Welcome to the 188th edition of Trade War.
Beijing holds state funeral for Li Keqiang. Central Economic Work Conference focuses on controlling swelling local debt. And He Lifeng chosen as China’s ‘economic czar,’ a clear successor to Liu He.
China’s economic system explains Evergrande’s slow motion implosion. Renewed weakness revealed in October economic numbers. And China’s social contract may be breaking down.
Costo grilled over Chinese human rights abuses in its products. And China for the first time is trading more with developing countries than the U.S., Europe, and Japan combined.
Containing grief for Li Keqiang
While people spontaneously gathered to mourn Li Keqiang in his hometown of Hefei, in Beijing, top leaders came together for his cremation at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery.
“Flags flew at half-mast in China on Thursday amid the funeral for former premier Li Keqiang in a low-key ceremony strictly contained to prevent any outpouring of grief that might trigger protests over President Xi Jinping’s management of the economy,” reports RFA’s Chris Taylor.
“The cemetery's auditorium was immersed in solemnity, with a mournful dirge playing in the background. At the main hall hung a black banner with white characters that read ‘Deeply mourn for Comrade Li Keqiang.’ Under the banner was a portrait of him. The body of Li, covered with the flag of the CPC, lay amidst flowers and evergreen cypresses,” reported Xinhua.
“Around 9 a.m., Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan, [Politburo Standing Committee members] Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi, [vice president] Han Zheng and others walked slowly up to Li Keqiang's remains, stood in solemn silence to pay their tributes, and made three bows. They shook hands with Li's family members, offering their condolences. Hu Jintao sent a wreath to express his condolences over Li's passing,” reported the state news service.
“Even though Beijing will manage Li’s funeral to ensure that it passes swiftly and without public significance, there might be many Chinese . . . [who regard him as] a signpost to a different future,” says George Magnus, research associate at the China Centre, Oxford University and the School of African and Oriental Studies in London.
“No one can know how he would have managed the last decade differently from Xi, but his reputation and credibility in death may resonate nevertheless for people at a time of growing economic and social stress.”
“Xi must show respect and affection for Li, which means he must pretend,” China scholar Perry Link told RFA. “And he has to do it with a grief-stricken look on his face, which means he must pretend not to be pretending.”
“I don’t know what the tipping point might one day be for Xi,” said Oxford’s Magnus. “Maybe we are in it or close, maybe it’s still years away. But time I’d say is not on his side,” Magnus added.
Financial work conference tackles debt
China’s twice-a-decade Central Financial Work Conference closed in Beijing with a vow to clean up swelling local debt risks facing property developers and small banks, and strengthen overall party control over the $61 trillion financial sector.
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