🧵Late last night #China's top diplomat Wang Yi held phone calls with his Iranian and Saudi counterparts to discuss the recent hostilities between #Iran and #Israel. Here's what they said, according to an official readout.🇨🇳🇮🇷🇸🇦 #IranIsrael In the Iranian phone call, Wang said
⭕️China strongly condemns and firmly opposes the attack on the consular section of the Iranian embassy in Damascus, regarding it as a serious violation of international law and unacceptable./2

Xi to Biden: In recent months, our teams followed thru on agreements reached in SF and bilat ties are stabilizing, as is welcomed by many in China, US, and the world. On the other hand, negative elements in bilat ties are on the rise, which is worth our attention. tc The negative elements mostly refer to Taiwan, Tech sanctions, HK, human rights and South China Sea.
Xi: China would not tolerate outside forces supporting successionists in TW, hope Biden would put the US commitment of not supporting TW independence into action.

Chinese MOD spox Tan Kefei Wed responds to reports alleging 🇨🇳 ignoring @DeptofDefense request for talks:

China attaches importance to the development of 🇨🇳🇺🇸 military relations & the development of communication at all levels, in fact, mil-to-mil contacts are not severed./1 I want to emphasize that dialogue cannot be without principles, and communication cannot be without the bottom line. The U.S. side bears full responsibility for the current difficulties of mil-to-mil exchanges. /2

Politburo member & Beijing Party Chief Yin Li met w/ @Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan May 25, inviting him to open more stores in the city.

mp.weixin.qq.com/s/hL1XhVppM5XZ… Politburo member & #Shanghai Party Chief Chen Jining on May 30 met w/ @jpmorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, pledging to provide a better business environment for foreign businesses. Dimon's in town for JP Morgan's "Global China Summit".

mp.weixin.qq.com/s/YiRUBExsC7bI…

Didn't visit the #Shanghai #Autoshow, but here is a list of takeaways somebody wrote that's circulating on social media and getting a lot of nods.
I'll briefly translate.
1. EV are the future, the days of combustion engine vehicles are numbered. 2. Brand value of luxury brands such as #Benz and #BMW is the saving grace of combust engine vehicles
3. #Audi is lagging behind Benz and BMW, the conventional acronym of the big 3 lux brands of "BBA" is now "BB"

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Just wrapped up a trip to Shenzhen to see how their tech companies are faring against the backdrop of the great tech decoupling. The companies we visited differed in field, size, and temperament, but some common traits were worth sharing. 1. The pressure of U.S. sanctions is acutely felt across industries. Foreign markets were forced to give up, access to hardware was lost, and many are bracing for more extreme measures as they expect the situation to further deteriorate. /2

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The 13th NPC Standing Committee held its 38th meeting today in Beijing. This is a thread of legislation and treaties it looked at and proposed actions. 1. Heard report on the draft amendment of the Legislation Law. Proposed to be further heard by 1st meeting of 14th NPC. (2nd hearing)
2. Heard report on the draft revision of the Wild Animals Protection Law. Proposed to be passed by this NPC Standing Committee. /2

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Breaking: China's National Immigration Administration to update on Jan. 8 cross-border traveling policies following the Covid control policy change.
nia.gov.cn/n741440/n74154…↓ 1. Resume issuing passports to Chinese nationals traveling abroad for tourism and visiting friends purposes; Resume issuing permits to mainland travelers traveling to Hong Kong for tourism and commerce purposes.

Breaking: Covid-19 to be managed as Class II epidemic starting Jan. 8, according to NHC notice. This will bring about a number of policy changes. Policy changes include 1. No more quarantines for Covid patients and no more determination of close contacts of Covid patients; 2. No more classification of high/low-risk zones; 3. Covid tests will become voluntary;

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Came across a rather interesting video on bilibili (aka the "B-site") that tallied where its top video hosts are located.
The result is relevant because it provided an angle to observe which are China's most culturally and economically vibrant cities. Before sharing results, just a backgrounder on bilibili.
It's a Shanghai company (important hint!) that's like China's youtube.
It's a late bloomer compared with Tudou & Youku, but it ultimately came out on top because of the close tie it cultivated with Gen-Z users./2

Thread
State Council releases new 10-point directive on Covid control:
1. High-risk zones shall be restricted with precision, may not be enlarged to cover entire communities and townships. Temporary lockdowns of any form are prohibited. 2. Reduce Covid test scale and frequency. No health code and covid test result checks except for senior homes, foster homes, medical facilities, kindergartens and schools. No health code and covid test result checks for travellers.

.@XHNews has released a collection of 24 photos that mark important moments of the life of Jiang Zemin. This is a thread of those photos. 1/ Portrait of Jiang upon graduation from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 1947.
这是1947年江泽民同志在上海交通大学的毕业照。

#Tianjin city is no longer requiring 72 hr covid test result from subway passengers. #Guiyang permits hotels to admit guests with yellow health codes.

Two Covid-related stories circulating today downplayed the dangers of Covid. A Thread
One is by Global Times, titled "Chinese scientists have confirmed! Omicron’ pathogenicity is now substantially lower", which cites the finding of a @WHUni_Official research team as saying /1 Omicron's ability to replicate itself in human cells is less than 1/10 of the original variation.
The researcher concludes, "The finding tells us that we shouldn't panic over Omicron. For the vaccinated general public, Covid virus is significantly less dangerous than before." /2

China releases latest 20-point guidance for Zero-Covid implementation. translation tk mp.weixin.qq.com/s/RcOteDHX_V1r… 1. For close contacts, adjust from "7 day centralized quarantine + 3 days health surveillance" to "5 day centralized quarantine + 3 day home quarantine"

PBSC holds meeting on Zero-Covid policy, issues 20-point directive. Main takeaway: Zero Covid stays, but take steps to limit the impact of Zero Covid on the economy & society. tk 1. The meeting finds Covid continues to mutate, the epidemic is ongoing, outbreaks continue to emerge domestically. China has a large population w/ lots of vulnerable people, unbalanced regional development, insufficient total medical resources

When forecasting changes to the Zero-Covid policy, it's crucial to bear in mind the reasoning behind the policy. On Oct. 11, days before the PC, People's Daily ran an editorial on the dangers of Omicron. "The multiplication of both transmission and pathogenicity rates is an important indicator of the severity of a virus. Omicron is much more transmissible than influenza and previous strains of the new coronavirus, and some subbranches of the Omicron

Thread.
CPC Central Committee Politburo meeting on the economy today, Quick rundown: Overall evaluation: the country worked hard to produce commendable results, but the current economy faces tough challenges and requires that China maintains strategic composure. Goal for H2: Keeping pandemic under control, steady the economy & ensure safety in development.
Balancing the economy & Covid: Sticking with Zero-Covid while ensuring operation of key contributing factors for economy. Monitor new variants and research for vaccines/treatments./2

What's behind the newly published Covid-19 protocol? Thread.
Yesterday China released its 9th edition of the protocol, easing some of the Zero-covid measures such as reducing the number of days inbound travelers and close contacts need to be quarantined. A report today unveiled some of the behind-the-curtain deliberations of the new protocol. Main takeaways: 1. Its release was hindered by the Shanghai & Beijing outbreaks. The report said discussions for a new protocol began early this year, and a draft was completed in March. /2

Thread
It's perhaps useful to look at what the Shanghai gov't is offering to reboot the economy against what businesses are saying. (For SH's reboot plan, see previous thread

https://twitter.com/yangliuxh/status/1530833616833376257

) SH local media "Stat Cable" has conducted a poll among 119 small and micro-businesses. Here are key findings, as of May 28. 1. 54.7% not operational, 20.5% fully or mostly operational; 18.8% less than 50% operational, 6% about to begin operation; 2. Biggest demands./2

Thread.
#Shanghai unveils "extraordinary" measures to reboot its economy. The 50-item plan is expected to alleviate 300 bln yuan of the burden from market participants this year, according to local officials. Some of the measures include 1. Delaying collection of social insurance fees for food service, retail, tourism, civil aviation, land, water and rail transportation businesses; 2. Delaying the collection of housing funds for businesses affected by Covid; /2