The world this month was watching closely the congress by the Chinese Communist Party, and for good reason. It was a major moment to state China’s key priorities.
But it was no surprise that domestic issues – economic growth, health care, education, environment – necessarily were the foremost focus of the event. That is because President Xi Jinping and the party – like any other national leader – need to address the concerns of the country’s domestic audience before anyone else. And so the Congress started with a long address by Mr Xi, who gave each of these areas copious treatment.
Despite this, the sheer enormity of the country that Mr Xi leads – reappointed leader for a third term – means that even the seemingly most domestic issues have an international dimension. What China is planning to do on combating climate change, for instance, matters hugely to everyone else, as does how it chooses to deal with pandemics (something we have witnessed in the past two years). China is now like the US at least in this respect: its internal issues are intrinsically global, and what it does in terms of policy and management has a knock-on effect on the world around.
One thing we can be fairly certain about. A third term for Mr Xi, from this year until 2027, would almost certainly be about continuity and in that sense, at least, it will offer some level of predictability. The Communist Party may be a revolutionary political force, but the older it gets, the keener it becomes on routine and foreseeable outcomes. Almost every single declaration and commitment the Chinese government has made over the past five years has been about assisting the country to deliver its vision, under party leadership, of being a powerful, strong, rich country.
Nothing will be allowed to scupper or put this at risk. The question remains, however, as to how the rest of the world fits into this grand, overarching vision, one which is intrinsically where the domestic and the international get mixed up. That is where the uncertainty most intensely exists.
This is because areas of Chinese and foreign co-operation, from security to economy to sustainability, mix collaboration with competition and sometimes pure conflict, and will continue to need complex management and vigilance to deal with. This is, to put it lightly, because much of the rest of the world has a far more ambiguous or even antagonistic view of the creation of a powerful, strong China than China itself does.
A third term for Mr Xi, from this year until 2027, would almost certainly be about continuity
On an issue such as that of working together on the environment, work is very much at the collaboration side of the spectrum. China’s rivals in America, Europe and elsewhere can console themselves with at least one thought: that while the Xi approach to the world is nationalistic and assertive, at least on perhaps the most critical issue or our time, they are dealing with a leader who speaks broadly the same language as them.
With its energy-intensive, fossil-fuel-heavy economic model, China introducing changes in this area will have a huge impact on the rest of the planet reaching their goals of keeping temperature increases down. If China manages to achieve this, then the Xi era will historically go down as a vastly significant one, whatever other challenges may unfold. For environmentalism, in Mr Xi China has a leader who can, and probably will, cut a deal with the rest of the world.
But on most other issues, however, things are not so straightforward. On Hong Kong, there has been no rollback of increased control over the city since 2019. The one country, two systems implantation is clearly regarded as fine by Beijing, and as long as Hong Kong citizens are also patriotic Chinese, they have nothing to fear.
For Taiwan, the main message in 2022 has been for the rest of the world to keep out of this issue. This is unsurprising. China remains worried that its hand might be forced by adventurous notions in America and elsewhere that might prompt some to either recognise Taiwan independence, or encourage political leaders on the island to pursue it. This is the reddest of red lines for the People’s Republic.
On economic issues, however, things are, for the present, less clear for China than the outside world. Under Mr Xi, China is seeking what might best be described as technological autonomy. The government has promised to put significant investments into improving universities and making China both an innovator and producer of more and more of the technology it needs. This is not a new theme but is being delivered with an increasingly strong sense of commitment and urgency.
Weekend Essays from The National
The main question is, in view of the very tough economic challenges facing China and the world now, from a vexed housing market to supply chain issues, slowing growth, rising youth unemployment, all compounded by the situation in Europe and the US, can the country really pull this off? Necessity is the mother of invention, for sure, and in many other cases, government support for research and development is key. But China is clearly trying to go its own way far quicker than it might have wanted, with the US and others implementing more restrictions on where, and how, research collaboration with China can happen.
For Xi Jinping and the vision to deliver a great powerful country in the next few years, it is clear that his country’s dilemma is the same as that of most others – wanting to be more independent and free, and yet working in a context where the biggest issues involve deeper and deeper levels of collaboration. This underlying reality should not be forgotten. Chinese leaders from Mr Xi downwards talking about China’s pride, strength, and sovereignty are always going to be popular with the home audience, while at the same time creating unease and apprehension in the outside world. This lack of alignment is a challenge Beijing will struggle with as it attempts to implement its ambitious and comprehensive programme, acknowledging that it will only be able to do this if it has assistance from the rest of the world, including nations whose rivalry with it is only growing.
Honeymoonish
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UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
MATCH INFO
Juventus 1 (Dybala 45')
Lazio 3 (Alberto 16', Lulic 73', Cataldi 90 4')
Red card: Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus)
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MEFCC information
Tickets range from Dh110 for an advance single-day pass to Dh300 for a weekend pass at the door. VIP tickets have sold out. Visit www.mefcc.com to purchase tickets in advance.
'Munich: The Edge of War'
Director: Christian Schwochow
Starring: George MacKay, Jannis Niewohner, Jeremy Irons
Rating: 3/5
Have you been targeted?
Tuan Phan of SimplyFI.org lists five signs you have been mis-sold to:
1. Your pension fund has been placed inside an offshore insurance wrapper with a hefty upfront commission.
2. The money has been transferred into a structured note. These products have high upfront, recurring commission and should never be in a pension account.
3. You have also been sold investment funds with an upfront initial charge of around 5 per cent. ETFs, for example, have no upfront charges.
4. The adviser charges a 1 per cent charge for managing your assets. They are being paid for doing nothing. They have already claimed massive amounts in hidden upfront commission.
5. Total annual management cost for your pension account is 2 per cent or more, including platform, underlying fund and advice charges.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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The Uefa Awards winners
Uefa Men's Player of the Year: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Uefa Women's Player of the Year: Lucy Bronze (Lyon)
Best players of the 2018/19 Uefa Champions League
Goalkeeper: Alisson (Liverpool)
Defender: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Midfielder: Frenkie de Jong (Ajax)
Forward: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Uefa President's Award: Eric Cantona
ELECTION%20RESULTS
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more from Janine di Giovanni
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
No.6 Collaborations Project
Ed Sheeran (Atlantic)
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
In 2018, the ICRC received 27,756 trace requests in the Middle East alone. The global total was 45,507.
There are 139,018 global trace requests that have not been resolved yet, 55,672 of these are in the Middle East region.
More than 540,000 individuals approached the ICRC in the Middle East asking to be reunited with missing loved ones in 2018.
The total figure for the entire world was 654,000 in 2018.
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
'My Son'
Director: Christian Carion
Starring: James McAvoy, Claire Foy, Tom Cullen, Gary Lewis
Rating: 2/5
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
All or Nothing
Amazon Prime
Four stars
Christopher Robin
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Haley Atwell, Jim Cummings, Peter Capaldi
Three stars
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder MHEV
Power: 360bhp
Torque: 500Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh282,870
On sale: now
More coverage from the Future Forum
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
FROM%20THE%20ASHES
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THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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China
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UAE
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Norway
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Canada
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What is Reform?
Reform is a right-wing, populist party led by Nigel Farage, a former MEP who won a seat in the House of Commons last year at his eighth attempt and a prominent figure in the campaign for the UK to leave the European Union.
It was founded in 2018 and originally called the Brexit Party.
Many of its members previously belonged to UKIP or the mainstream Conservatives.
After Brexit took place, the party focused on the reformation of British democracy.
Former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson became its first MP after defecting in March 2024.
The party gained support from Elon Musk, and had hoped the tech billionaire would make a £100m donation. However, Mr Musk changed his mind and called for Mr Farage to step down as leader in a row involving the US tycoon's support for far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson who is in prison for contempt of court.
Saturday's schedule at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
GP3 race, 12:30pm
Formula 1 final practice, 2pm
Formula 1 qualifying, 5pm
Formula 2 race, 6:40pm
Performance: Sam Smith
WIDE%20VIEW
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UAE cricketers abroad
Sid Jhurani is not the first cricketer from the UAE to go to the UK to try his luck.
Rameez Shahzad Played alongside Ben Stokes and Liam Plunkett in Durham while he was studying there. He also played club cricket as an overseas professional, but his time in the UK stunted his UAE career. The batsman went a decade without playing for the national team.
Yodhin Punja The seam bowler was named in the UAE’s extended World Cup squad in 2015 despite being just 15 at the time. He made his senior UAE debut aged 16, and subsequently took up a scholarship at Claremont High School in the south of England.
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