trials of the Chinese-developed shot outside China.

The CCP CC decided on December 1, to appoint 58-year old Tang Renjian, Vice Minister of Agriculture, as Secretary of the Communist Party Committee in the Ministry.

On December 26, the Party Secretaries of Jilin, Hunan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Fujian and Hainan on reaching the retirement age were appointed to new positions.

66-year-old Chen Xiaojiang, a Han majority cadre, was appointed head of the National Ethnic Affairs Commission, the body responsible for ethnic minority affairs on December 14, breaking a tradition followed since 1954 of having a member of the minority groups heading the body.

A spokesperson of the CCP CC's United Front Work Department (UFWD) unusually issued an 873-character statement on December 25, responding to an announcement by US Secretary of State Pompeo imposing visa restrictions on United Front Work Department (UFWD) officials.

The People's Daily and authoritative Xinhua news agency front-paged reports (December 26) that the Politburo held a 'Democratic Life' meeting (December 24-25) on the occasion of Mao Zedong's birth anniversary on December 26.

Senior Colonel Tian Junli, the spokesman for the PLA Southern Theatre Command, claimed on December 22 that its military had "expelled" a US destroyer after it "trespassed" into Chinese territorial waters close to the Spratly Islands.

The Chinese Embassy in the USA publicised (December 23) that according to a report released by the Institute of International Education and the U.S. Department of State, China was the largest source of international students in the United States in 2018/19 with 369548 students, contributing $14.9 billion to the U.S. economy in 2018.

Kwongwah, the world’s oldest privately owned Chinese daily newspaper in Malaysia, reported (December 14) that the U.S. State Department sponsored the Mekong Dam Monitor Plan, which it just introduced.

The U.S. Commerce Department on December 21, added more than 58 Chinese and 45 Russia companies to a new list of companies it said to have links to their nations’ militaries.

the Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2020 (TPSA) was passed by the United States Senate on December 22, with bipartisan support. The TPSA makes it official United States policy that decisions regarding the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama are exclusively within the authority of the current Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhist leaders and the Tibetan people.

Huanqiu, the Chinese-language version of the Global Times, on December 20, published an editorial captioned "Do your own thing well and not be constrained by the U.S. and the West."

The English-language China Daily (December 24) in an editorial said China-U.S. relations have undergone the most difficult period since the establishment of diplomatic relations and whether bilateral relations can get back on track is the focus of the world.

Germany’s U.N. envoy Ambassador Christoph Heusgen, during his last scheduled U.N. Security Council meeting on December 23, appealed to China to free two detained Canadians for Christmas. Germany finishes a two-year term on the 15-member council at the end of this month and Ambassador Christoph Heusgen plans to retire after more than 40 years as a diplomat.

The State-owned CCTV-4's International News Channel on December 22, telecast a news report that noted the United States had put 45 Russian companies on the sanctions list and will also close the last two consulates in Russia. It said US-Russian relations have 'once again fallen to a freezing point' and that 'Putin asked the Russian army to make military preparations for NATO threats and promptly respond if necessary'.

In an article published by the Global Times on December 23, Hu Xijin, Editor-in-Chief of the Global Times, commented on the second joint aerial strategic patrol in the Asia-Pacific region by the air forces of China and Russia on December 22 over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea.

Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS) recently arrested 10 Chinese citizens on charges of espionage and running a terror cell. They are believed to be linked to China’s Ministry of State Security. The crackdown by the NDS started on 10 December.

During the Gaden Ngamchoe annual festival in Lhasa on December 10, there was heavy police presence in front of Tsuglakhang and on Barkhor street to keep a close watch over a large group of Tibetans circumambulating the holy sites.

The China National Space Administration announced that China's new medium-lift carrier rocket Long March-8 made its maiden flight on December 22, sending five satellites into the planned orbit.

Radio Free Asia reported (December 18) that in a recent interview with Tencent Finance, a well-known Chinese economist Yao Yang, head of Peking University’s National School of Development, said that the epidemic has had a profound impact on the domestic economy.

Caixin reported (December 21) that China’s biggest fintech companies removed savings products linked to regional banks from their online platforms amid heightened scrutiny from regulators concerned that the funds are being raised by unstable smaller lenders and could fuel financial risks.

The annual Central Economic Work Conference (December 16-18) put forward the “five fundamentals “五个根本”. They make up one of the key themes in the propaganda consequent to the Central Economic Work Conference.

Caixin (December 21) quoted Bloomberg as reporting that China had introduced a new regulation that will allow government agencies to preview, deny and punish foreign investment activities in areas that are deemed as important to national security.

Caixin (December 23) reported that a rally in Chinese corn prices has spurred the government to take the unusual step of bolstering supply at a time when sales from farmers are poised to expand. The Chinese government disclosed a plan last week to resume state corn sales, the first time in years it is doing so during a seasonal peak period for farmers’ sales.

Liu Shijin, Deputy Director of Economic Affairs at the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), suggested that targets for carbon emissions reduction should be included in the 14th Five Year plan with progress posted as the country seeks to achieve carbon neutrality.

An 826-character sharply worded commentary by "Xin Zhiping" -- a pseudonym for a Xinhua media platform dedicated to promoting Xi Jinping thought -- published on December 16, 2020, appeared to be directed at people who have been critical of China's more assertive stance towards America.

The 24th meeting of the 13th National People's Congress Standing Committee held its second plenary meeting in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on the morning of December 23.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) declined to participate in the virtual Military Maritime Consultative Agreement (MMCA) Work Group and Flag Officer Plenary session with U.S. Indo-Pacific Command scheduled for December 14-16, 2020.

The Washington Post (December 18) reported that Mandarin-speaking protesters shouting profanities and carrying signs with a variety of false accusations have been arriving every day since December 1, outside the suburban home in New Jersey of widely respected Chinese dissident and scholar at Hunter College in New York, Teng Biao.

The South China Morning Post (December 17) quoted a CCTV report which disclosed that the previous week the PLA had deployed Type 96A main battle tanks and Type 04 infantry fighting vehicles in a mock street combat exercise in a possible war against Taiwan.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said during a press conference on December 18, that bilateral investment treaty talks between China and the EU had entered the “final phase.”

China's State Council Information Office will release a white paper on the country's Energy development on December 18 afternoon.

Wu Yanhua, a Vice Administrator of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), told reporters at a press conference on December 17, that the Chinese government is willing to work with international institutions and scientists and share the lunar samples and relevant detection data collected by the Chang’e 5 moon probe, which returned to earth this week.

A report titled, “Chinese nuclear forces, 2020” published by the Federation of American Scientists on December 10 examines China’s nuclear arsenal, which is estimated to have surpassed France’s as the world’s third largest.

Earlier in December, China set up three new villages near the Bum La pass near the India-China-Tibet Tri-junction.

Z-20 helicopters entered service this week with PLA’s Tibet Military District (TMD). First displayed in China’s 2019 military day parade, the TMD is only second army aviation unit to operate the Z-20 advanced helicopters.

At a promotion ceremony at the PLA Hqrs in Beijing on December 18, Lt General Zhang Xudong was promoted to full General and appointed Commander of the Western Theatre Command replacing General Zhao Zongqi, who has retired on reaching 65 years of age.

According to the Chinese Ministry of Education, as of November 2020, the total number of full-time and part-time registered teachers of ideological and political theory courses in higher education institutions in the country exceeded 100,000, an increase of nearly 60 per cent since 2015.

The Central Economic Work Conference was held under Chinese President Xi Jinping's chairmanship from December 16-18, 2020. Chinese officials proposed tougher antitrust restrictions at the key economic planning meeting, as the Chinese government targets the growing power of the country's technology groups.

Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported (December 11) that on December 10, World Human Rights Day, the U.S. State Department had announced sanctions on 17 foreign government officials and their immediate family members for "serious human rights violations".

The US Departments of State and Treasury announced (December 14) sanctions on 14 Chinese officials for their actions in Xinjiang province, Tibet, Taiwan and the South China Sea and the crackdown on pro-democracy advocates in Hong Kong.

Xinhua reported (December 9) that Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron had reached important consensus on China-France cooperation in the next stage during their phone conversation on December 9 evening.

Baolige Wurina, an Inner Mongolian activist who escaped to Sweden from Inner Mongolia ten years ago due to persecution by the authorities for his activism on rights issues for ethnic Mongols, is now at risk of being deported following the Swedish Migration Court’s decision in late November, to turn down his appeal for a review of the Migration Board’s decision from January 2019 not to grant him a new residence permit.

A recent survey by 'The Hongkongers' found that over 600,000 Hongkong residents eligible for the earlier BN(O)C status now expect to migrate to the UK within two years. They are mainly educated and earn higher wages than the average in the UK, but have no friends or family in the UK.

On December 11, China announced plans to launch a new imaging satellite to monitor Arctic shipping routes. The satellite will employ Synthetic Aperture Radar technology able to observe the Earth’s surface even during night time and through cloud layers or smoke. The spacecraft will be placed into a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 720 kilometres and produce high-quality imagery.

At the end of November, the team of Professor Jiang Zonglin of the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Mechanics published a research paper in the Chinese Journal of Aeronautics, a peer-reviewed academic publication.

China's investment in Space has this year for the first time surpassed that of Russia. A recent tabulation by the US-China Institute shows that while the US invests 58% of the world total or US$ 41 billion in Space exploration, this year China invested US$ 5.8 billion exceeding Russia's US$ 4.2 billion. The rest of the world together accounts for US$ 19.8 billion.

The state-owned CCTV on December 17, announced the safe return of China's spacecraft Chang'e-5 carrying lunar samples. It said the landing was in accordance with the three-step plan of the Chinese lunar exploration project "circle, fall, and return".

The People's Daily and CCTV (December 17) announced that Chairman of the Central Military Commission Xi Jinping signed an order to issue the newly revised "Army Measurement Regulations"] The Chairman of the Central Military Commission Xi Jinping signed an order a few days ago to issue the newly revised "Army Measurement Regulations", which will come into effect on January 1, 2021.

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers projected on December 11, that sales of new-energy vehicles in China, which include electric, plug-in hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles, will jump 40% in 2021 to 1.8 million units as Tesla’s expansion of local production and price cuts help to lift that market.

China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), after summoning people from the country’s 10 top electricity utilities including Huaneng Group, Datang Group, Huadian Group, and State Power Investment Corporation to a meeting on December 12, stipulated that coal purchase prices for power companies should not exceed 640 yuan ($97.7) per ton.

Xinhua (December 14) published an article addressing key public concerns about an upcoming rise in the retirement age. It recalled that raising the retirement age was explicitly mentioned in the Party's recommendations for the 14th Five-Year Plan.

Having replaced its one-child policy with the two-child policy, China expects to abolish population control soon. Yi Fuxian, a senior scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, however, says the impact of the one-child policy on China’s economy, society, politics and national mentality will last for a long time.

In an Opinion piece in Radio Free Asia (October 22), US-based 'Tiananmen democracy protestor' Wang Dan outlined how the CCP CC was flouting its own decision of October 20, 1980, which explicitly stated: “Portraits of the current Communist Party leader are forbidden to be displayed in public, no personality cult will be tolerated.”

The CCP CC's Organisation Department and the Ministry of Finance have named Jilin as a pilot province for the 3-year “red village” project, which aims to promote the core values of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Radio Free Asia reported (November 27) that China's Ministry of Public Security announced that China has launched a new pilot program on “Internet ID Cards” in Fujian and Guangdong provinces. Instead of using the personal ID to register for internet service, the new technology uses the applicants’ biometrics.

Xinhua (December 12) reported that after its 26th 'collective study session' on December 11, the Politburo meeting chaired by Chinese President Xi Jinping decided on a series of ten measures to tighten security.

2020 is likely to regarded as the "big year" of the local political reshuffle of the CCP.

The state-owned CCTV news (December 13) telecast Chinese President Xi Jinping's "important" speech entitled "Continuing the past and opening a new journey of the global response to climate change" at the Climate Ambition Summit on December 12.

CCTV News (December 11) reported that on December 8, the CCP CC held a non-party symposium in Zhongnanhai to listen to the opinions of the central committees of the democratic parties, the heads of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce and representatives of non-party personalities on the economic situation this year and the economic work next year.

Xinhua (December 11) reported that Chinese President and CCP CC General Secretary Xi Jinping chaired a meeting of the Politburo in Beijing on December 11 to analyze and study the economic work in 2021.

Xinhua reported (December 11) that CCP CC General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over a meeting of the Politburo Standing Committee to listen to reports on the work of the CDIC's State Supervision Commission in 2020 and the preparations for the fifth plenary meeting of the 19th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CDIC).

Reuters and The Associated Press quoted Indonesian President Joko Widodo on December 6, said he was "very grateful" to China for supplying the first batch of 1.2 million doses of the new crown vaccine.

The Hong Kong online news media HK01 Network on November 30, reported that the Japanese government had decided to replace all unmanned aircraft that provincial governments operated with more secure Japanese products.

Global Times (December 5) reported that, in the name of national security, the German government prohibited the Chinese acquisition of a German satellite technology company IMST. IMST developed the critical components of Germany’s TerraSAR-X observation satellite.

The Japan-China Economic Research (JCER) institute in a recent study forecast that in 2020, only China, Vietnam and Taiwan are on track to maintain positive year-on-year growth rates.

Former Democratic presidential candidate and former Mayor of South Bend, Idaho, Pete Buttigieg may be headed for China as the incoming Biden Administration’s ambassador to Beijing. He is also tipped as in the running for a number of other leadership positions in the Biden Administration.

Di Dongsheng, Professor of International Relations at Renmin University, asked during a speech attended by hundreds of people at an event on November 28, in Shanghai hosted by Guancha.cn, while discussing the trade war started by Trump: “So why can’t we fix the Trump administration? Why between 1992 and 2016 were China and the US able to settle all kinds of issues?”

Speaking via video-link to the US-China Business Council on December 7, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed the hope that US-China relations would stabilise with the Biden Administration. He said, “We expect and believe that the US’ China policy will return to objectivity and rationality sooner or later.”

Ji Tao, Editor-in-Chief and President China Daily USA, on December 7, tweeted that "It's time to stop targeting Chinese students in the US. The damage has been done. In the first nine months this year, student visa visits from China to the US fell by almost 70%, as compared with that of 2019."

Professor Mao Zhenhua, founder-Chairman of the China Chengxin Group, Chief Economist of China Chengxin International, and Co-Director of the Institute of Economics, Renmin University of China, delivered an interesting speech on how China can reduce US pressure at the 20th Yabuli Forum -2020 on November 18-20, 2020.

China and Pakistan started the Shaheen -- or Falcon -- IX joint air force exercises at the newly operational Bholari airbase in Sindh, less than 200 kilometres from the Indian border, on December 9.

On December 8, Hong Kong Island Regional Criminal Unit officers arrested Leung Kwok-hung, Figo Chan and Tang Sai-lai of the League of Social Democrats, and Eastern District Councillors Tsang Kin-sing, Andy Chui and Lancelot Chan bringing to eight the number of pro-democracy figures arrested so far on suspicion of the unauthorised assembly during a July 1 protest.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) issued a report on December 7, 2020, on the state of the global arms industry in 2019.

Major Taiwanese news network Liberty Times Network (LTN) reported on November 30, that, according to the latest numbers from IDC, Huawei sold 2.5 million smartphones in the Western Europe market, representing a year-over-year free fall of 58.7 per cent.

China's State Council announced (December 7) that Liu Guiping had been appointed Vice Governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) replacing Zhu Hexin, who left the PBoC to become Party secretary of CITIC Group back in March.

Bloomberg reported (December 11) that Chinese authorities on December 7, detained Haze Fan, who works for the Bloomberg News bureau in Beijing, on suspicion of endangering national security.

Tang Jitian, a Human Rights lawyer in China was taken away by the Chinese Ministry of Public Security officers on December 8.

An article by Renmin University Professor Han Xing was published by the Beijing Daily on December 7, with the caption 'What is the starting point of Confucianism for learning? This article makes it clear'.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang chaired a meeting of the National Science and Technology Leading Small Group (NS&TLG) on December 7.

CCTV telecast the 'Marxist Theoretical Research and Construction Engineering Work Conference' held in Beijing on December 10. Politburo Standing Committee member and Secretary of the CCP CC Secretariat Wang Huning attended the meeting and delivered a speech.

According to a Kyodo News report on November 29, seven defense-related Chinese universities that conduct military technological research have academic and student exchange agreements with a total of 45 public and private universities in Japan, among which nine Japanese universities have joint research programs.

The Liberty Times reported on November 29, that while speaking at the China Macroeconomic Forum held at Renmin University in Beijing, Professor Li Daokui of Beijing’s Tsinghua University and a former advisor to the People’s Bank of China, said the recent memoirs published by former US President Obama showed that the Democrats are worried about the rise of China’s technological power.

An editorial in China's official English-language China Daily (December 3) observed that "Although everyone seems to be ready for China-US relations to worsen each passing day for the remainder of the current administration's term, such developments are worrisome signs that bilateral ties are being effectively shifted onto a dangerous path".

Speaking at the Beijing Xiangshan Forum on December 2, Yan Xuetong, Dean of the Institute of International Relations at Beijing’s Tsinghua University cautioned against “wishful thinking” about the incoming Biden administration and anticipated that “Unpredictability, uncertainty will still be the basic characteristic of the coming years” and “The world will definitely become more chaotic.”

Writing in the Global Times (December 4) Zhang Tengjun, Assistant Research Fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, described the imposition of restrictions on members of the CCP and their family members "as yet another hysterical anti-China policy" and "part of the all-out China containment strategy advocated by the Trump administration since the beginning of this year".

Reuters (December 4) reported that the US State Department announced on December 4 that it has ended five cultural exchange programs with China because they are "soft power propaganda tools."

The Wall Street Journal reported (December 4) that the US Justice Department is talking to representatives of Meng Wanzhou, Chief Financial Officer of Huawei Technologies Co. and daughter of its founder, that could see her freed to return home from Canada after her detention in December 2018, in exchange for signing a deferred prosecution agreement.

According to UK media reports former Democratic Party Legislative Council (Legco) member, Xu Zhifeng suddenly withdrew from the Democratic Party and went into exile .

Taiwan’s Central News Agency announced (December 3) that the ROC government had expelled a reporter from China’s Southeast Television who was stationed in Taiwan. He was expelled for violating relevant regulations that prohibit renting a studio in Taiwan in order to host a political program.

Radio France International (November 9) reported that In an article published in the state media People’s Political Consultative Conference Newspaper, the former Deputy Director of the Taiwan Affairs Office under China’s State Council, Wang Zaixi said, “It may be difficult to achieve the purpose of reunification across the strait if we do not use military force and rely solely on political negotiations, non-governmental exchanges, and unconditionally making compromises.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said at the regular press briefing on December 4, that latest Eurostat data showed that China had edged past the US in the third quarter to become the EU's largest trade partner.

Nedal Nassar, chief of the Materials Flow Analysis Section at the National Minerals Information Center at the U.S. Geological Survey, told POLITICO (December 2) that a USGS review of 50 commodities identified cobalt as one of the materials at highest risk of supply disruptions.

The Hurun Rich List data compiled in October 2020 shows that the number of Chinese billionaires is growing at the fastest pace in the country's history. There are now 878 billionaires under 40 in China -- including 257 newly minted billionaires this year -- worth a total of $4 trillion, breaking their own previous records.

China's military media disclosed (November 29) that according to reports, the Chinese Navy’s latest plan shows that by 2025, the Chinese Navy will have 16 Type 055 destroyers, 50 Type 054A frigates, and 40 Type 052C/D. In addition, construction of the improved version of the Type-054A and Type-054B frigates will start next year.

The People's Daily (December 4) highlighted that various parts of the country had carried out "in-depth study and publicity of Xi Jinping's thoughts on the rule of law, and vigorously promote the spirit of the constitution" theme activities, creating a good atmosphere of respect for law, study and law-abiding in the whole society during the third national "Constitution Propaganda Week" from November 30 to December 6.

Foreign Affairs (December 4) published a lengthy article captioned 'The Party that Failed' by the presently US-based Professor Cai Xia, a former senior faculty member of the Central Party School who became a critic of Xi Jinping who had her pension and other financial benefits seized. Her article gives a vivid account of the policies of China's leaders and particularly her disappointment with Xi Jinping.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng delivered the keynote speech at the International Influence Forum of Think Tanks and the 6th Symposium on the Construction of New Think Tanks hosted by the Chongyang Institute of Finance of Renmin University of China and the Literature and Information Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences on December 5.

The People's Daily on December 3, reported that CPPCC Chairman Wang Yang chaired a meeting of its Ethnic and Religious Committee on December 2 in Beijing. The meeting discussed "building a common spiritual home for all ethnic groups and forging a sense of community for the Chinese nation".

CCTV reported (December 4) that Chinese President Xi Jinping met representatives of the plenary session of the Military Ideological and Political Education Work Conference held in Beijing from December 3 to 4. Xi Jinping met and had a group photograph with them on December 4, at the Jingxi Hotel.

The Hongkong Economic Times (HKET) reported on November 26, that the British government just introduced the Communications Security Bill, which is designed to monitor the nation’s 5G mobile network and its fiber network.

In an interview (December 2) to New York Times' Tom Friedman, the US President-elect Joe Biden said on China that he would not act immediately to remove the 25 per cent tariffs that Trump imposed on about half of China’s exports to the United States — or the Phase 1 agreement Trump inked with China that requires Beijing to purchase some $200 billion in additional U.S. goods and services during the period 2020 and 2021 — which China has fallen significantly behind on.

The New York Times (November 29) cited US Congressmen as saying that Nike and Coca-Cola are among the major companies and business groups lobbying Congress to weaken a bill that would ban imported goods made with forced labour in China’s Xinjiang region as well as lobbying records that show vast spending on the legislation.

The US has added the China National Electronics Import and Export Corporation, a midsize State-owned Enterprise specializing in civil and defense engineering with close ties with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), to the US entity list, freezing its assets in the United States and banning US firms from doing business with it.

The US Director of National Intelligence, John Ratcliff, in an article in the Wall Street Journal on December 3 identifying China as the No: 1 threat and a once-in-a-generation challenge, said he had shifted resources inside the $85 billion annual intelligence budget to increase the focus on China.

Before chairing the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Central Standing Committee meeting in Taipei on December 2, Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen said that Taiwan would take action to back Australians at a time when they are “under tremendous pressure.”

Sparked by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian's remarks and release on November 30, of a photograph found objectionable by the Australian Government, angry rhetoric between the two escalated with calls in Australia for a boycott of Chinese goods.

Chinese Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe paid a 2-day (December 1-3) visit to Pakistan where he met the Pakistan Prime Minister, President and the Chief of Army Staff.

Remarking on Chinese Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe's one-day visit to Kathmandu, Qian Feng, Director of the Research Department of the National Institute of Strategic Studies, Tsinghua University was quoted by Global Times (November 29) as saying that the visit fully demonstrated the importance of China Nepal relations and will greatly improve the trust between the two countries and twp militaries.

On November 30, the CCP-owned Global Times disclosed that China is going ahead with construction of a major hydropower project on the Brahmaputra river.

Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, the founder of the Apple Daily and media group Next Digital, was charged with fraud on December 2 night in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and was to appear in West Kowloon Court on December 3.

Xinhua (December 1) reported that workers are overcoming difficulties to build the first electric railway in Tibet, China. It said the 435-km railway linking Lhasa and Nyingchi is expected to open next year.

CCTV reported (December 3) that the Politburo Standing Committee met on December 3 to listen to a summary and evaluation report on poverty alleviation.

The state-owned 'Voice of China' reported that China's largest pig producer, the pig-farming giant Muyuan Group announced plans to build 84 industrialized pig farms in 13 counties surrounding its headquarters in Nanyang, a city in the hinterland of Henan Province to alleviate China's meat shortage.

Tuber, China's app for Android mobiles that bypasses China's Great Firewall and allows access to banned sites like Google, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Netflix was developed by the Shanghai Fengxuan Information Technology Co., Ltd., in which Qihoo 360, the Beijing-based cybersecurity firm founded by entrepreneur Zhou Hongyi, holds a 70 per cent stake.

31-year old Dong Yaoqiong, the girl who posted a video of her throwing ink on a poster and defacing the image of Xi Jinping in Shanghai in December 2018 in protest against his “authoritarian dictatorship”, once again on December 1, 2020, posted a two-minute video, which has been widely circulated on social media platforms including Twitter.

The official website of the Central Discipline Inspection Commission (CDIC) recently reported that following an investigation by the CCP CC and the State Supervision Commission of the CDIC, Ren Hua, the former Party member and Vice Chairman of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Government, had been expelled from the Party.

Foreign Policy Magazine's China Brief (December 2) reported that Hu Xijin, Editor-in-Chief of the CCP-owned Global Times faces potential political trouble after an accusation by his Deputy Editor-in-Chief Duan Jingtao, that he has fathered two children with employees.

ANI (November 28) reported that several Billboards have appeared in the streets of London on November 28 demanding the arrest of Xinjiang Party Secretary Chen Quanguo.

A lengthy 4225-character article captioned 'Actively create a good external environment (study and implement the spirit of the 5th Plenum of the 19th Central Committee)', by Politburo Member and former Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi was published in the People's Daily on November 30.

The CCP CC Politburo met on November 30 to review the "Regulations on Political Work in the Army," "Regulations on the Work of the United Front of the Communist Party of China," and "Regulations on the Protection of the Rights of Party Members of the Communist Party of China."

Following the release of the Brereton report, which found Australian special forces committed at least 39 unlawful killings during the war in Afghanistan, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) spokesman and Deputy Director of MoFA's Information Department, Zhao Lijian at last week's regular weekly press briefing said China "strongly condemned" the soldiers' actions, and said the report "fully exposed the hypocrisy of the human rights and freedom these Western countries are always chanting".

Shen Shiwei, a news producer of the State-owned CGTN, last week tweeted and later deleted four images establishing that China had formed Pangda village, a new residential area.

Chinese State Councillor and Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe made a one-day visit to Kathmandu on November 29, when he met Nepalese President Bidya Devi Bhandari, Prime Minister K.P.S. Oli and Army Chief General Purna Chandra Thapa.

Taiwan's state-run shipbuilder China Shipbuilding Corporation (CSBC) and the arms developer Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, who were awarded the contract for building eight indigenous submarines in 2016, have started building the first of the submarines at the Kaohsiung shipyard.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Seoul on November 25, after a two-day visit to Japan.

The South China Morning Post reported (November 28) that the PLA Daily had on November 23 said that all Chinese outposts at altitudes of more than 3,000 metres altitudes had been equipped with oxygen generators and troops stationed higher than 4,000 metres would receive mandatory oxygen therapy for an hour each day.

Bloomberg reported (November 28), based on China Customs Administration data, showed that China’s imports of U.S. goods under the phase one trade deal slowed last month after hitting a high in September, leaving the full-year target well out of reach.

Caixin (November 28) reported that Xiaomi Inc. is looking to seize a greater share of its home smartphone market as the market adjusts to the vacuum left by sanctions-struck Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. Xiaomi China's President Lu Weibing said (November 26) that every county-level city in China will have a Mi Home store — which sells the company’s smart home products as well as its handsets — in one year.

The state-owned CCTV on November 28 reported that China's all-sea deep manned submersible the "Struggle", successfully completed the 10,000-meter sea trial and returned successfully on November 28.

Writing in the Asia Times (November 28), Frank Chen claimed that China's National Statistics Bureau was cited by China's State Council at a press conference marking China's 71st anniversary in October, that China now has no less than 400 million middle-class consumers.

The communique issued after the Fifth Plenum (October 26-29, 2020) of the CCP CC says that China is still in a period of important strategic opportunity as the world is “undergoing changes unseen in a century”. The last few paragraphs of the Communique focus on the PLA modernisation and China’s national security.

Stating that the CCP CC's Fifth Plenary Session drew a magnificent blueprint for China's future development, Xinhua (November 27) said it has overall and historical significance in the development of the party and the country.

CCTV (November 27) telecast a report publicising that the development of women's cause was for the very first time included in the "13th Five-Year Plan" outline as a special chapter for the first time, said this was to promote the all-round development of women.

The PLA Daily (November 27) published a report on Xi Jinping's "important" speech at the Military Training Conference of the Central Military Commission held in Beijing on November 25, 2020.

Qiu Shi (November 27) published an article which said that at the opening ceremony of the training class for young and middle-aged cadres at the Central Party School (National School of Administration) in the Fall semester of 2020, CCP CC General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that political ability is the first among the various abilities required for cadres to do their jobs well.

CCP CC General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered an important speech at the National Commendation Conference for Model Workers and Advanced Workers held in Beijing on November 24, where he was quoted by CCTV in its Focus Programme on November 28, as saying "Socialism is done, and the new era is a struggle. Model workers are national elites and people.

Well-known Chinese news site Sina reported on October 30, that based on British media reports, UK intelligence agencies MI5, MI6 and GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) are establishing a new program that is currently hiring “mandarin linguists.”

The Office of Policy Planning Staff of the United States Department of State (DOS) issued a 70-page research report on November 17, which summarized the behaviour of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), analysed the ideological roots behind the behaviour and the vulnerabilities that the Chinese Communist regime faces, and suggested how the United States should respond to China’s challenges.

The National Interest (November 25) reported that the USS Barry (DDG-52), an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, conducted its fourth routine transit through the Taiwan Strait and entered the South China Sea on November 20.

Fu Ying, a former Chinese Ambassador and Vice Foreign Minister and presently the Director of the Center for International Security and Strategy and an adjunct professor at Tsinghua University and also a Vice Chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the 13th National People’s Congress, published an Op-Ed in the New York Times (November 24).

Xinhua reported (November 25) that Chinese President Xi Jinping had sent a message on November 25, to congratulate U.S. President-elect Joe Biden on his election.

Radio France International reported on November 9, that Wang Zaixi, former Deputy Director of the Taiwan Affairs Office under China’s State Council, had recently published an article in the official People’s Political Consultative Conference Newspaper.

HK CE Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor delivered a 24,000-word speech with a number of Chinese Communist Party words over 2 hours 20 minutes to the Hongkong Legislative Council (Legco) on November 25 which was interrupted by pro-democracy legislators who forced her to complete her speech virtually. Her fourth policy speech was described by political observers and Legco members as "underwhelming".

The official China Central Television (CCTV) on November 22, claimed major strides in poverty alleviation in Tibet.

Professor Zheng Gongcheng, a member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), wrote in the Guangming Ribao (November 23) that it is expected that by 2035, China will be considered a “super-aged society.”

The Chinese Edition of Radio France Internationale (RFI) reported (November 11) that, after several incidents of graduate school students committing suicide this year, China's Ministry of Education issued 'The Code of Conduct for Graduate School Teachers'.

A document obtained by the Epoch Times and dated May 28, 2020, from the Yunnan Police Academy titled, “Activities on Promoting the Joint Development of the ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative” reveals that since 2015, the Academy has trained 56 foreign students from Afghanistan, Argentina, Angola, Pakistan, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia, and Myanmar and has granted them Master’s degrees.

The People's Daily on November 14 reported that China's Central Military Commission (CMC) had on November 13, issued the “Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Joint Operations Guideline (Trial Version).” The “Guideline” aims to build the PLA into a world-class army force, with a focus on the establishment of a system of laws and regulations for joint operations.

The CCP CC's Comprehensive Rule of Law Work Conference was held on November 16 - 17, 2020 in Beijing where CCP CC General Secretary and Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered an "important" speech emphasising that China will unswervingly follow the path of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics and promote the modernization of the national governance system and governance capabilities on the track of the rule of law, so as to provide a powerful force for building a modern socialist country and realizing the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Radio Free Asia reported on November 6, that China's National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) had announced (October 30) that a total of 205,000 Chinese journalists had passed the “Xi Thought” exam and obtained a passport-sized Chinese journalist ID card with gold letters against a red background.

On November 23, the CDIC issued a statement on its official website emphasising that the 19th CCP CC's Fifth Plenary Session had "clearly forecast the long-term goal of basically achieving socialist modernization by 2035, and clearly put forward the guidelines, main goals, and key tasks for my country's economic and social development during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period".

The Chinese version of the flagship newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) 'People’s Daily', published (November 25) an article by Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is calling for China to move faster toward becoming technologically self-reliant, a goal that he said will play a decisive role in the country’s economic development agenda for the next 15 years.

The People's Daily published (November 23) an article by Politburo member and Head of China's Publicity (Propaganda) Department, Huang Kunming captioned 'Promote the building of a socialist cultural power (study and implement the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Party)'.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on November 24, addressed a gathering to honour model workers and exemplary individuals where he said China must closely rely on the working class to promote high-quality development and urged the country's working class and working people to strive for new and historic achievements in fully building a modern socialist country.

Attending a meeting on Military Training in Beijing on November 25, the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and Chinese President, Xi Jinping ordered the armed forces to strengthen training under real combat conditions and raise their capability of winning wars.

Caixin reported (November 21) that Malaysia’s state government of Melaka has terminated a $10.5 billion worth agreement with a local developer who partnered with three Chinese companies over a sea reclamation project involving the building of mixed harbour development, including three man-made islands, in the strategic Malacca Strait.

The Epoch Times (November 23) revealed that the China Daily has spent millions for the past six months on U.S. publications, according to its statement filed last week with the US Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

Addressing the 2020 Ministerial to Advance Freedom of Religion or Belief hosted by the Government of Poland on November 17, US Senator and Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback opposed China’s intervention in picking the next Dalai Lama saying, “The United States supports – that religious community has the right to pick their own leadership.

The newly appointed US Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues, Robert Destro, hosted Lobsang Sangay, Prime Minister (also called Sikyong) for an unprecedented meeting at the White House on November 20, 2020. This was the first time in six decades that the leader of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile was invited to the White House.

Zheng Yongnian, Dean of the Shenzhen-based think tank 'Advanced Institute of Global and Contemporary China Studies', was quoted by South China Morning Post (November 22) as saying on the sidelines of the 'Understanding China Conference' in Guangzhou, that there was now a bipartisan consensus in the US on containing China.

According to Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post (November 13), after the US presidential election, China and the United States restarted their stalled behind-the-scenes diplomacy.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Tokyo (Japan) and Seoul (RoK) from November 24 - 27. This will be Wang Yi's first visit to Japan since Yoshihide Suga became Japan's new prime minister. He is expected to meet with Suga during his two-day trip and also meet his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi on November 24.

A Zoom conference with a scheduled six speakers is being held in Canada on November 24 evening to 'Free Meng Wanzhou', CFO of Huawei on the second anniversary of her house arrest.

The South China Morning Post (November 24) reported that about 600 Chinese citizens have been evacuated from the conflict-ridden Tigray region of Ethiopia.

Creditors of Peking University Founder Group Corp. (PUFG) approved a plan (November 19) to restructure the state-owned industrial and investment conglomerate as part of its efforts to resolve its nearly 150 billion yuan ($22 billion) debt pile.

Caixin reported (November 21) that China's State Council approved the establishment of a new committee led by the State Administration for Market Regulation and comprising 17 central government ministries and departments to combat unfair competition as regulators tighten scrutiny of market dominance built up by tech giants such as Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings.

On November 17, Sinopharm Chairman Liu Jingzhen revealed that nearly one million people had been given its COVID-19 vaccines, which are still under Phase III clinical trials.

The People’s Daily published (November 20) an editorial by Ding Xuexiang explaining the Party’s recommendations for the 14th Five-Year Plan. Ding Xuexiang reminded officials that they are meant to be implementing six big economic programs over the next 15 years.

Chen Quanguo, Party Secretary of the Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region and Politburo member did not attend the Chinese Communist Party's 2-day meeting to implement "Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law" held earlier in the week beginning November 16. Normally, the 25 members of the Politburo, including all seven members of the Politburo Standing Committee, would attend.

National People’s Congress Chairman and PBSC member Li Zhanshu concluded a three day inspection tour to Shanxi Province on November 18. Li Zhanshu stressed that policymakers everywhere need to get to work implementing Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law.

The People’s Daily on November 19, published an article by Executive Vice Premier Han Zheng, laying out his thoughts on the Party’s 2035 vision.

On November 21, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang convened a meeting with five provincial governors to get their suggestions on economic policy in preparation for the Central Economic Work Conference (CEWC) to be held in December.

Addressing the 32nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit hosted virtually from Kuala Lumpur on November 20, Xinhua reported that Chinese President “highlighted promoting openness and inclusiveness, accelerating innovation-driven growth, enhancing regional connectivity, and pushing for mutually beneficial cooperation.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping virtually sat down with other heads of state for the G20 Riyadh Summit on November 22 where he opened with some general comments.

Politico reported on September 8 that the China Media Group (CMG), the state media super-conglomerate created in March 2018 through the merger of three major media groups, including China Central Television, China National Radio and China Radio International, is planning to open a European office in Brussels.

The CCP-owned Global Times on October 11 -- the day after Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen's National Day speech -- introduced the first of is 3-part expose on Taiwan's espionage activities in China with an editorial comment.

Taiwan President Tsai ing-wen's National Day speech (October 10) in its penultimate section on International Relations included the comment For some time we have all been paying close attention to changes in regional security.

Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao on October 8, quoted Wu Shicun, President of the National Institute for the South China Sea Studies, as saying that bilateral crisis management and control mechanisms between China and the US were nearly suspended amid all-out confrontation between the two sides, which could lead to misfires if soldiers on both sides clash at sea.

China’s megacity of Shenzhen will use the People's Bank of China's new digital yuan to provide 10 million yuan (US$ 1.5 million) of coupons to residents as part of ongoing pilot programs to test the virtual currency in a sign that it is approaching widespread rollout.

The Chinese box office raked in CNY3.9 billion (US$ 581 million) over the eight-day public holiday that ended on October 8, the second highest amount ever for the golden week after last year's takings of CNY4.5 billion. Patriotic blockbuster 'My People, My Homeland', the sequel to last year's 'My People, My Country', hit the screens on October 1. It came top with takings of CNY1.9 billion (US$ 283 million).

Data from China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism showed that there were 637m trips in China over the eight-day holiday this year, which ended on October 8, generating revenue of Rmb466.6bn ($69.5bn).

Local authorities said that tourism to Xinjiang during the Golden week went up 10.78 per cent from the same period last year on a comparable basis. Xinjiang's Culture and Tourism Department said that the tourism revenue during the holiday from October 1 to 8 reached 8.41 billion yuan (about US$ 1.24 billion).

In the declaration drafted by Germany and presented at the UN General Assembly in New York on October 6, 39 predominantly Western countries denounced China for gross human rights violations in Xinjiang and the Tibet Autonomous Region and for limiting political and personal freedoms in Hong Kong.

The South China Morning Post (October 10) cited a Chinese military source as saying that, counter to the usual practice of giving the latest equipment first to army units of the Eastern and Northern Theatre Commands, frontline troops in western Tibet are now “the top priority” for the PLA logistics department.

Quoting a Chinese a military source, the South China Morning Post said the PLA has instructed its 'propagandists' to steer clear of US election coverage to ensure their reports are not “misread as taking sides” in the presidential race.

South Korea’s ramped-up efforts to get companies to relocate home from China are failing to gain momentum even as the pandemic and U.S.-China trade tensions highlight the risks of over-reliance on China as a manufacturing base.

According to the Yomiuri Shimbun (October 5), the Japanese government will from 2021, be more strict in reviewing the visa applications of international university students and foreign researchers in order to prevent advanced technology and information from flowing to China.

The business news service Axios disclosed on October 6, that it had learnt that a high-ranking German official suppressed a sensitive intelligence report in 2018 on China’s growing influence in Germany out of fear it would damage business ties with China.

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCESRC) released an updated list of Chinese companies listed on the three largest U.S. stock exchanges i.e. NASDAQ, New York Stock Exchange, and NYSE American on October 2.

A People's Daily 'Zhong Sheng' commentary on August 31 said "There’s no doubt that communication is the only thing that stops lies, and dialogues the only way to avoid misjudges. Slandering others doesn't proves one's innocence, and blame games won’t help solve problems.

The Epoch Times (October 3) reported that the U.S. released three major measures against the CCP around October 1, which is China’s National Day. On October 2, the U.S. Immigration Service issued a policy announcement prohibiting Communist Party members and those who have joined the Communist Party from applying for U.S. immigration status.

The Voice of America reported (October 7) that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a first-of-its-kind Homeland Threat Assessment on October 7.

The South China Morning Post on October 7 reported that Yan Xuetong, Dean of Tsinghua University’s Institute of Modern International Relations in Beijing, published an article in the latest issue of its Quarterly Journal of International Politics which said China should stop fighting ideological battles with the United States and trying to prove the superiority of its political system.

An important statement was made by Zhang Ning, a Research Fellow of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), in an article in the 'China Industry Circle' magazine on October 3.

At a "China Rural Development Report 2020" conference and the "14th Five-Year Plan" China Rural Development High-level Forum in Beijing on August 17, jointly held by the Rural Development Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the China Social Sciences Press the "Report on China's Rural Development 2020" was issued in preparation for writing the 14th five-year plan for 2021-25.

Earlier, the Agricultural Trade Promotion Center of China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs announced on September 9, 2020, that China's agricultural imports for January-July 2020 totalled $96.2 billion, up 13 per cent from the same period a year earlier.

Well-known Chinese news site Sohu reported (September 27) that the Sichuan provincial people’s congress proposed a new law to regulate all aspects of the food supply, including agricultural production, storage, distribution, quality assurance, emergency safeguards, and legal responsibilities for key players.

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC), China’s largest computer chipmaker, has been caught in the escalating China-U.S. tech war as it was hit by U.S. trade restrictions limiting access to American suppliers.

The Nikkei Asian Review on October 7, reported that the wealth of China's ultrarich had jumped 41% from April 2019 to the end of July 2020, helping the country's richest citizens to collectively break the $1.5 trillion mark and boost global billionaire wealth to a record high.

China has raised its purchases of Japanese government bonds (JGBs) to the highest level in three and a half years, in an apparent effort to reap greater yields on Beijing’s massive reserves of foreign currencies.

Official Chinese figures estimated that over 1.4 million domestic visitors visited Lhasa, capital of the TAR, over the National Day weekend.

TAR Party Secretary Wu Yingjie visited Bayi, capital of Nyingchi Prefecture, on October 1, where he met the Secretaries of all the Party Committees and briefed them on the 'spirit' of the Seventh Tibet Work Forum.

The People's Daily published four commentaries 'expanding' Chinese President Xi Jinping's speech at the recent Third Central Xinjiang Work Symposium between September 28 and October 1.

The Global Times (October 6) reported that the PLA ground forces had for the first time used 10 UAVs — or drones — to provide logistic support to soldiers stationed at the remote Motuo region in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

Liu Haitao, identified only as an officer of a Brigade of the PLA's 79th Group Army wrote in China Militarynet on October 5, highlighting that "the method of military training is the most important thing and plays a key role in determining whether the army can fight and win battles".

Wu Jianghao who was Director of the Department of Asian Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2017-2020 has been promoted as Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The People's Daily on September 26, reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping had for the first time in history issued "important instructions" that opinions and suggestions be solicited "from all of society" in the process of drawing up the five-year plan.

European politicians and intellectuals, mostly on the progressive Left, published a powerful October 1 Op-Ed in Le Monde denouncing the crime against humanity in Xinjiang.

Exchanging congratulatory messages on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Bangladesh on October 4, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that he stands ready to work with his Bangladeshi counterpart, Md. Abdul Hamid, to better align the two countries' strategies and jointly promote the construction of the Belt and Road, so as to take the China-Bangladesh strategic partnership of cooperation to new heights.

Lt General He Lei, a former Deputy Commander of the Lanzhou Military Region and Vice President of the PLA Academy of Military Science, published an article in the Global Times on October 1, highlighting China's role in the Korean War against the U.S. Saying that the People's Volunteer Army (PVA) "won a great victory in the war", which demonstrated the national prestige of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the military power of the people's army.

The US State Department issued a notice on October 2, 2020, which states that "The inadmissibility ground for membership in or affiliation with the Communist or any other totalitarian party1 is part of a broader set of laws passed by Congress to address threats to the safety and security of the United States.

Sina reported on October 4, that Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), China's partially state-owned publicly-listed semiconductor foundry company, is scaling up its procurement from upstream suppliers in the United States, Europe, and Japan, with a size exceeding a full-year’s demand for 2020.

Wu Jieming, Political Commissar of the National Defense University and Director of the Research Center of Xi Jinping thought of socialism with Chinese characteristics and an Alternate Member of the 19th CCPCC wrote an important lengthy 3079-word article in the Guangming Daily (October 4) emphasising the that "Mastering ideological education is the central link in uniting the whole party in a great political struggle."

The Central News Agency reported (September 26) that former Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj recently wrote to Chinese President Xi Jinping to protest against the authorities’ push for the use of Chinese teaching materials in Inner Mongolia.

The China-appointed Panchen Lama Gyaltsen Norbu, who has been in Tibet for probably the longest uninterrupted stay yet, reached Shigatse on September 15, and gave an audience to the monks of the Tashi Lhunpo monastery the same day.

Writing in the Apple Daily's Special Column on September 2, Chinese TAM dissident Wang Dan said that a rumour circulating on the internet claimed that after the August 2020 Chinese leadership conference at the Beidaihe seaside resort, some unidentified "hardliners" in the CCP had posted “Eight Policies to Resist the United States" They claimed these had been proposed at Beidaihe.

A Beijing-based Chinese observer said in the third week of September that many people residing in China and Taiwan are anticipating an ’October Surprise’ as the U.S. election nears this year.

The South China Morning Post reported on October 2, that the National Supervisory Commission (NSC) had announced on October 2, that Dong Hong, a senior Chinese government inspector and long-time colleague of Vice-President Wang Qishan including when the latter was President Xi Jinping’s anti-graft tsar, has been placed under a corruption probe.