August 29, 2023 (Tuesday) Three-Minute News Breakfast

1) Publication and distribution of the textbook "Compendium of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era."

2) National Development and Reform Commission: The next step is to increase the intensity of macroeconomic policy regulation and actively expand domestic demand. Ministry of Finance: The next step is to increase the efficiency of implementing a proactive fiscal policy and prevent and resolve the risks of local government debt. The Ministry of Finance announced the continued implementation of relevant policies for the comprehensive settlement of individual income tax and the individual income tax policy for annual one-time bonuses.

3) [Rule of Law] In the first half of the year, a total of more than 36,000 cases of misconduct and corruption in the field of people's livelihood were investigated and dealt with nationwide, and more than 52,000 people were criticized, educated, and dealt with. In July, a total of 8,157 cases of violations of the spirit of the eight central regulations were investigated and dealt with nationwide. China plans to revise the Public Security Administration Punishment Law to better maintain social order, and illegal sale or provision of personal information may result in detention. The second review draft of the amendment to the Civil Procedure Law improves the system of procedures for foreign-related civil litigation. China plans to formulate a pre-school education law: kindergartens shall not teach primary school courses. The third review draft of the amendment to the Company Law further improves the relevant provisions on the protection of the rights and interests of small and medium-sized shareholders. Implementation regulations for administrative licensing matters in the field of market supervision have been issued. China plans to establish a degree law: using AI to write academic papers may result in the revocation of degrees. The second review draft of the amendment to the Civil Procedure Law improves the system of procedures for foreign-related civil litigation. Sun Zhigang, former secretary of the Guizhou Provincial Committee, is suspected of serious disciplinary violations and law-breaking and is currently under disciplinary review and supervisory investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission. Zhao Guoji, former inspector of the Taxation Administration and Technological Development Department of the State Taxation Administration, is under review and investigation. Yang Chao, deputy secretary of the Disciplinary Committee of Chuantou Group, committed suicide.

4) On August 25, the world's largest clean energy corridor, composed of six cascade power stations: Wudongde, Baihetan, Xiluodu, Xiangjiaba, Three Gorges, and Gezhouba, generated a record high of 1.468 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in a single day.

6) The national carbon market launched the allocation and fulfillment of quotas for 2021 and 2022. China will implement a batch of governance projects to promote the desertification control of the "several-character bend" of the Yellow River in the "Three North" project.

7) In the first half of 2023, the national online retail sales reached 7.16 trillion yuan, an increase of 13.1% year-on-year. The three types of applications with the fastest user growth this year are online car-hailing, online travel booking, and online literature. The usage rates of instant messaging, online video, and short video are 97.1%, 96.8%, and 95.2%, respectively. As of June 2023, the number of netizens in China reached 1.079 billion, an increase of 11.09 million compared to December 2022, and the Internet penetration rate reached 76.4%.

8) [Military] The second round of the national "Learning Thoughts, Praising Martyrs" competition for heroic martyrs' interpreters was held on August 28 at the Longhua Martyrs' Cemetery in Shanghai.

The Sino-Pakistani "Eagle-10" joint air force exercise kicked off on August 28 in China.

9) [Hong Kong and Macao] Hong Kong students visited Fuzhou campuses and cultural relics, gaining a deeper understanding of the country's history and development.

Principal of Pui Ching Middle School in Hong Kong: The best way to understand the motherland is to go to the mainland for exchanges.

10) [Taiwan] Terry Gou, founder of Hon Hai Group, announced his independent candidacy for the 2024 Taiwan regional leader election, and the Kuomintang responded: extremely regrettable. Taiwan media: A large unmanned aerial vehicle of the People's Liberation Army flew to the northeast waters off Taiwan Island to investigate the "deployment of air defense missiles."

1) On the morning of August 28, Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao met with US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo in Beijing.

The King and Queen of Cambodia arrived in Beijing by special plane on August 28. China and Iraq held an event to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Iraq. Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Starting from August 30, people coming to China will no longer need to undergo nucleic acid or antigen testing for COVID-19 before entering the country. The US unreasonably detains, checks, and repatriates Chinese students. Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Urges the US to stop suppressing Chinese students studying in the US under the pretext of national security. The commander of the US Seventh Fleet talked about the South China Sea in the Philippines. Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Distorting facts and sowing discord.

2) Did incidents of stones and eggs being thrown at Japanese schools occur in China? The Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded: China has always protected the safety and legitimate rights and interests of foreigners in China in accordance with the law, urging Japan to face the reasonable concerns of all parties and immediately stop the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water. Chinese embassies and consulates in Japan have been subjected to a large number of harassing calls from Japan, and the Chinese ambassador has lodged a strong protest. Ministry of Foreign Affairs: In view of the current situation of Sino-Japanese relations, the visit to China by the Komeito Party delegation has been postponed by mutual agreement. Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan have launched a new round of negotiations on the dispute over the "Renaissance Dam."

4) Putin signed an order requiring Wagner to swear allegiance. On August 27, local time, Russian fighter jets conducted a close escort of a US drone over the Black Sea. Ukrainian elections next year? Ukrainian President: Western partners will give money if they are elected.

5) Japan's discharge of nuclear-contaminated water has accumulated to more than 1,000 tons in three days. Tokyo Electric Power admitted that about 66% of the radioactive substances in the current storage tanks exceed the standard. The largest port in Fukushima held a protest rally, demanding a halt to the discharge operation and protection of the livelihoods of local fishermen. A 4.8-magnitude earthquake occurred in the waters near Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. The launch of Japan's H2A rocket was canceled for the third time, carrying Japan's first lunar probe. Foreign media: Emphasizing "safety," South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol had a high-profile seafood lunch. South Korean political parties called the discharge an act of environmental terrorism.

6) French Interior Minister: Le Pen is "likely" to win the presidency. German media: Attacked with dog feces at an event, the deputy chairman of a German far-right party condemned the attack as "disgusting."

Greece has arrested 146 people responsible for wildfires in the past four months.

7) Due to air traffic control technical problems, UK airspace was restricted, causing a large number of flights to and from the UK to be cancelled, resulting in unusual chaos. The latest development is that the technical problem has been resolved.

8) Yemeni government forces and Houthi rebels clashed in southern Yemen, killing at least 23 people.

1) The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission jointly issued the first batch of key development guidance catalogs for the industrialization of frontier materials. New regulations for health food have been issued, reflecting three major regulatory innovations.

2) On August 28, the A-share market opened significantly higher, retraced during the session, with a combined trading volume of 1.1266 trillion yuan. More than 40% of listed securities companies have released their semi-annual reports, with 3 companies reporting a year-on-year increase in net profit exceeding 100%. Multiple leading quantitative private equity firms denied "suspending T+0 algorithmic trading" and denied "driving up and driving down prices". Some securities companies have received notice: T+0 algorithmic trading will resume on August 29.

3) To expand its smartphone component business, BYD Electronics plans to acquire Jabil Singapore's business and equity in two domestic cities for 15.8 billion yuan. BYD: Net profit in the first half of the year reached 10.954 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 204.68%.

4) Country Garden sold the Guangzhou Asian Games City project to China Overseas for 1.2915 billion yuan. Carrefour's last store in Guangzhou closed, incurring losses exceeding 900 million yuan in the first half of the year due to store closure compensation and other expenses.

1) The China Association for Science and Technology and two other departments jointly launched the 2023 university student science and technology volunteer service program.

2) China's Antarctic expedition team, after a long period of in-depth exploration, unexpectedly discovered a sea area rich in marine biological resources, known as the "sea granary" of Antarctica, with Antarctic krill being the most notable.

4) "Exam Whiz" Tang Shangjun announced he will continue to retake the college entrance exam: No choice, another year of battle.

5) Badminton World Championships: Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan defeated the Indonesian pair Rahyu/Ramadani to successfully defend their title, winning their fourth gold medal at the World Championships and becoming the women's doubles pair with the most gold medals at the World Championships. A historic win! The Chinese team won the gold medal in the group all-around at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships.

1) 275 schools in Beijing affected by the disaster opened as scheduled on September 1, and all affected schools will undergo high-quality repairs and reconstruction. Beijing has a total of 101 medical and health institutions providing medical social work services.

2) A Jiangsu couple died from electric shock in floodwaters; a merchant said the streetlights in the area were newly installed this year, and their child was present. In Zhangzhou, Fujian, a man stabbed people with scissors in the street; police report: He has been criminally detained, and 3 injured people were sent to the hospital.

3) The 5-year rent for the canteen at Huaiji Middle School in Guangdong is 9.43 million yuan; official explanation: The canteen was publicly auctioned according to procedures, and the final rent was the result of bidding from all participants.

4) Sangzhi, Hunan, experienced its heaviest rainfall since 1998: Water levels surged, overflowing bridge piers, and low-lying farmhouses were flooded. A four-car collision occurred on an overpass in Jinan, Shandong, injuring two people, with one vehicle crashing through the guardrail and hanging in mid-air. Nanyang Institute of Technology reported on a student posting a cat abuse video: Cat abuse was confirmed, and the matter will be seriously dealt with.

5) Sichuan-Tibet self-driving tourists were stopped and charged again after 6 days; local authorities: Villagers charged privately, fined 200 yuan and refunded.

6) Heavy rainfall in eastern parts of Northeast China, strong winds in Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, and Bashi Channel. From 8 pm on August 28 to 8 pm on August 29, parts of eastern Liaoning, eastern Jilin, southeastern Heilongjiang, southeastern Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, central and eastern Fujian, eastern and southern coastal Guangdong, southeastern coastal Guangxi, central and eastern and northern Hainan Island, and southwestern Yunnan experienced heavy to torrential rain, with some areas in northeastern Liaoning and southeastern Jilin experiencing extremely heavy rain.