The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported (October 19) that Chinese President Xi Jinping is to soon embark on what he hopes will be a confidence-boosting tour of Guangdong province. The tour coincides  with the manufacturing and export base beginning to feel the impact of the country’s trade war with the US. While Xi Jinping's itinerary is a closely guarded secret, the SCMP reported he might attend the official opening ceremony for the new Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge on October 20. The bridge is key to China's connectivity plans for the Greater Bay Area, its tech-led economic zone that has aspirations to rival California’s Silicon Valley. Xi Jinping might inspect some hi-tech firms, visit factories and talk to local people and officials in the cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai. One source told SCMP that he may visit Sun Yat-sen University, which was founded in 1924 and whose library houses a display of Karl Marx transcripts and early publications.

(Comment: Xi Jinping's tour coincides with the 40th anniversary of 'opening and reform' and is somewhat reminiscent of Deng Xiaoping's 'southern tour'.)