daily news and analysis we keep you informed and inspired this is world today Hello and welcome to World Today.
I'm Zhao Ying. Coming up, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is on a trip to India with the border issue high on the agenda.
What can we expect? Trump has reversed calls for a Russia-Ukraine ceasefire and promised a peace agreement after his summit with Putin.
How should we interpret this shift? Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi begins a visit to India on Monday.
He is also the special representative on the China-India boundary question.
Wang is set to attend special representatives' talks.
China's foreign ministry said Beijing hopes to have in-depth discussions on topics including border control and cross-border exchanges.
A spokesperson also expressed China's willingness to jointly safeguard peace in the border region.
Wang also held talks with his Indian counterpart.
For more, we are joined by Dr. Gao Xirui with the Department of Politics and Public Administration at the University of Hong Kong.
Dr. Gao, thanks for joining us. Thanks.
So what do you make of the significance of Wang Yu's visit to India this time?
This is the first such visit in three years, and its symbolic value is undeniable.
It signals that both sides are ready to cautiously reopen channels of dialogue More importantly, it comes after the 2024 meeting between President Xi and Prime Minister Modi, which marked the first thought in years of STRANGE RELATIONS INTENTIONS.
SO AGAINST THIS BACKDROP, Minister Wang is business is just not just symbolic, but also potentially substantive.
If progress would be made, it could help institutionalize the dialogue mechanisms and reduce the risk of future inadvertent escalations on border and area where mistrust has persisted, for several years.
So in other words, the visit is both a gesture of goodwill and a test of whether momentum towards stabilization can be sustained.
So what do you see as the main objectives for both sides entering these discussions?
This is an interesting question. So Minister Wang will make two key figures, the External Affairs Minister Josh Engel and National Security Advisor Doval.
So I believe the objectives differ slightly in focus with Minister Jaishengle, the agenda will likely emphasize practical cooperation, such as resuming direct flights, reopening border trade posts, expanding people to people exchanges and restoring business connectivity.
These may look modest, but they are foundational steps to rebuild trust But with Mr. DeWalt, the talks would be more strategic and focused on the border issue.
So the two sides may explore frameworks for trip disengagement in disputed border areas, And of course, establish reliable channels for diplomatic and military communication, especially diplomatic. to prevent future inadvertent escalations or skirmishes.
And these steps are crucial to prevent misunderstandings from spiraling into new confrontations.
So in short, um with dr joshunga represents the cooperation track while doval represents the security stabilization track Okay, so as you said, this is the first such meeting in three years.
But to what extent is this warming in China-India relations driven by... the frictions in New Delhi's ties with Washington over tariffs and Russian oil, and how sustainable is this trend?
This is very important. So let's look from the Indians perspective.
There is certainly a geopolitical dimension here.
So India has made two notable moves recently, if we read the news.
The first is National Security Advisor Duval's visit to Moscow just roughly 10 days ago to deepen trade and security ties with Russia, and during which it was agreed that President Putin will visit India later this year.
And the second thing is that the cancellation of Indian defense minister's U.S. trip and a pause in purchasing U.S. arms following Trump's tariffs on Indian goods, So if we look them together, these developments suggest that India is recalibrating On the one hand, US-India relations have run into some turbulence.
So on the other, India is signaling to Washington that it has alternatives. not only Russia but also importantly China India knows that the US needs it as part of its balancing strategy quote-unquote against Russia and probably China so that is the Washington strategy but By engaging China, New Delhi is increasing its bargaining leverage with Washington.
So some American strategists have already voiced doubts about India's reliability and its value.
So India may even welcome that anxiety. It raises India's value in its negotiations and it will bring some leverage to India.
So whether this warming with China is sustainable, I think partially would depend on how US and India trade talks and broader strategic bargaining will all unfold.
Okay. And there is renewed talks of reopening trade posts, restoring direct flights, and easing visa restrictions.
How important are these steps in the broader trajectory of the relationship?
I think they are critical, especially to people who do business and who study abroad, who travel.
So flights and visas are actually the backbones of trade and investment.
A real example I encounter is that When a Chinese company want to acquire a mine in India last year, its managers and engineers could not obtain a business visa to conduct some investigation due diligence in India. and acquisitions really could be made by a mainland or Hong Kong SAR company and sometimes Even Singaporean companies will be reviewed.
So Chinese work, even if the acquisition could be made, if we want to send some Chinese workers to the site in India, they could not get a proper work visa unless invited by the firms registered under India's PLI scheme.
It's a production-linked scheme, incentive scheme.
So it's very restricted. These obstacles have effectively frozen many business and investment activities.
So reopening these channels could send a powerful signal of normalization.
Well, Prime Minister Modi is due to visit China later this month for the SCO summit, and that will be his first in seven years.
How does that fit into the evolving China-India relationship?
I think it will be another milestone. PM Modi's presence in China after such a long absence indicates their relations beginning to emerge from their lowest point.
While the visit is tied to a multilateral forum, the SCO, it still carries strong bilateral two leaders could meet in sideline meetings.
So it shows that both sides are willing to compartmentalize disputes and at least explore areas of convergence. whether on regional stability, economic connectivity, or multilateral governance. so in diplomatic terms it suggests that the freeze is giving away to a cautious thought so um I think the China-India relationship will get better and better soon.
Okay. Well, we know that India often presents itself as a leader of the global south.
So are Beijing and New Delhi competing for this role, or can they actually find some common cause in shaping a multipolar world order?
I think this is a very interesting question.
So there are some Western voices nowadays actually say it's... even time to retire the term of global south but um i think china and india both would disagree so That suggests there's still some room for common ground for instance, on issues like climate change and carbon emissions and the right to burn coals.
There are a lot of areas that could be common ground, but instead of competition, there are two main concerns of India from Indians perspective.
I think first is India do care about how the West perceives the community of Global South if China takes the leading role of Global South.
So, That's why you see a lot of Indian politicians and scholars framing the global south as a non-west. but not anti-West.
So they are making this kind of definition.
And the second concern of India is whether the leadership of Global South is zero sum or not, I think probably not.
Leadership can be shared because we have so many areas that could be potentially We have common interest, and the global cells can have multiple voices.
So I don't think they are competing for it, but Indian do have some concerns.
Okay, so if the border dispute can be managed, which areas of cooperation between China and India has the greatest potential?
I think just like what we just discussed, trade without question, India is such a vast market that China wants to enter.
But given some political tensions and the border disputes, many Chinese investors could have to withdraw from India.
So if the border disputes can be managed, And the potential for economic cooperation is enormous.
Of course, it brings up some personnel exchange and knowledge exchange as well.
So we also need students and scholars to update our knowledge of India.
So I think trade and personnel exchange.
Okay, thank you, Dr. Gao Xirui with the Department of Politics and Public Administration at the University of Hong Kong.
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I'm Zhao Ying. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has arrived in Washington, D.C. to meet U.S.
President Donald Trump. Several other European leaders, including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, will also join the meeting at Zelensky's side.
The meeting will come just days after Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Alaska to end the conflict in Ukraine.
Trump is also reportedly seeking to arrange a trilateral summit with Russia and Ukraine as early as Friday.
For more, we are joined by Dr. Zhang Xin, Deputy Director of the Center for Russian Studies at East China Normal University.
Dr. Zhang, thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me.
Actually before leaving for Alaska, Trump said his goal was a ceasefire.
But after the summit, he declared that the best way forward is a full peace agreement, not just a ceasefire.
What do you think led to this shift? It could be that during the meeting President Trump had with President Putin, President Putin managed to convince Putin President Trump that a comprehensive peace agreement or a peace deal is more preferable than an immediate ceasefire. some sort of unconditional ceasefire as requested by some of the European countries.
That's one possibility. The other possibility, of course, is from the very beginning, President Trump and the HISA negotiation team was having their eyes on the a peace deal to start with, but it's just trying to play with several different options in front of different audience.
So after the meeting, he and his team thought the time is right to throughout the peace deal idea to the general public including its European and the Ukrainian counterparts.
That's another possibility. I think both possibilities are probably verifiable and I don't know which one is the truth.
Yeah, but just how realistic is a comprehensive... peace agreements in the near term?
And could Trump's push for such a grand deal actually end up just prolonging the war?
If the alternative is keep There's another alternative that's more preferable than the ongoing warfare and the comprehensive peace deal, then I think he's a comprehensive peace agreement deal may prolong the war option.
That's possible, as a lot of people try to interpret the Alaska summit as a victory for the Russian president.
And one major reason for that kind of argument is, He actually managed to convince Trump of the idea of a peace deal on one hand and essentially buying Russia more time. without making any significant real commitment on his side.
And then go back to the first part of the question.
I think to see a so-called comprehensive peace deal anytime soon is still difficult for me.
I think the red lines and the condition that Ukrainian side and the main European countries have set haven't fundamentally changed.
And these red lines and conditions are not converged with Russia's baseline conditions.
And it's still far from a. the visible sort of compromise from either side.
So a comprehensive peace deal is still difficult to envisage right now.
Well, at the summit, Putin said the root causes of the conflict must be addressed for a lasting peace.
How would you interpret Russia's framing of these root causes?
Um, The whole root cause narrative actually didn't start with the beginning of the special military operation back in early 2022.
It's actually being more intensified in use. of memory serves somewhere later, 2023 or early 2024.
And then if we think about all the major reasons Russian state clearly stated about why the special military operation is launched. then there are probably five or six different reasons.
For example, protecting the... safety as well as cultural rights of Russian-speaking population in Eastern Ukraine.
That was one of them. and then protect Russia's legitimate security interests.
That's another one. But I think the more recent use of the root cause from the Russia side, mostly point to Among these five are different reasons that mostly refer to the eastern world extension of NATO. which also possibly would include Ukraine in the future.
I think that's the one the fight was different, different causes that Russian state has been intensified. used in a more intensified manner in the recent month.
It's debatable whether the presence of NATO or the Eastern world expansion of NATO was indeed a direct entrenchment on Russia's legitimate uh security concern because russia wasn't complained that much uh to the the NATO or most of the European countries when the several Eastern European countries joined the NATO.
So its complaint was only intensified much later, as well as the recent joint the new membership for NATO between the two Nordic countries, Sweden and Finland.
Russian didn't actually make a big deal out of that.
So I think it's, to me, it's debatable at least.
Yeah, and actually your Russian diplomats in Moscow now agrees that future peace agreements on Ukraine must provide security guarantees to Kyiv, but Russia also needs credible security assurances.
So would you see this as a meaningful shift in Russia's position?
To some extent, I would say yes, because until now, again, if memory serves, Russia's whole official narrative is always on Russia's own legitimate security concern, how that was violated or not respected at all over the past three decades by NATO, by US, by European countries.
Now this is the first time, as I remember, as I can recall, Russia's whole sort of discursive mechanisms shifted at least shifted to a brain ukraine's uh security concern uh in the first place And then to say, to argue Russia similarly needs to protect its own and need to get a guarantee for its own. security concerns.
So it may be a play of words, but I do see there's something there.
It's possible an indication of not a big but a small room of willingness to make certain compromise, no matter how marginal or how small that potential compromise is.
So this is some new piece of information, new set of argumentative discourse, so I want to take it seriously and follow on closely to see what Russia would make use of that new narrative in the future.
Well, Trump has reportedly backed a plan for Ukraine to cede occupied territory to Russia in exchange for peace.
But how realistic is that Kyiv would ever agree to such territorial concessions?
Well, At this stage, of course, it would be a political suicide for President Zelensky to openly accept it.
After all the war, after all the personal political capital he has put into defending Ukraine's territorial sovereignty and sort of strong insistence on no-no, no territorial loss.
I think if... We can imagine any political solution, even for the short period.
I think some compromise, unfortunately, needs to be...
A proposal needs to be accepted and then some sort of acceptance of the reality on the battlefield unless all parties want to keep fighting. um then some compromise need to be uh uh introduced and accommodated and i think that some form of so-called land swap might be necessary And then it may not be in the format as President Trump put it, or some acknowledgement of the fact of control on the battle line, but keeping the sovereignty issue for for the next generation to push it into a for another 50 years or even longer. wouldn't be a completely political disaster, again, if the alternative is is keep fighting, keep their blood shedding on both sides.
So in that sense, I will keep a close eye on close look on what the European delegation to Washington DC are going to exchange with the US leadership. and whether some sort of creative political messaging and the creative reframing all these red lines bottom line conditions can be figured out to accommodate some form, no matter how limited it is, some form of a compromise, including different forms of so-called which in the end may not be called, if that compromise is made, may not be officially called a landslide.
Yeah, since you mentioned this European delegation, they have arrived in Washington together with Zelensky.
What does their presence really signal and how much leverage do they really have?
My reading is they are going there. This is a heavyweight delegation, even though to what extent they are the legitimate representative of Europe.
There's a question. Not everyone agrees with this group of people, actually.
Let's go to the representative. Oh, Europe. in resolving the military conflict in Ukraine.
Leave that aside. As you see, it's a heavyweight delegation.
I see their main goals is I wanted to have the most updated briefing from the U.S. side about the meeting U.S.
– government had with Russian counterparts and then very likely the European representatives are trying to push back a complete sort of implementation of what President Trump is trying to push through, including land swap, including a acknowledgement of some of the baseline conditions that Russia has been insisting on.
And then also during the same time, of course, there's always possibilities, as I mentioned, red line set early on Okay.
Thank you, Dr. Zhang Xin, Deputy Director of the Center for Russian Studies at East China Normal University.
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You're listening to World Today. I'm Zhao Ying.
China's State Council Information Office has released a report. on human rights violations in the United States in 2024.
The report says extreme incidents of political violence occurred frequently in the U.S., with the public deeply disillusioned with American-style democracy.
It says the prolonged partisan gridlock fueled a culture of political obstruction in the country, often leading to political violence against individuals.
The report also says skyrocketing inflation exacerbated the wealth gap, delivering catastrophic blows to low and middle income families.
For more, we are joined by Han Hua, co-founder and secretary general of Beijing Club for International Dialogue.
Thanks for joining us. Thank you for having me.
So what is your biggest takeaway from this report?
I think the report actually reframes human rights as more than civil liberties.
It stresses more on economic justice social security, and the freedom from violence as equally vital.
So in US, we know there are so many flaws. such as healthcare inequality, racial injustice, and mass shootings.
So it is Beijing who challenged Washington's moral high ground and calls for a more comprehensive and the more practical definition of human rights.
China positions them as evidence of a structural contradiction between American ideals and the living realities.
So the reports actually underscores that human rights are a universal concern, not a Western monopoly.
It suggests that any country, including the US, must be evaluated against both promises and outcomes.
In short, it should be results driven. So I think this adds weight to the Beijing's arguments that international debates on human rights should be pluralistic and not dominated by one model.
Well, how does Beijing's framing of power and capitals distorting human rights resonate with the current political climate in the US?
I think this actually echoes strongly because it reflects anxieties many Americans themselves would face and express.
Public trust in government has eroded as corporate lobbying and campaign financing increasingly shape political agendas.
For example, the American Supreme Court's called the Citizens United ruling, which opened the door to unlimited corporate spending and the financing. is widely criticised for turning elections into contests for wealth, for power, rather than for public will, simultaneously debates and agenda shaping about healthcare costs, housing affordability and tech monopolies illustrate how concentrated capital translates themselves into an evil access to rights and opportunities.
So it is Beijing who is in this report claims that power and money distort rights, which is not far from critics voiced by American reforms moments by many Americans themselves. for progressive activists to bipartisan watchdogs.
So in this case, I think this language in this report reflects both an external critic and the mirror of this internal US debates and the arguments about whether democracy should serve or can still serve ordinary citizens.
Well, the report also points to issues such as money in politics, gun violence, racial discrimination. failures in the health care system.
What do you make of these critiques and how do they compare to the concerns raised within the United States itself?
I think this report only amplifies the existing American domestic concerns rather than inventing them.
These critics are not only valid but widely echoed, accepted, have to be faced by the American society itself.
For example, money in politics is a chronic complaint with reform groups warning that excessive donor influence undermines fair representation.
Another example is the gun violence is among the most visible crisis repeated mass shootings and also racial discriminations associated with these mass shootings. continue to shape outcomes in policy decision, employment, housing, as well as evidenced by movements like Black Lives Matter.
And at the same time, healthcare system remains one of the most contentious domestic policy issues, leaving millions uninsured or underinsured.
So, in fact, these are not issues raised solely by foreign critics, including Beijing.
They dominate, they themselves actually dominate American political agenda and the media coverage.
The report argues that the flaws in the U.S. traditional and political system make it difficult to resolve these violations.
So what specific institutional barriers do you see as perpetuating governmental inaction on human rights abuses?
There are several significant ones. I think there are significant barriers to prevent progress, for example, The separation of powers often produces gridlock, making it extremely difficult to pass reform, even when there is broad public consensus. such as for universal background checks on firearms.
Also campaign finance dependency ties lawmakers to powerful donors, discouraging legislation that might threaten corporate or special interests.
Another example is lifetime appointments to the federal judiciary, especially the Supreme Court, you know, Supreme Court justice. they have like lifetime job.
So meaning that legal interpretations can lag far much lag behind the public consensus for decades, blocking reform incentives.
Federalism also creates fragmentation as states retain wide discretion on voting rights, criminal justice, and health care, leading to unevil protections nationwide.
Yeah, but to what extent do these domestic flaws kind of undermine Washington's credibility when it speaks out on human rights issues abroad?
These are the most critical issues affecting American civil society development. they definitely undermine the credibility in many significant ways.
When Washington criticizes, for example, other countries, adversaries and even allies They often point out to persistence.
These allies or adversaries, including China, they can often point out to persistence U.S. problems. racial injustices, mass shootings, healthcare inequalities, as evidence of Americans' hugely declining credibility.
This does not mean, however, American critics are always dismissed but they carry less moral weight when domestic problems remain unresolved. so they carry double standards in short.
Moreover, the US tends to emphasize political and civil rights abroad while downplaying economic and social rights at home, creating an impression of selective advocacy.
For many in the Global South in particular, this suggests that Washington simply used human rights as tools for geopolitical purposes, rather than treating them as universal values or universal purposes that human beings should achieve together.
So the US model also loses inspirations when it struggles to provide basic security for its own citizens.
OK, thank you, Hang Hua, co-founder and secretary general of Beijing Club for International Dialogue.
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You're listening to World Today. I'm Zhao Ying.
China has warned against provoking conflict and hyping up tensions. after Germany's foreign minister claimed China's behavior in the Taiwan Strait is aggressive.
Ajani's foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday that adhering to the one-China principle, and opposing Taiwan independence are the key to maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan's rights.
The spokesperson also noted the situations in the East China Sea and South China Sea are overall stable. calling for respecting the relevant parties' efforts to resolve disputes through dialogue and consultation.
German Foreign Minister made his remarks on China on Sunday ahead of a trip to Japan and Indonesia.
Joining us now in the studio is my colleague Ding Hong.
Thanks for being here. Hello, Zhao Ying.
So first of all, why do you think the German foreign minister has made this comment on this occasion?
I think he was targeting several audiences at the same time.
First of all, he was targeting a sentiment in Japan that somehow feels unease about China, for example the rise of China.
Second, He was targeting some China hawks in his own country, Germany and beyond, for example, in the European Union scope.
And third, he was targeting the China hawks in the United States.
Such rhetoric would be welcomed by Washington because it would give Washington A kind of impression that Germany is not forging closer ties with China at the sacrifice of Washington.
But in China's perception, this remark is very much irresponsible, especially We know on the Taiwan question, this is a matter of national unification to China.
Let's keep in mind in 1989, China fully supported the unification between Eastern Germany and Western Germany following the downfall of Berlin Wall.
So from China's perspective, China really hopes that Germany can fully support China's unification I mean, the unification between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan as well.
The tension... In the Taiwan Straits is largely caused by, number one, the continuous provocation on the part of the Taipei regime to try to advance the so-called Taiwan independence agenda.
And number two, this continuous move or gesture from Washington that have ended up emboldening the Taiwan independence movement.
Germany is not directly involved on the Taiwan question.
So I think Berlin should be very cautious about making comments on this issue.
Yeah, well, some critics would say that there's they say sort of an alliance being formed between Japan and Germany. that they are kind of positioning themselves as guardians of regional or global security.
What do you make of this? Yeah, to some extent, I would agree with that analysis, especially when I hear comments by the German foreign minister like, quote, China's increasingly aggressive behavior in the Taiwan Strait and the East and the South China Sea also affects us in Europe."
This is very similar to some Japanese politicians' talking points that draws a parallel between between the war in ukraine and the taiwan question like ukraine today taiwan tomorrow etc so I think for a very long time after the end of the Second World War,
Both Japan and Germany had developed on a very peaceful trajectory.
I think all humanity is very happy to see that.
Now it appears both Japan and Germany are pursuing rearmament.
For Germany, the war in Ukraine is probably a catalyst and a trump-inflicted transatlantic crisis is probably another issue another factor then With regard to the Japanese side, Japan's post-war demilitarization was in and of itself not thorough enough compared to, for example, compared to the denazification in Germany.
And now Japan is moving away from its post-war pacifism.
It is a political talking point in Japan to try to amends the Article 9 of Japan's post-war pacifist constitution, but Still, I want to say that people still have a fresh memory about the Second World War and this year is the 80th anniversary after the end of the Second World War.
So any attempt to change the post-World War II international order Shabim. taken very cautiously, I think, especially for Japan.
Its invasion of China led to a loss of tens of millions of lives. civilian and military here in China from 1931 to 1945.
That history should never be forgotten if Japan today is using China as a pre-context, as an excuse to pursue rearmament.
This will draw a lot of backlashes here in China and it will ultimately backfire.
I hope Germany don't emboldened Japan in this regard.
Well, in a meeting with his German counterpart during the eighth round of China-Germany strategic dialogue on diplomacy and security in July, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said he hopes Germany would continue to play a constructive role in enhancing China-EU relations.
How can Germany play a role in this regard?
So during this China-EU summit in Beijing in July this year, we actually saw quite a number of complaints and grievances vetted by the EU side to China.
China, by comparison, seemed to be more mature at the meeting, focusing instead on the areas where the two sides can cooperate or can or can accommodate each other.
To me, both China and the European Union actually need each other even more at a time of global uncertainty and turbulence, to the EU forging closer cooperation with China, forging closer ties with China could actually help enhance the kind of strategic autonomy that some European politicians are yearning for.
So, With that in mind, I think Germany in particular needs to carefully manage its bilateral ties with China.
Germany is arguably the biggest beneficiary of the development of China-EU ties over the past half century, in business and economic sense especially.
So... I think making irresponsible comments on the Taiwan question is certainly detrimental to China-Germany relations. because the Taiwan question represents a foreign red line for Beijing, for China, and in return, that would harm the bigger China-EU relations as well.
And very briefly, do you think the German foreign minister's remark will change China's perception of Germany and its relevant policies?
If this does not represent a new normal in Germany's China policy, I think it will not change China's policy on Germany and its society. relevant perception.
In a bigger picture sense, China is maintaining a stable and consistent economic Europe policy, China sees Europe as a key pillar in a multipolar world order.
China supports European integration and a European pursuit of strategic autonomy, etc.
These things will remain unchanged. And I hope Germany's China policy will remain stable and refrain from challenging China on some of China's core interests, such as the Taiwan question.
Okay, thank you, Ding Heng. You're listening to World Today.
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I'm Zhao Ying. China's economy maintained steady growth in July, led by high-tech industries and modern services.
The country's industrial output rose 5.7% year-on-year, while the services production index was up 5.8%.
Meanwhile, retail sales of consumer goods increased 3.7%.
Officials say China's economy is still facing challenges from the complicated international political and economic situation. but they are confident that these will be addressed through reform and opening up, promoting innovation and pursuing high-quality development.
For more on this, my colleague Zhao Yang spoke with Dr. Zhou Mi, a senior research fellow with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.
So, Dr. Zhou Mi, thank you very much for joining us.
First, what did the July's economic figure tell us about the current momentum of China's economic recovery?
Yeah, from this data, I think that we can see from the investment, from export, and also consumption, I think All of these figures are giving us some impression that China is continuing its recovery or I have to say its development in such kind of status.
So especially when you're looking at the capacities of the industry, I think that they are pretty good compared with the GDP growth.
And if you're looking at some of the indicators to tell us about I think that it's a little bit more recovered and more strong compared with the previous years.
So overall, I would say that the performance of China's economy seems to be better compared with the first six months of this year.
And you mentioned the manufacturing, so why are the high-tech and equipment manufacturing sectors continuing to boom with a growth rate of 9.3% and 8.4% respectively.
What is really driving this strength? Well, you know, I just returned from the commercial, you know, sport meetings yesterday.
So it's really impressive. kind of activities.
I think that the people are really attracted by those kind of activities.
I mean, these are kind of very important reflection about the signals sent by the government, that the government is trying to promotes the development based on the innovation and the people are really interested in doing more things to do with this new technology including the digital technologies or some of the green technologies.
So the demand has a very important driving forces for the manufacturing in those high tech areas.
Well, for the local government, I think that most of them are really very curious about how can they improve the environment. and also institutionally.
So they are trying to have more experiences in the free trade zones in different provinces and they are able to attract more investment to these areas.
So overall, I would say that both the a supply side and a demand side are really supporting the better development of those high-tech areas of the manufacturing.
And do you think China can maintain momentum in the high-tech manufacturing among US restrictions on high-tech things like the advanced chips and technologies?
Well, maybe we started by a very difficult position, but I would say that the position is improving I think that the Chinese market is really huge.
Maybe in the past we focused more on the foreign markets, but now I think the Chinese market is a very important one and they also attracted the FDIs from other countries.
So when everyone knows that globalization is based on the market, based on the collaboration between the different stakeholders, If US continues to put some restrictions on technology exportings, i would say the chinese market is open and we will attract more investment and cooperation so in this regard i would say that chinese market is are super large and we are able to provide enough support for the development of you know better technology and the high tech manufacturing And on the other side, I would say this development will also provide a better support for the export I mean that many other countries can also benefit from China's development on the technology areas.
And we are also seeing that July's exports rose by 8% with imports also rising by 4.8% year on year.
So are we seeing some growth with more diversified trading partners and shift towards the higher value added products?
Well, it's true that the US is one of the largest markets in the world, but I can see that the other countries are catching up with So many developing countries, including ASEAN countries and European countries, maybe they suffer from some of the pro-technism and the unilateralism from the US side, but they are also trying to stabilize their trade with the rest of the world.
Well, it is true that China is one of the largest exporters on many areas like the machineries, electronics, So we are trying to share this market and opportunities with our trading partners.
So this is a very important change when we're looking at maybe not just for the seven months but also if you're looking forward i would say that many countries trying to you know also establish a better and more stabilized trade with us And that is a very important momentum that we can see from the trade of China and our trading partners.
And China's imports recorded the biggest jump in a year in July.
So is this to some extent pointing to China's recovery in domestic demands?
And what is really driving China's recovery in terms of the domestic demand?
That is one important area that China's domestic demand is an important reason why we import more things from other countries. so you can find that china you know trying to facilitate the the input and trying to make the logistics more efficient by improving the efficiency and also to implement better technology like the 5G or 5G plus or some other telecommunication networks.
And the development of the e-commerce platform also provide better opportunities for the consumption to be united and have a strengthen for better development.
But I want to point out that another reason, something to do with the import is that China opened our market wider and we lowered our tariffs on importing from other countries and at the same time we expanding the import of the agricultural products from so many other countries.
So these two reasons of the super large domestic consumption market and also the openness of the the inputs are together to cause the increase of the input for the data.
And also in July, the cold CPI is ticking up while the PPI deflation is narrowing.
So how do you explain that? Yeah, I think that is a very good effect.
That means that people are getting more confidence and also the better as the abilities about the expectation about the market So they want to put more their income to buy something.
And for the enterprises, they're also trying to stabilize their production.
I don't want to say that they will continue to increase in their capacity you know you know very quick speed but i think that the stabilized is very important for you know global trade and also the connections with our trading partners And the government has also rolled out some targeted policies recently, including the subsidized consumer and business loans.
So Dr. Jomi, why is it now and how effective will these measures be in supporting the growth?
Yeah, I would say that is a continuous of the policies that we have published at the beginning of this year.
So the government is trying to fulfill our commitments and trying to continue with the supporting of the conception.
I think that is not just the same thing that we did for the first several months.
We are trying to update these plans and trying to use the money to make it wiser and better choices for the consumption by using different consumption products.
That is really a continuous effort done by the government.
And eight service industries are targeted, including health care, elderly care, child care, cultural entertainment, tourism, sports, etc., etc.
So why were these chosen? And do you think this could lead to a service sector investment boom?
Well, if you're looking at these areas, I would say most of them are just the bottlenecks of the people's improvement of their livelihood.
So for many of the Chinese people, we really want to take care of our our parents, our children, and also trying to be cared when we are in the illness.
I think that is really the demand from the people if they have less worry about these difficulties they will be more confident to use their money wisely that is another reason why they can just increase their consumption.
So for the Chinese I think that they really want to improve the common environment for the people to live.
That is also the targets of the government who want to have better life for all the people in China.
That is Dr. Zhou Mi, senior research fellow with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, speaking with my colleague Zhao Yang.
And this is all the time we have for this edition of World Today.
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I'm Daoying. Thank you so much for listening.
See you next time.
