Daily news and analysis. We keep you informed and inspired.
This is World Today. The UN Security Council hosts an emergency session over concerns that Israel's Gaza takeover would worsen the humanitarian crisis.
The leaders of the United States and Russia are set to meet in Alaska this Friday.
And China's core CPI maintains growth for the third consecutive month.
Welcome to Road Today, a news program with a different perspective.
I'm Ge'anna in Beijing. To listen to this episode again or to catch up on previous episodes, you can download our podcast by searching Road Today.
Our top story, the UN Security Council has convened an emergency session addressing Israel's plan to take over of Gaza City.
There's mounting concerns that the plan would put hostages at risk and worsen Gaza's severe humanitarian crisis.
Currently, the Israeli military controls roughly 75% of the area, while about 2 million residents remain in parts not under Israeli control.
The UN has warned that a full military takeover and a forced displacement will lead to catastrophic consequences for civilians already facing dire conditions.
Fu Cong is China's permanent representative to the UN.
He expressed concern over Israel's Gaza City takeover plan.
China firmly opposes any attempt to occupy Gaza.
Recently, the Israeli Security Cabinet approved the plan to take over Gaza.
China has expressed serious concerns over this and urges Israel to stop the dangerous move immediately.
Gaza belongs to the Palestinian people and is an inalienable part of the Palestinian territory.
Any act that changes the population and territorial structure of Gaza must be resolutely resisted.
Israel must fulfill the international humanitarian law obligations of the occupying power, open all crossings, lift restrictions on the access of supplies, ensure the large-scale, rapid and safe entry of humanitarian supplies into Gaza, and support the United Nations in conducting rescue operations in a manner that conforms to humanitarian principles.
To delve into this, joining us on the line is Dr. Wang Jin, Associate Professor at Northwest University in Xi'an, China.
Thanks for joining us, Professor. It's my pleasure.
Professor, we are seeing a split in the global response.
Most recently, Spain, Portugal and other countries condemning Israel's plan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, have voiced opposition.
But the United States has used its veto power to block the resolutions five times previously.
How is this divine shaping the push for a ceasefire?
Of course, I think the United States little actually, very negatively influence the formation of international communities and censors.
Because we know that more and more countries now are condemning Israeli military activities in the ghetto strip.
And also more and more international opinion now hopes that through the very shared view of the international society that Israel will face pressure and reconsider its foreign policies and military policies in the Gada Strip or in the whole Middle East.
So that's why against this very particular background, United States vetoed several times previously, as you mentioned, on the United Nations platform.
And also, United States tried to diplomatically and politically protect Israel's international status and international image, although there has already been and more and more will join the waves of condemning Israel.
So that's why I think it is a very, very particular moment that the United States on the one hand should reconsider its policies in the Middle East, particularly its policies to Israel. and try to join the camp of the international community to try to prevent the further escalation and further expansion of uncertainties and dangers in this region.
And on the other hand, we cannot forget that Israel should also reconsider its policies because Israel cannot maintain the military activities in the Gaza Strip by its unilateral manners forever.
So the United States and Israel should both reconsider and reflect their policies.
I think these are very important. Professor, speaking of the international community, Germany has long been a staunch supporter of Israel.
Reports say it's partly rooted in its historical responsibility over the Holocaust during World War II.
But now Berlin will stop exporting weapons that could be used in Gaza, while German public want all arms sales halted.
How do you assess the government's decision and the public's broader demand?
I think this decision from the German government, and particularly the German Chancellor Merz, actually should be considered very symbolic.
I mean, symbolic is on the one hand, it's not very realistic.
It will not impose very realistic influence towards the Israeli government, because the Israeli military forces Israeli government forces are not heavily dependent upon the deals with Germany.
The German government is important to the foreign policies of the Israeli European policies, of course.
But we cannot say that the Germans' decision to suspend the military deals or the arms used to Israel could force Israel to make some changes.
That's impossible because Israel does not consider it as very important.
But on the other hand, as you mentioned, Germany actually after the World War II has been always very, very important. and become a very important pillar to Israeli policies in Europe.
And also Israel hopes to maintain the very positive ties with European countries, particularly centered with its policies to the German government.
So that's why when the German Chancellor Merz stated that they would suspend all arms use with Israel, and this should be considered by Israel as a very, very important transformation of all the European countries.
Because European countries now, as we would say that France, Britain, now they try to start to recognize the international status of Palestine.
And also some very, very particular countries who enjoyed very, very close ties with Israel, such as Germany and maybe Austria in the future, they would also do something to show their transformation as attitudes towards Germany, towards Israel.
So that's why I think we should understand it. has a very, very important transformation and a particular transformation of its policies.
And I think that's why Israel, as we mentioned and stressed repeatedly, that should reconsider its policies towards the Gaza Strip.
But from Israel's perspective, Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu has said that that taking control of Gaza is the best way to end the war quickly.
How do you evaluate such a remark? Can military means alone ever resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
I think Netanyahu's statement comes from two reasons.
On the one hand, Netanyahu hopes to maintain the survival of his cabinet.
And inside the cabinet, the right-wing and ultra-right-wing parties, which are his political allies, hope and maintain that it is highly necessary to continue the war in the Gada Strip.
So against this fact, politically, he cannot give up. he should he has to maintain the military activity in the gala strip this is a political dimension and also on the other hand we are talking about social dimension let's be frank inside israel and absolutely majority of the israeli public opinion support the continuation of the war and the difference and the opposite to the international idea that okay now there are some kind of protests but the protesters uh in by numbers they were the minority they were not the majority of the social media.
So the absolute majority of the social media, social opinion still supports the continuation of the military activities.
So that's why against this backdrop, the so-called takeover of Gaza becomes a very important political choice for Netanyahu and for his government.
But right now, everybody knows it's very difficult to afford control of Gaza, because on the one hand, it means that it would lead to more casualties of Israeli IDF, I mean, Israeli Defense Forces. so on the other hand it will mean that israel has to uh manage to uh to maintain the humanitarian uh uh necessities of the or the more than two million uh palestinian civilians in the gada street because we're talking about the country i mean israel just have some million but then if it's really want to take over gada 3b has to to care about necessities, the food necessities and the waters and the social orders of everything.
About two million more Palestinians who has a very hostility attitude and the hatred attitudes towards Israel.
So that's why I think now Israel now the first kind of development because politically, socially that is really They hope they still could continue the military activities.
But by rational attitudes or by rational calculation, I think Israel should reconsider its policies because it would have the burden that it cannot hold by itself.
And I think by some days, this kind of burden would in turn make Israel into a more difficult scenario in the future.
Professor, building on that, at the UN, China's representative emphasized four musts, placing opposition to Israel's occupation of Gaza as the top principle.
How do these stance reflect China's core concerns in the conflict?
I think China's attitudes are very clear, as always.
On the one hand, the war should be suspended immediately, without any kind of delay, because the disasters in the Ghana Strip have already been so serious that no kind of disaster like this could be compared. and could just be copied, both in the past or in the future.
So that's why it's a very historic disaster.
That's why the war should be ended. And then on the other hand, as Chinese representative repeatedly stressed that humanitarian assistance channel should be guaranteed and the more uh international efforts should be made and the so-called two-state solution should be persisted and some other principles uh should be maintained so that's why i think china's attitudes actually on the one hand are very clear and stand with uh the the the voices from international uh society and uh stands with expectation of international society And on the other hand, China hopes to make Israel and to persuade Israel to reconsider and to look at the situation through the very rational way rather than the very motivational way.
So that's why I think China's attitudes are very clear and the messages are very clear.
And I think China's voice also reflects the expectation from the international community.
But we've seen that Gaza's humanitarian system is basically collapsing.
No medical supplies, civilians desperate for food and safety.
But with aid getting caught up in politics, how can the international community break the weaponization of humanitarian aid and ensure assistance reaches civilians at this moment?
I think it's very difficult. We all hope that there would be a very reliable, as you mentioned, humanitarian mechanism and through the mechanism that the humanitarian goods could be reached to the hands of the local Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip who are highly needed, the humanitarian goods outside of the Gaza Strip.
But this is very difficult because on the one hand, the reliable or the former reliable humanitarian system managed by the United Nations are no longer trusted by Israel, no longer trusted by the United Nations.
I'm sorry, United States. So that's why the older one, I mean the former one, the United Nations managed system now collapsed.
And then on the other hand, Israel and the United States, they hope to set up the new one, but this new one has no local connections and has no experience and has no expertise.
And they are just the new mechanism, and this mechanism cannot be workable for the local people's necessities and demands.
So that's why I think maybe that Israel tries to do something, I mean, based upon their own interests, but these things, the new mechanism cannot work.
So that's why the people in the Gaza Strip now, they are facing the big disasters and these disasters cannot be overcome and difficulty cannot be overcome within the short term.
That's why the international community should do something more.
Professor, one last question. China has called the two-state solution the only viable way to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Help us understand such a solution and which key stakeholders need to be involved and what concrete steps are essential to move this forward.
When we are talking about the so-called two-state solution, it means two things.
On the one hand, that the two-state solution means to establish an independent Palestinian state on the territories of both Gaza, whole Gaza Strip, as well as the whole West Bank. and with the capital city of East Jerusalem.
So these, in a sense, of the so-called two-state solution are the international widely recognized principle.
And also, on the other hand, that means that this two-state solution should be realized only through diplomatic and political dialogue based upon the equal status between Israel and Palestine.
So, but right now the foundation is actually strongly violated and the international community, that's why our hopes that Israel should be restrained and should be rational.
And then on the other hand, more encouraging forces should be transferred from international community to both Israelis and the Palestinians to bring them back to the negotiation table as early as possible.
So that's why I think more things should be done and more voices should be spoken out by the international community and more pressure should be transferred to Israelis and Palestinians directly to help them to stop the war.
I think that this would be a long way to go, but we hope that this day will come as early as possible.
Thanks, Professor. Truly appreciate the clarity and the depth of your analysis.
That was Dr. Wang Jing, Associate Professor at Northwest University in Xi'an, China.
This is Road Today. Stay with us. Welcome back to Road Today.
The White House is reportedly considering inviting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Alaska, where the leaders of the United States and Russia are set to meet on Friday.
Sources say Zelensky's visit has not been finalized, but his attendance in meetings remains a possibility.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced the meeting on social media, also stating that Washington and Moscow are very close to reaching a deal on the conflict in Ukraine.
So for more on this, Zhao Ying spoke with Zhou Bo, senior fellow of the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University.
Trump has set in August the eighth deadline for Putin to agree to an immediate ceasefire or face more severe U.S. sanctions.
But instead of imposing new sanctions, he announced this Alaska meeting with Putin.
So why do you think he chose a summit over sanctions?
Well, I think he should have realized more than anybody that this kind of sanction would not work.
So Instead, having a meeting to have a, you know, vis-a-vis talk might actually indicate that he doesn't want to sanction and instead he wants talks.
So this is another way of bypassing his own threat.
Well, the meeting actually comes after earlier Trump-brokered talks between Ukraine and Russia failed.
So with that in mind, how much can we realistically expect from this summit?
Well, I think both sides definitely want to have such a meeting because for Putin, actually, last year in battlefield, Russia didn't gain much.
The new territory that Russia has gained through fighting is just 1%.
So in the first six months, the results are more or less the same.
So he realized if the war continues like this, it's almost meaningless.
But he still has a lot of requests. And I don't believe he will back down from his request.
But how released are these requests? For example, to ask Ukraine to recognize that the four provinces or the four regions uh just the russian territory this is too bitter for ukraine to swallow and then of course for ukraine not to join nato probably that's easy the easiest part because nato while still talking about ukraine's legitimate right to join nato and describe that as irreversible but they would not give a timeline right And the final but a larger picture is how eventually Russia will have to coexist with NATO in Europe because Russia would not move away.
And Russia has been talking about the so-called indivisible security, and that is the last final request over Russia.
But on the American side, Trump has bragged about how he could resolve this issue within 24 hours, which is a love stock, of course.
And then he kept on pressurizing Russia to make a deal.
But apparently, Putin seems to be more sophisticated than he thought.
So I don't believe any threats. would really work.
These threats are basically for domestic reasons or even for international public opinions.
But he should also realize that learning a vis-a-vis talk with President Putin might solve the problem.
So what is the best possible outcome? I personally believe if Putin would agree to stop Yeah, where the Russian troops are fighting against the Ukrainian troops.
That is a big achievement. So stop where you're fighting, not talking about what may come, not to talk about the four oblasts.
And that would be a major achievement because this is understandable.
When people are fighting with one another, what are the expectations of other people? you stop fighting, right?
And that, militarily speaking, is a ceasefire.
And then we talk about anything else. Yeah, but could Trump's strategy or his expectation for a quick result come at the expense of the long-term stability of the region?
Well, that is a big issue because what I can say is that because of the stalemate in the battlefield, So Putin cannot achieve what he wants.
And neither could President Zelensky, who is supported by the whole West, including the United States.
So they have to find some middle ground.
And the middle ground probably is just a ceasefire.
All the much bigger issues have to be discussed in a step-by-step manner, including maybe whether peacekeeping is needed or not.
I have been arguing about this, because I think my remarks have caught some international attention.
In that, I argue, should peacekeeping be needed, probably the best solution is for China to take the lead, along with some other global south countries like India, to join China. but also joined by a few selected European countries that are not NATO members.
Why did I say that? Because if you talk like a Polish prime minister, British prime minister, a French president, how NATO should be deployed on the soil of Ukraine, how could Russia possibly accept that?
It's impossible, right? But if Peacekeeping is really needed.
This is a precondition because for peacekeeping to happen, it has to have consent of the warring parties, that is Russia and Ukraine.
If they all agree, and I believe the best contributing country would be China and other countries from the Global South, plus a few non-NATO European countries.
Okay. And why Alaska? Does the location carry any symbolic weight in U.S.-Russia relations?
And could that symbolism shape the tone of the negotiations?
Well, I don't know why they have chosen Alaska because a few days ago they were talking about the UAE, right?
Apparently they have changed their mind.
But as a result, I would say Alaska is convenient because it is closest to Russian territory through Bering Strait.
And don't forget, Alaska actually was Russian territory before.
So it's convenient and it is far away from Washington.
Just imagine if Putin visit Washington, that looks almost like a state of visit.
That certainly is not what Putin want, right?
And there might be some outcries from Congress, from the media, so on and so forth.
And in so doing, of course, Washington has also demonstrated that it's no interest in carrying out the warrant of the International Criminal Court.
Because actually, the International Criminal Court has issued a warrant on President Putin.
So far, Putin has been very careful not to travel to any countries that has issued, that would accept a warrant from the International Criminal Court.
Of course, Russia doesn't recognize the authority of of the International Criminal Court.
But that, of course, is a safe way, right?
So by doing this, Donald Trump has showed that he has a total disregard for this kind of warrant.
Well, Zelensky has warned that any agreement made without Kyiv's involvement would be a dead decision.
How might excluding Ukraine from the initial Trump-Putin talks affect the legitimacy and enforceability of any outcome?
Well, I think President Zelensky's request is reasonable because Ukraine is one of the worrying parties, right?
So without Ukraine's participation, Ukraine just appears on the menu.
So that is a kind of a legitimate request.
But it would also make things complicated, understandably, right?
If it is kind of trinatural talks. Trinatural talks certainly is more complicated than binatural talks.
I attend so many international conferences that are multinatural.
Actually, for you, even to understand what everybody is saying is not so easy. if it involves more than 20 parties, right?
And sometimes they're not so direct in expressing their own opinions.
But I read the New York Times this morning, and I think the United States has also expressed another idea of having Ukraine to join the talk maybe another talk, or maybe sometime later, or just to try to pacify Ukraine.
I don't know how they're going to do it.
But this is what was mentioned. Yeah, let's wait and see.
And Trump has floated the idea of swapping territories between Ukraine and Russia.
What do we actually know about these proposals?
And is there any plausible path for them, given Ukraine's outright rejection?
I don't know how they can swap lands. I believe that, realistically speaking, it is how much, you know, land Ukraine would have to lose.
Because right now, yeah, they are fighting in the four oblasts, the four regions or four provinces, whatever you call them.
And still, the Russian military outnumbers the Ukraine military.
So it is having an advantage. Yeah, at a small margin.
I don't believe President Putin will back down, because that would be dangerous for him, actually.
Yeah. But he's already too high up in the tree.
So He should stay there probably. This is what I don't mean.
He should stay there. Probably he thought he should stay there.
So I think eventually some kind of decision have to be made.
I can hardly envision that this full regions would be totally under Ukrainian control because that would be what it would look like before the war.
Then what have they fought for? It's a difficult question to answer.
So maybe Russia could not have the four provinces, but maybe he could have some territory and maybe the ceasefire will stop somewhere in between.
We have to see because so far these are exactly the questions that they have to negotiate.
That was Joe Boson, your follow-on of the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University.
You are listening to Road Today. We'll be back after a short break.
You've been listening to Road Today with me, Ge'anna, in Beijing.
China's core consumer price index, excluding food and energy prices, rose by 0.8% in July, with the growth rate expanding for three consecutive months.
On an annual basis, the CPI data held steady.
Meanwhile, official data also shows PPI, producer price index, which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, dropped 3.6% yearly.
To delve deeper into this and China's economy, Zhao Yang spoke with Professor Qu Qiang, fellow of Belt and Road Research Center at Minsu University of China.
So Professor Quqiang, China's CPI was flat year on year in July, but the core CPI rose by 0.8%.
So how do you explain it? And does it suggest that domestic demand is strengthening?
Well, I think the CPI is for several months get flattened and continuously.
I think it's eventually good news, especially when the core CPI goes up by 0.8%.
So I think from the structural, we can see, for example, the food prices are going down a little bit and it's been dragging down the Chinese CPI by a negative 0.29% because if you're not familiar with the Chinese CPI basket, you will see that food price is basically to be a very important factor inside of the CPI.
So I think the food is the main course inside of it.
But when you take the food and energy away, the core CP actually been going up three months in a row and also has been creating the new height ever since this March.
And also, if I take a look at the structures, we all find that the service sector has actually been contributing to most of the part of the CPI's rise, like the air ticket, like the tourism, like the hospitality industry, as well as for the car rental and something also like this in the service sectors.
So I think the conclusion is, I think the general demand is still weak, but the service sector has already been showing its power.
I think we discussed this several times in our interviews ever since 2022.
We've been having this conclusion many times that service sector has already become a very important pillar of Chinese domestic economy already. like you know the vacation and economy like the uh the trading policies like the subsidies and all these policies are also being taken effective to support services culture spending education spending tourism so i think uh well even though we can still not say it's a very strong recovery but i think the recovery has already been a sure thing And you mentioned the services prices rose significantly in July, particularly in travel and tourism.
So what are the key drivers behind the surge in summer demand?
And could this momentum help boost the consumer demand for the whole year?
Well, I think in this month, I think the most important driver for the rise is the vacation has been started.
You see, July and August is the national summer vacation for all walks of life.
So this kind of, you know, what we call the revenge-like, you know, going out.
People have been working for like several months that really want to go out.
So summer vacation is probably everybody's longest vacation.
So I think this year, if you go out everywhere, for example, in Beijing, you will see on the subways are full of people.
And to go to Shanghai, the similar situation, Shenzhen, and not only for the big cities, I travel to some, you know, like the eighth tier city or eighth tier of the little town.
You see the people from the cities are saturating the whole places because everybody wants to get their kids to, you know, get very close to the soil to see how the agriculture goes and to see the historic relics.
And also people are Students are getting graduation and they go to this graduation tour.
So this becomes really heat in the Chinese economy.
And also I think the local government really understand how it's going.
So they try to catch up with the wind and issued a lot of the coupons and subsidies.
And all that has been helping, you know, this heat is going on even hotter.
Also, I think a lot of people trying to go to the, you know, more what we call the performances versus price kind of tourism economy.
And this has been attracting people to, you know, go even wider, deeper into China, not only been concentrated in some hot tourism resort.
And also, I think the cross-border tourism has also been very, very hot, like to go to Vietnam, Thailand.
And because of the visa convenience and everybody are just going out more than ever.
And besides that, I think some virtual or the cultural related tourism are also very hot.
Like go to the concert, go to the exhibition, go to the museum and also online spending.
And all this actually has been contributing to more than 60% of the rising up the CPI.
So I think that's one of the new trend. And we've also seen the PPI in July fell by 3.6% year on year, but the pace of decline narrowed for the first time since March.
So what does this tell us about the manufacturing sectors?
And how do you explain this improvement in the PPI trends, especially under the current global environment?
Well, we can see that from the production, from the investment, and from the consumption.
I think from the production, I think the PMI in manufacturing two months above the prosperity line.
And also, I think the inventory effect has also been happening because lots of enterprises are trying to fill up their inventory, semiconductors. like the digitalization equipment, energy equipment, and all these has become a major trend, not only in China, but also I think in the whole world.
America is trying to fill up the inventory, Latin America, Africa, ASEAN nations, they're all doing that.
I think that's the reason why you're seeing that the Chinese export has been growing the fastest.
Because every nation tried to, you know, modernize their economy and they understand against the current very uncertain international backdrop.
For example, the supply chain of the semiconductor can be cut.
They've been seeing so many examples in here.
So this is very uncertain world. That's the reason why Chinese products has been selling all over the world to make sure the whole world supply chain can be stabilized.
And also take a look at the investment. You see that Chinese government really been issuing lots of project right now, like the power grid regeneration and upgrading.
Everybody knows, A year before last year, we've been hit by natural disasters, flood and ultra extreme heat.
And that's been putting on huge burden on Chinese power grid.
Like in Sichuan and Guizhou and lots of those provinces, their power grid just get overheated and overburdened.
And this year, I think one of the most important focus is that how can we upgrade the whole national grid?
Because everybody have AC, lots of people have their EV.
So we need to make them stronger and more resilient.
And also data center and also green energy project are actually being initiated a lot.
And also, I think because we're building the new power grid and very, very naturally, you're going to import lots of the copper, lots of aluminum to build the lines, cables.
So that also become a very important part of our economic growth.
And also take a look at the consumption.
We'll be seeing the soybean and the crude oil and all these has been growing up by double digits.
So I think this kind of the infrastructure has been driving up manufacturing and then manufacturing has been driving up consumption.
So this kind of the feedback chain has already been here.
I think that's the reason why we've been seeing that our import and export has been growing up.
But we're talking about the PPI. PPI is still in the negative zone, but I think this negative value has been been shrinking.
I think there are many reasons behind that.
I think in the high-end manufacturing, I think these are actually been growing very positively, like the digital devices, like the electronics, like house appliances, and even for the aviation parts, and all these has been, their prices has been going up for several months.
But because the housing market is still not seeing very quick rebounding, That's the reason why the traditional industry like iron and steel, like the cement and all this still been stabilizing.
If we can reverse the expectation in the housing market, I think we are going to welcome a major rebound in our economy in the BBI as well.
And you mentioned the housing market. The municipal government of Beijing is removing the purchase limits.
The eligible families face no restrictions on the number of housing units purchased outside the Fifth Ring Road.
Why is this move now? Well, this is something surely is going to happen because if I take a look at the the current second-hand home policy or no-home policies in major cities like Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou.
Basically, every counterpart of Beijing has been released their policies to activate the whole housing market.
Like in Guangzhou, basically, there are no limit buying new home.
And Shenzhen, besides a very, very, very core, the urban areas, all the surrounding areas has already know removed all the bands and also for shanghai similar things and beijing they've been doing this uh for have already been for a year for example uh like your residential ship and also your uh social welfare you know payment and all this requirement has already been limit has already been lowered uh very very significantly in the past one year So I think this time, and also I think from last year, we have already moved the ban for eligible families to buy another new home outside the fifth ring.
And this time is you can buy more than just one extra home outside the fifth ring.
So I think this policy is continuous. That was Professor Qu Qiang, founder of the Belt and Road Research Center at Minsu University of China.
The total number of registered local companies in Hong Kong has surpassed 1.5 million by the end of July, while registration of non-Hong Kong companies exceeded 15,000, both hitting record heights.
John Lee, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, made the announcement in a video posted on Sunday.
He noted, in the first seven months of this year, Invest Hong Kong assisted nearly 1,400 enterprises set up or expand operations in the region, drawing HK$174 billion or nearly US$23 billion in the first year direct investment and creating over 19,000 jobs.
How does Hong Kong's special dual-platform advantage help attract foreign investors to the mainland market?
And how does it support mainland companies looking to expand their business overseas?
For more on this, let's have Li Lun, Assistant Professor of Economics at Peking University.
Thanks for joining us, Professor. Thanks for having me.
Professor, let's start with record numbers.
What factors do you think have driven Hong Kong's business registration to historic highs for both local and non-local companies?
So I think there are several reasons. Some of the reasons have been going on for several years, if not decades.
For example, Hong Kong has a very simple low rate tax regime, which follows a so-called territorial source principle, meaning that only profits that's generated in Hong Kong is going to be taxed.
So for companies that operate across different regions or across different countries, this could mean that the tax for them is almost exempt.
And for the banking sector as well, so Hong Kong provides lots of convenience for foreign exchange and payment system, and there's no foreign exchange controls that's being implemented in the mainland.
And also as a free port, Hong Kong has been facilitating trade, for example, providing quick clearance to customs and zero tariffs for goods that's passing Hong Kong.
And I think a new reason for Hong Kong's you know, quick growth in company registration is the development of, you know, cross-border e-commerce companies, because these companies mostly operate in, not in Hong Kong, but for example, in mainland or other countries.
And these companies can, you know, enjoy the tax exemption and trade facilitation that's provided by Hong Kong.
In his remarks, Li mentioned Hong Kong's dual platform advantage.
How does it work in practice for connecting overseas investors with the mainland and helping mainland firms expand globally?
Yeah, so for example, for mainland companies, if you want to go global, many of the companies are actually registered in Hong Kong.
So when they, for example, sign contracts with Walmart or Target or other merchants overseas, Hong Kong is usually the place where the transaction actually takes place.
A Hong Kong entity can sign contracts directly with all of the global platforms. and participate in all of the bilateral trade flows.
And also like some of the goods are actually first shipped to Hong Kong and taking advantage of Hong Kong's air and sea logistic network to be further transported to other places.
So Hong Kong both serves as a bridge or like a port for both the goods and also for the transactions to take place.
Let's talk about investment climate. With HK$174 billion in the first-year investment and over 19,000 jobs created, how would you assess the city's current attractiveness for international and domestic investors?
Yeah, so I think this statistics is very promising.
It provides, you know, strong confidence to, I think, to a lot of investors as well.
And I think many of these, you know, contributed that contributed to the investment and jobs provided are from e-commerce platforms.
So basically, not only the merchants, but also payment providers, logistics and tech firms that's serving cross-border trade, I think they all contribute to this number.
So I think in the future, because China is expanding its trade to ASEAN countries, to Southeast Asia countries, and to honestly all over the world, And Hong Kong basically for the future can serve as a very convenient port for this transaction to happen.
So I think also collaborating with the greater Bay Area in China, this also allows Hong Kong to take advantage with its own global financial freedom, with mainland China's manufacturing and supply chain strength.
So I think overall, this provides a lot of synergy and hope for Hong Kong's future development.
Professor Li also mentioned economic transformation of Hong Kong.
Recently, what kinds of innovative products and services do you see as key to maintaining Hong Kong's competitive edge?
Yeah, so talking about the future technology, first, I think innovation in payment and settlement systems are critical because these cross-border e-commerce merchants have to handle multi-currency transactions on a daily basis.
So if If there's ways for fintech companies to offer, for example, digital wallets or e-payment systems that can benefit these merchants and speed up the transactions, that's definitely going to happen for the trade.
And also, I think A lot of innovations in logistics and supply chain is needed and honestly is also evolving very fast.
For example, the sorting system in the freight system, in the freight terminals or in the shipping ports, these can speed up the processing time and delivery time for overseas package.
So I think innovations in these areas are definitely welcome.
And also I think Hong Kong is sometimes, you know, the role that's being, you know, not being strengthened enough is the brand building power and also the legal system, because, you know, sometimes investors worry that their intellectual property sometimes is not protected as well in mainland, but Hong Kong has a very, you know, established legal system.
So I think the professional network, the number of lawyers, The type of protection for this IP, I think it's more established in Hong Kong, at least for the current time.
Professor, earlier you mentioned the Middle East and ASEAN markets, and these two markets were also specifically mentioned as focus areas in Lee's video.
How significant are these markets in shaping Hong Kong's strategy for economic diversification?
Yeah, so ASEAN countries are, if you take ASEAN as a region, ASEAN is right now our largest trading partner.
And also Middle Eastern countries are evolving very fast.
So these countries, they all have very quick economic growth.
They have strong purchasing power. And they also have high demand for Chinese goods and honestly for Chinese living style.
So Hong Kong can serve as a very natural transit hub in this case, because many times when mainland merchants want to deal with these other countries, they don't have prior experience doing business with them.
So Hong Kong naturally, you know, with all the expertise, you know, with all the familiarity with the culture and compliance in these different countries can serve as a very natural, you know, transit hub for these transactions.
Thanks, Professor, for your time and insights.
That was Li Lun, Assistant Professor of Economics at Peking University.
Dead to Rise, a film about the Nanjing Massacre during World War II, is making its global debut after a strong run in China.
The movie is now showing in theaters across Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Canada, with releases planned in Russia, South Korea, the United Kingdom and other markets.
Filled by record-breaking ticket sales at home, the film topped the global box office last weekend.
Wang Siwen has more. Set in one of the darkest and least known chapters of World War II, the Nanjing Massacre, Dead to Rights tells the true story of Chinese civilians who risked their lives to preserve photographic evidence of Japanese war crimes.
To bring it to the screen, the creative team began with extensive research in 2023. collecting nearly 10 million words of archival materials.
We stayed rooted in historical truth while daring to explore artistically.
We hope this combination allows audiences to feel what we call a departure effect, as if they've walked through a long tunnel of time, like survivors from the massacre 88 years ago.
When they step back into today's world, they'll feel a deep sense of gratitude and love for the present.
Some parents brought their children to learn history.
I hope children can learn the truth of history through as many channels as possible, so they will never forget.
The film held its North American premiere in Washington, D.C. and is set to open in theaters across the continent on August 15th, serving as a powerful reminder to reflect on history and to cherish people.
China's ambassador to the United States, Xie Feng, attended the Washington, D.C. premiere.
The film is also generating strong reactions in other international markets.
It was hard to look at some of the scenes.
They were so real. This movie felt so real to me that It was painful at some times, but I think it needed to be said.
From landing the wartime streets to today's global stage, that rise carries the memories of the past, urging audiences everywhere to remember, reflect and never forget.
That was Wang Siwen reporting. For more on the story, let's bring in Einar Tengen, Senior Fellow of Taihe Institute and Chairman of Asian Narrative Substack.
Thanks for joining us, Einar. Always a pleasure.
Thank you. Einar, films like Dead to Rise and Zhongji Rescue both set against the backdrop of World War II.
Why do you think these films have resonated so strongly with Chinese and international audiences?
Well, first, let me begin with a little bit of background.
I mean, there was just in China alone between 30 and 35 million people who were killed during the Japanese occupation.
And that is a much larger number than in Europe and things like that.
And 35 million Chinese were killed. And in that situation, yes, there were terrible atrocities going on elsewhere.
But Well, you look around the world. I mean, you see the drums of war. of World War II, which was to never let this happen again.
Not to allow not only the acts, but to get behind those who committed the acts.
Who got them to do this? How were they convinced?
If you go to Japan today, you don't see bloodthirsty people capable of raping children and killing them in cold blood.
You just see ordinary people. So how were they convinced to do this?
And right now, I think a lot of people sense that there are entities out there, people who are beating the same drums of authoritarianism, superiority, aggression against other countries.
And so we need heroes. We need people who we can look to and say, hey, I hope I can be as good as that in trying to make a courageous stand against something inhumane.
Einar, about the movie Dead to Rights, it centers on photographic evidence of the Nanjing Massacre, while Zhongji Rescue tells the story of Chinese fishermen who risked their lives to save British prisoners of war from Japanese invaders.
In your opinion, what special value do these unique perspectives bring to shaping and sharing historical understanding of World War II?
Well, there was a popular series in America called Band of Brothers that kind of brought home what it was like to be on the battlefield.
And these stories are about sacrifice. They're about real heroism.
And, you know, this is reflects our desire to believe we would do the right thing through reflection.
We hope we can change and never repeat this.
That is really, I think, the most important part of these stories is bringing it back to the ordinary people who became heroes.
On our overseas understanding of the Eastern Front in World War II, often centers on Europe and the United States, with little awareness of the atrocities committed by the Japanese invaders in China and the sacrifice of the Chinese people.
So how do you see the significance of raising global awareness of this chapter of history?
And how do you think we can help more countries learn about these sacrifices made in the East and the true history of this period?
I think you are. That's the point of this movie, is it's bringing forth the horrific situation that occurred.
Now, I learned about the Nanjing Massacre when I was in high school and then in college, but I don't know if the curriculum in America still teaches that.
They're too concerned with talking about current events often, and they don't really deal with history in a very thorough sense.
And in other countries, even in Japan right now, there's a lot of denial.
The Yakushuni Shrine is still observed by members of the government.
That's the place where these Japanese war criminals were finally executed.
Their ashes have been reinterred there and made them into some sort of heroes.
This is wrong. They teach their children that Nanjing was an incident. that it wasn't a massacre.
And these things have to be changed. But the only way you can do that to overcome the kind of partisan, backward-looking people is to take it to media, to have people look at that and understand it, to have Japanese Americans say, hey, to their Japanese compatriots, have you seen this?
Because the Japanese government can't stop them from seeing this on Netflix or wherever it is released.
If that happens, there'll be a new appreciation for this.
Now, some will just deny it and say it didn't happen.
But, you know, those who are willing to listen, those are the ones you can reach.
Thank you very much, Aynur, for these valuable insights.
That was Aynur Tengan, Senior Fellow of Taihe Institute.
That's all the time for this edition of Road Today.
To listen to this episode again or to catch up on previous episodes, you can download our podcast by searching Road Today.
I'm Ge'Anna in Beijing. Thank you so much for listening.
Bye for now.
