China

China Daily | English | News | Nov. 20, 2025 | Geopolitical Conflict and Disputes

Leading figures in Japan's business sector and civil society have emphasized the importance of maintaining constructive dialogue with China to preserve the vital economic ties between the two countries. Their comments followed Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's controversial remarks on Taiwan, which sparked strong protests from Beijing. Industry leaders, including Yoshinobu Tsutsui of the Japan Business Federation, stressed political stability as essential for business exchanges and urged ongoing communication across various sectors.

Economic interdependence between Japan and China remains significant, with the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Japan Association of Corporate Executives highlighting the necessity of continuing private-sector dialogue. Experts warned that Takaichi's perceived lack of insight into Japan-China relations risks escalating regional tensions that would harm economic cooperation. The surge in Chinese visitors to Japan in 2025, including a large number of students, underscores the economic impact of these exchanges.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has dispatched Masaaki Kanai to China as a special envoy to seek future-oriented proposals for rebuilding bilateral relations, particularly from the business community. Civil society groups criticized Takaichi's remarks as reckless, underscoring East Asia's growing role as a global economic hub centered on China. Scholars noted that any decline in Chinese tourism could significantly damage Japan's tourism, service, trade, and logistics industries, potentially reducing real GDP by about 0.36 percent.

Past deteriorations in Japan-China relations have resulted in sharp declines in Japanese exports to China, with sectors such as machinery, semiconductor components, and auto parts being particularly vulnerable due to their high dependence on the Chinese market. Disruptions could force Japanese companies to reconsider production and procurement strategies, affecting global supply chains. China remains a crucial growth market for Japan, not only as a production base but also due to its expanding middle-income population, making the preservation of economic ties strategically important.

李强会见俄罗斯总统普京

Xinhua | Local Language | News | Nov. 20, 2025 | Geopolitical Conflict and Disputes

On November 18, Premier of the State Council Li Qiang met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Moscow Kremlin. Li Qiang conveyed President Xi Jinping’s greetings to Putin and emphasized the high-level operation of the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership under the guidance of both heads of state. Since the start of 2025, Xi Jinping and Putin have met twice to advance bilateral relations amidst a complex international environment. China expressed its commitment to strengthen strategic alignment, deepen cooperation, and serve the development and revitalization of both countries.

Li highlighted China’s consistent determination to develop mutually beneficial cooperation with Russia and the intention to enhance the resilience of their partnership. The two sides plan to organize a new China-Russia national-level theme year, utilize visa-free and reciprocal policies to boost people-to-people ties, and implement outcomes from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Tianjin Summit. China aims to deepen solidarity within the SCO, promote its “Shanghai Spirit,” and contribute to regional and global peace and development.

President Putin sent his greetings to Xi Jinping and congratulated China on the successful Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. He expressed confidence in China’s ability to meet its 15th Five-Year Plan goals and praised the China-Russia strategic partnership as the strongest in history. Russia intends to maintain close high-level exchanges with China, expand cooperation in economy, trade, energy, agriculture, and infrastructure, and increase people-to-people contacts. Putin also congratulated China for successfully hosting the SCO Tianjin Summit and pledged to enhance cooperation within multilateral frameworks such as the SCO and BRICS to uphold peace, stability, and common development.

首部生态环境监测专门行政法规公布，有何亮点？

Xinhua | Local Language | News | Nov. 20, 2025 | Regulation

China’s first specialized administrative regulation on ecological environment monitoring, the Regulations on Ecological Environment Monitoring, was officially promulgated and will take effect on January 1, 2026. These regulations aim to address key challenges in ecological environment monitoring and establish a clear institutional framework with defined powers, responsibilities, and strengthened supervision.

The regulations categorize monitoring subjects into public monitoring, conducted by government entities for ecological protection duties, and self-monitoring, performed by enterprises and public institutions under statutory obligations to standardize monitoring practices. They also delineate the responsibilities of involved parties regarding monitoring activities, data quality, and management. Notably, the regulations mandate enterprises and public institutions to establish self-monitoring data quality management systems to promote high-quality development in the monitoring industry.

Technical service institutions providing monitoring must obtain proper accreditation. To address issues such as inadequate capability and excessive competition among monitoring institutions, revised Supplementary Review Requirements for accreditation will soon be implemented jointly by the State Administration for Market Regulation and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

The regulations encourage non-contact supervision methods, such as remote sensing, drones, and mobile monitoring vehicles, to increase regulatory efficiency while minimizing disruptions to enterprises. They also tackle the persistent issue of data falsification by enforcing strict legal liabilities, including fines, bans from practice, and revocation of qualifications for technical service institutions involved in such practices.

The introduction of “double penalties” holds both the pollutant-discharging units and technical service institutions legally accountable, preventing the shifting of responsibility and ensuring that penalties target both units and responsible personnel. Interdepartmental cooperation addresses monitoring equipment manufacturers who install tampering “backdoors,” allowing public exposure and coordinated action against fraud.

Ongoing supervision of monitoring institutions will be reinforced through enhanced information sharing, joint inspections, and disciplinary measures against dishonest practices. The regulations support the broader goal of strengthening ecological environment monitoring systems in line with national environmental objectives.