Closer To China Episodes

Although President Xi has been extremely active in visiting many foreign countries, his state visit to the UK does seem to be something special The UK unabashedly seeks to be “China’s best partner in the West” – which President Xi called “a visionary and strategic choice” For the UK, economy and trade are the overwhelming drivers

What is in store for the Chinese Economy? What are the long-term goals and mid-term objectives? What are the challenges?

The sixth plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, held in Beijing, was a milestone, establishing the Party’s new norms of political life and setting new regulations for supervision and discipline Significantly, CPC General Secretary Xi Jinping was designated as the “core” leader We find out why in this episode

The unexpected election of Donald Trump as the President of the United States has stunned the media and foreign governments This makes us focus on China-US relations: what are the opportunities and threats, and why do many Chinese people support him? Will Trump’s pragmatism lead to a constructive engagement with China? We discuss

China today is involved in every matter of global importance and whatever happens in China affects the entire world To create a new image, there is no doubt that China seeks to strengthen its soft power

China’s National People’s Congress interpreted Article 104 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong SAR by clarifying the legal requirements for those taking public office, and the legal consequences for those violating the swearing-in oath We discuss what is the legal status of the Basic Law, whether Hong Kong maintains its judiciary independence and how to understand “One Country, Two Systems”

Today the media makes the news, not just reports it How does this worldwide trend relate to China? How does China view the international media affecting world opinion about China? Can the Chinese media affect the Chinese government, including its foreign policy? How much media diversity is optimum for China? We explore the fascinating case of the Global Times

In moves and countermoves, the US and China imposed tariffs and threatened bigger ones The US says it is countering China’s “economic aggression” China says it does not want to fight a trade war, but it is absolutely not afraid of a trade war There is a larger context: a growing “pushback” against China’s rising international engagement What’s really doing on? And what can China do about it?

With China’s huge rural population of around 600 million, why is rural land reform a continuing problem? Why, for almost four decades, have rural issues been highlighted in every national congress? How are rural land rights now divided and operated in China? How are pilot reforms granting farmers greater rights to their lands and energizing the country’s rural revitalization strategy? What are its achievements and challenges?

Individual land ownership is required for economic efficiency and a market economy But financial exploitation of rural land has caused problems, especially as land values have skyrocketed, leading to a sharp divide between wealth in urban areas and poverty in rural areas This has to be rectified and pilot programs are in place, however, questions still remain Rural land issues are real and rural revitalization is a national priority

Artificial intelligence, AI, has been heralded as transformational, disrupting industries and societies, even altering powers among nations China’s ambition is to become a global innovation center by 2030 Why has China made AI a national priority? What are China’s advantages and disadvantages? Shouldn’t China and the US be partners, not adversaries, to assure that AI serves humanity, not the reverse?

The 2018 Beijing Summit, attended by many African heads of state, promoted the China-Africa comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level for a new era What are the new ideas, new principles, new programs? What’s the meaning of all this newness? President Xi Jinping presented “Five Nos” and eight major initiatives The “Five Nos” are intriguing Why did Xi begin with Five Nos?

A forthcoming summit between the DPRK leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump A summit between Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, calling for a peace treaty and denuclearization Kim suspends DPRK tests of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, changes DPRK’s top national priority to economic development What’s next? What are various scenarios? What role is China playing? What are China’s core interests?

The two sessions are where President Xi Jinping’s “New Era” vision and strategies, specified at the 19th CPC National Congress, become actualized into real-world policies and programs, the election of new leaders, and institutional reforms of the Chinese government Most deal with daunting challenges that China faces – slowing economic growth, financial risk and excess debt, pollution, poverty, corruption, Party governance and increasing foreign resistance to China’s rise

In a momentous restructuring of the Chinese government, 15 bureaucracies were shut down or folded into other bodies The institutional reform was far stronger than what had been expected A new organ at the highest level, the National Supervision Commission, is now responsible for anti-corruption and overseeing proper behavior throughout China’s huge public sector There are many questions and the NSC will need to be ever vigilant

China has lifted over 700 million people out of poverty But for reasons of poor geography or ill health, about 100 million people remained intractably poor Something radically new was needed We traveled to remote and underdeveloped areas of China to see how the country’s “Targeted Poverty Alleviation” program works at the grassroots, household by household, door by door Here’s how China is winning the battle against poverty

If the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area were a country, its GDP would rank near the top 10 in the world Integration makes sense: Guangdong and Hong Kong have each lost its special role – low-cost producer, and center of trade and finance New strategies are needed How does this massive plan work? What are the risks? Could integration degrade Hong Kong’s and Macao’s separate political system?

President Xi Jinping stresses that for China to become a “moderately prosperous society” by 2020, the elimination of all extreme poverty is essential Why did he propose the concept of “targeted poverty alleviation”? What does “targeted” mean? What are the “five methods” and “six precisions” in poverty alleviation? How, specifically, do targeted policies and precision measures work in practice, in tens of thousands of impoverished villages?

What is China’s Brain Project and how does it differ from brain projects in the US, Europe and Japan? Everything we sense, think and feel comes from our brains Many incapacitating diseases, especially age-related, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, are diseases of the brain What’s the state of China’s brain science today, its comparative strengths and weaknesses, its long-term ambitions? To track China’s science, track China’s Brain Project

The US and China have begun a trade war, with unintended consequences that benefit no one What underlies the US actions? President Trump certainly has had long-standing concerns about China, but the sudden prominence of Peter Navarro, an anti-China crusader, has injected a zealous stridency What are Navarro’s beliefs? How do his theories apply to trade relations, deficits, tariffs, manufacturing jobs, US national security, and China’s strategies?

CGTN is doing a five-year “checkup” on China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which includes over 70 countries, mostly in the developing world, and provides them with much-needed infrastructure – railways, roads, ports, etc – and solidifies China’s global economic integration What has been accomplished? What problems have been encountered? What challenges lie ahead? We focus first on how the Belt and Road benefits China, especially in domestic development Which areas and sectors are engaged? What are the opportunities and obstacles ahead?

The Belt and Road Initiative is President Xi Jinping’s premier proposal for engaging the world, especially the developing world, stressing much-needed infrastructure projects Now, at the Belt and Road’s five-year mark, it’s a good time to take stock What has been accomplished? What problems have arisen? What about excessive debt? What about increasing international pushback against the Belt and Road Initiative? What challenges lie ahead?

“The world is far from being tranquil and peace needs to be safeguarded,” said Xi Jinping, chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission China faces diverse challenges such as territorial disputes, Taiwan issue, Chinese workers and investments exposed to unstable environments globally Recent PLA reforms are far-reaching on multiple levels for multiple purposes How do they address China’s new defense and security requirements?

Not having a trade war, at least for now, is a good thing, but let no one underestimate the challenges ahead Although China has committed to purchasing more agricultural and energy products to reduce the trade deficit, neither market access nor intellectual property rights protection measures were specified, worrying the US What is going on? The US and China must each figure out how not to confirm the other’s self-fulfilling prophecy Deep issues remain

Why has President Xi Jinping made poverty alleviation a signature priority of his leadership? China’s national goal is to realize a “moderately prosperous society” by 2020, and Xi asserts that the country cannot be a “moderately prosperous society” if any of its citizens continue to live in extreme poverty So can China eliminate extreme poverty in three years? What are the challenges and the obstacles?