Three-minute news bulletin, Friday, May 12, 2023

Domestic:

1) On May 11, Xi Jinping conducted an inspection and investigation in Cangzhou City, Hebei Province.

Xi Jinping replied to a letter encouraging a certain crew of the navy submarine force: Strive to forge fully capable underwater elite soldiers, and make greater contributions to achieving the goal of the centenary of the founding of the army. Xi Jinping sent a message of condolence to President Félix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo on the rainstorm disaster suffered by the Democratic Republic of Congo.

2) The National Grain and Material Reserves Bureau: The autumn grain acquisition in 2022 has come to a complete end. Grain enterprises in major producing areas have cumulatively purchased 198.57 million tons of autumn grain, an increase of 6.83 million tons year-on-year, an increase of 3.6%, the highest level in the past three years; achieving nineteen consecutive years of bumper harvests! China's per capita grain possession is 483 kilograms, the grain self-sufficiency rate exceeds 100%, achieving absolute food security; severely cracking down on illegal and irregular behaviors such as "issuing IOUs," "grain rotation," and "difficulty in warehousing."

3) [Rule of Law] The 11th Police Expo: Cutting-edge police equipment promotes the modernization of public security work. Xiong Xue, former vice mayor of Chongqing, is under investigation. Accused of accepting bribes of more than 64.56 million yuan, Shen Deyong, former member of the Standing Committee of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, pleaded guilty and repented in court. Yao Zhibo, former vice-ministerial-level cadre of Heihe City, Heilongjiang Province, was expelled from the party and removed from public office. Yang Guang, chief expert of the Agricultural Bank of China, was "double-opened". The second trial of the Wu Xieyu case resumed: The hearing was held on May 19, and the first trial previously sentenced him to death. The second trial of the Chongqing siblings' fall case was pronounced: The original death sentence for Zhang Bo and Ye Chengchen was upheld. The children's grandmother said that the children's father was still arguing in court. After the verdict, Chen Meilin, the mother of the fallen siblings, read the verdict to the children at Tiantai Temple, saying, "Mom will get justice for you."

4) The National Health Commission and 14 other departments jointly issued a document: Correcting unhealthy trends in the field of medical purchases and sales and medical services. The total number of registered nurses in China exceeds 5.2 million.

5) On May 11, after the Tianzhou-6 cargo spacecraft successfully entered orbit, it successfully completed the status setting and successfully docked at the rear port of the Tianhe core module of the space station. The Chinese space station will carry out a number of in-cabin and extravehicular experiments, and is expected to achieve the world's first early hematopoiesis of stem cells in space.

6) Ministry of Emergency Management: Requires all localities to establish and improve the mechanism of the major accident hidden danger database, summarizing and sorting out major accident hidden dangers discovered through channels such as enterprise reporting, supervision and inspection, and public reports.

7) National Immigration Administration: The full restoration of fast customs clearance at ports will be implemented from May 15, 2023.

8) [Military] The opening ceremony of the China-Laos "Friendship Shield-2023" joint exercise was held. A certain regiment of the 82nd Army used the deeds of martyrs to inspire the motivation of officers and soldiers.

9) [Hong Kong and Macao] John Lee: Will hold a "Legislative Council Chief Executive Interactive Exchange Q&A Session" on May 18 to build consensus and build Hong Kong together through interactive exchanges.

10) [Taiwan] Taiwan authorities: The FTA (Free Trade Agreement) between Taiwan and El Salvador will cease on May 15. The total population of Taiwan in April was 23.34 million, and the number of newborns fell below 10,000.

International:

1) Wang Yi held a meeting with Jake Sullivan, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. Qin Gang visited the site of the Potsdam Conference and delivered a speech: The post-war international order must be maintained, and China's national reunification must be achieved. Qin Gang held talks with French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna. Qin Gang unveiled the "China House" at the Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris.

Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao met with US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns at the invitation. The Ministry of Commerce stated: If the United States coerces its allies to jointly restrict investment in China, it will resolutely oppose it; taking the China-Central Asia Summit as an opportunity to promote the further development of China-Central Asia economic and trade cooperation. The European Union plans to sanction seven Chinese companies on the grounds of selling equipment to Russia. The Ministry of Commerce: Do not set a bad precedent. China and Ecuador signed a free trade agreement. Will the China-North Korea border be unsealed in June? China responded: China and North Korea will continue to carry out border cooperation in accordance with the relevant border treaties between the two countries.

2) The German government approved COSCO Group's acquisition of a 24.9% stake in the Hamburg port container terminal. German Economy Minister Robert Habeck: Choosing between China and the United States will put Germany in an extreme situation, and decoupling from China is "not in Germany's interest." Indonesia's official response to the murder of a Chinese tourist in Bali: It is being fully investigated, and a preliminary report has been formed. 42 domestic and foreign institutions joined the "Belt and Road" Green Development International Alliance as the first batch of member units. Gender equality and women's empowerment: An event themed "Promoting women to the forefront of the times" was held in Geneva.

3) Biden: If the United States defaults on its debt, the whole world will be in trouble. The US government is considering relaxing the standards for semiconductor export controls for South Korean companies that have factories in China. Asked to choose sides between Russia and Ukraine, Trump retorted to a CNN reporter: What matters is winning or losing? The host asked: Why did you take classified documents from the White House? Trump: The answer is that you hate it.

Trump: If re-elected president, he will exploit more oil to solve America's economic difficulties. The White House said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the United States on June 22. A scandal-ridden US congressman was criminally charged and pleaded not guilty to 13 counts. A US Navy plane crashed, and three people on board are missing. Inflationary pressures persist, and economists worry that the US economy may fall into recession in the future. Gun violence is rampant! A US man shot innocent customers, resulting in one death and two injuries. Google will launch an AI one-click photo editing tool this year: brighten the sky with one stroke, and instantly move characters. Researchers at the US Quantinum quantum computing company claim that they have "created" anyons for the first time on a quantum processor, which is expected to promote the development of fault-tolerant quantum computers.

4) Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the Russian president: Some parts of the "special military operation" are far from complete, and the operation will continue. The Russian foreign minister said that the United States is absorbing terrorists in Syria to form armed forces: The Russian army will take action. Poland decided to rename the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, and the Kremlin angrily criticized it as "almost crazy!" A Russian major general: There were about 100 drone attacks on the day of the military parade. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that more time is needed to prepare for a major counteroffensive, and the Kremlin said that the military operation in Ukraine is "very difficult."

5) NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg: Member states all support Ukraine's accession to NATO. EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell: You don't get to decide.

6) The UK has given birth to the first three-parent babies: with DNA from three people, it can prevent the inheritance of mitochondrial diseases. The 37-year-old Finnish Prime Minister announced her divorce from her husband: Thank you for the 19 years we spent together.

7) Fumio Kishida appeared on the cover of Time magazine, with the caption: Kishida wants to make Japan a truly powerful military power.

8) Turkey will hold parliamentary and presidential elections on May 14, with Erdogan facing his toughest challenge in 20 years in power. The arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan continues to ferment, and Pakistan is working to quell violent protests. Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip killed at least 24 people, including several Jihad commanders.

Finance and Securities:

1) National Bureau of Statistics: In April, the national consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.1% year-on-year, a decrease of 0.6 percentage points from the previous month. The producer price index (PPI) fell 3.6% year-on-year and 0.5% month-on-month. Ministry of Commerce: In the first quarter, the import and export volume of 21 pilot free trade zones increased by 6.6% year-on-year. The vitality continues to strengthen, with the number of newly registered tax-related business entities nationwide increasing by 28.8% year-on-year in April.

2) Central Bank: New loans in April totaled 718.8 billion yuan, M2 grew 12.4% year-on-year, and social financing increased by 1.22 trillion yuan. Construction Bank responds to "freezing a large number of bank cards": to cooperate with the public security to prevent network and telecommunications fraud.

3) China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM): In April, the production and sales of new energy vehicles reached 640,000 and 636,000 units respectively, an increase of 110% year-on-year. CAAM deputy chief engineer: Specific rules for new energy vehicles in rural areas are still under preparation.

4) China Consumers Association names May Day accommodation price surge: Many cases of breach of contract by homestays and hotels. Market supervision bureau responds to Simba's livestreaming causing durian price increase: No evidence to prove he monopolized the market.

5) Recently, Pien Tze Huang raised its prices again. In the past 20 years, Pien Tze Huang has officially announced price increases 18 times, with a total increase of 561%.

6) Yesterday's closing prices: