Friday, December 15, 2023: Three-Minute News Briefing

1) On the morning of December 14, General Secretary Xi Jinping conducted an inspection and investigation in Nanning City, Guangxi.

Xi Jinping exchanged congratulatory messages with Kenyan President Ruto to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Premier Li Qiang signed a State Council order to promulgate the "Regulations on Human Organ Donation and Transplantation," which will come into effect on May 1, 2024.

2) Ministry of Civil Affairs, National Office of Aging: By the end of 2022, the number of participants in China's basic old-age insurance reached 1053.07 million; the national population aged 60 and above was 280.04 million, accounting for 19.8% of the total population.

3) The State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters approved the establishment of the Liaohe Flood Control and Drought Relief General Command, and flood control and drought relief command institutions have been established in all seven major river basins. Reserves of vegetables ensure supply, day and night to ensure travel, and various departments in various places are making every effort to cope with the rain, snow, and cold wave.

5) Southwest China's first atmospheric area with an annual output of 40 billion cubic meters has been completed.

7) [Rule of Law] The Financial Regulatory General Bureau and the State Administration for Market Regulation strengthen the monitoring and disposal of illegal financial advertising information. Gao Yiy, district head of Baoshan District, Shanghai, is under disciplinary review and supervisory investigation. Hua Yaogang, former head of the Tianjin branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, is under review and investigation. The procuratorial organs decided to arrest Zhou Qingyu, former vice president of the State Development Bank.

8) [Military] Ministry of National Defense: China firmly opposes any form of space arms race; the US should not use a zero-sum game mentality to speculate about China. From December 14 to 20, the Army Command College held a seminar on humanitarian rescue and disaster relief in Latin America and the Caribbean in Nanjing.

9) [Hong Kong and Macao] Hong Kong Post will issue special stamps for the "Year of the Dragon (Jiachen)" on January 5, 2024.

Hong Kong Trade Development Council: It is expected that Hong Kong's exports will grow by about 4% to 6% in 2024, and electronic products will drive a moderate recovery in overall exports. The Hong Kong International Auto Show opened on December 14 at the Hong Kong AsiaWorld-Expo, with domestically produced new energy vehicles attracting attention.

10) [Taiwan] Taiwan media: Four universities in Taiwan are confirmed to close next year, resulting in the loss of 60,000 students, and teachers face unemployment.

1) Chinese Embassy in the Philippines: Chinese and Philippine law enforcement agencies cooperated to repatriate 180 Chinese citizens engaged in offshore gambling in the Philippines. This is the latest progress made by both sides in cooperating to combat offshore gambling. A Chinese female internet celebrity posted negative videos of Bangkok, which was accused of smearing Thailand: she was summoned by the local police and may be deported.

2) China's mediation: The Myanmar military and the Kokang, Deang, and Arakan armies held talks in China. More than half of the practical cooperation results of the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation have been implemented. The United Nations Climate Change Conference reached the "UAE Consensus" after overtime. United Nations agency: The number of displaced people in the Gaza Strip has reached 1.3 million. UN officials called for an end to the siege of Gaza to provide sufficient aid.

3) The US House of Representatives formally launched an impeachment inquiry into Biden, and Biden responded: a waste of time. The Federal Reserve kept the target range for the federal funds rate unchanged.

$886 billion! The US Senate approved a record-breaking $886 billion defense authorization bill for fiscal year 2024. Florida legislation prohibits Chinese students from working in public university laboratories. US police released the cause of death of a Chinese woman who went to the US to meet netizens: she died of heatstroke due to failed exploration.

4) US media reported that the Israeli Defense Forces began to "flood tunnels" in Gaza, and Israel refused to respond. Israeli air strikes on Rafah, a city in southern Gaza, killed at least 27 people. The Israeli army announced on December 13 that 115 soldiers had been killed in the Gaza Strip, 10 of whom died on December 12, the highest number of Israeli casualties in a single day.

5) Putin: 1,500 Russians become volunteers every day, and "there will be no second wave of mobilization." Zelensky revealed the content of his conversation with Hungarian Prime Minister Orban: I asked him to give me a reason why Ukraine should not join the EU.

7) Nature's 2023 Top Ten People were announced, and the AI general-purpose large model ChatGPT was on the list.

1) China Securities Regulatory Commission: Make every effort to maintain the stable operation of the capital market and place more emphasis on promoting a dynamic balance between investment and financing.

2) The central bank will issue the 2024 New Year commemorative coins and banknotes from December 15, 2023.

The 100 yuan "Millennium Dragon Banknote" has risen to 1700 yuan. Shanghai headquarters of the central bank: It is necessary to prevent risks in the bond market and strengthen the monitoring and management of default risks.

3) The HarmonyOS system is about to become independent: Many universities have set up "HarmonyOS classes," and some have replaced Android as the core of the curriculum.

4) Ministry of Industry and Information Technology: In the first 11 months, China's three major shipbuilding indicators increased simultaneously.

5) Dong Yuhui may face the clearing of stock options: the first batch of stock options are expected to be unlocked in April next year, and leaving now will result in all of them being cleared.

1) The first meeting of the Leading Group for the Fourth National Cultural Relic Census was held in Beijing, and Li Shulei, the group leader, attended the meeting and delivered a speech.

2) Four best-selling novels were selected for the China Writers Association's international dissemination project for online literature. Ministry of Culture and Tourism: At present, there are 14,900 A-level scenic spots nationwide, and more than 700 national and provincial-level tourism resorts; in the first three quarters, there were 342,000 commercial performances nationwide, with box office revenue of 31.54 billion yuan.

3) 130 million people participated in the 2023 National "Village Evening" demonstration and display activities.

4) Sanxingdui and Rodin launched a "trans-temporal dialogue," and the "Bronze Light" special exhibition opened in Shanghai on December 13.

6) Zhang Peimeng, a renowned sprinter, was administratively detained for 5 days for assaulting his mother-in-law. Tsinghua University has announced disciplinary action against him.

1) On the evening of December 14, a malfunction on Beijing's Changping Line subway resulted in two carriages separating, causing a complete shutdown of the line. Firefighters and emergency medical services rushed to the scene, finding over 30 injured passengers who were sent to the hospital. There were no fatalities. Videos show passengers using escape hammers to break windows and save themselves.

All injured passengers from the Changping Line incident have been sent to the hospital. Lines 8 and 13 of the subway experienced delays, and bus services increased capacity. Beijing has adjusted its housing policies, lowering the down payment for first-time homebuyers to 30%. New home prices in Beijing and Shanghai remained stable in November, while transaction volumes decreased. The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region achieved data sharing of over 5300 patents.

2) Shanghai adjusts its real estate policies: the minimum down payment for first homes is no less than 30%, and for second homes, no less than 40%. The average daily traffic flow on expressways in Shanghai's central city in November reached 2.003 million vehicles, a 5.3% increase month-on-month. From January to November, Suzhou's import and export of goods to countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative reached 809.23 billion yuan.

3) Guangdong held a supply and demand meeting on opportunities in the new energy storage sector to promote the development of the energy industry. A cold wave will hit Guangzhou starting in the early morning of December 16, and Guangzhou will issue a yellow or higher cold weather warning.

4) A 3.0 magnitude earthquake occurred in Zunhua City, Tangshan City, Hebei Province at 5:21 am on December 14, with a focal depth of 9 kilometers. A 3.8 magnitude earthquake occurred in Luxian County, Luzhou City, Sichuan Province at 10:38 am on December 14, with a focal depth of 8 kilometers.

5) The Jiangxi Provincial Department of Finance refuted rumors of a collective salary cut for civil servants, stating that they have reported the matter to the cyberspace administration department. Various transportation departments in Xinjiang are concentrating their efforts to cope with extreme weather conditions, including heavy snow and strong winds.

6) A large-scale rain and snow event is affecting central and eastern China, with a strong cold wave continuing to impact most of the country. From 8 pm on December 14 to 8 pm on December 15, parts of central and eastern Inner Mongolia, central and southern Northeast China, eastern Northwest China, most of North China, most of the Huang-Huai region, western Jianghuai region, western Jianghan region, and northern Chongqing experienced light to moderate snow or sleet. Heavy to severe snowstorms are expected in parts of eastern Jilin, eastern Liaoning, southwestern Shandong, southern Henan, and northwestern Hubei.