With rising trade bilateralism and protectionism, Beijing is doubling down on ties with partners via multilateral and bilateral fora. The mid-November APEC annual meeting in Peru saw Beijing again position itself rhetorically as the defender of globalisation, sustainable development and free trade. A series of trade deals and announcements followed, adding to a stack of partnerships in Latin America.
Overpopulation fears long ago switched to the birth rate and spillover threats to pension provision. Within a few years, propaganda banner messages swerved 180 degrees from ‘have one child, the state will support your old age’, to ‘better have three, so you won’t need the state for your old age’.
Beijing has yet to visibly move the needle in the Middle East conflict. Nor is it a valued player in ceasefire or hostage releases, as are Egypt, the US, or Qatar. The pattern is not new: Beijing was never part of mediation groups such as the Middle East Quartet or Madrid Peace Conference mediators.
PRC airlines carried 660 million passengers in 2019 before the pandemic, some 20 percent of the global total. Moving to become the largest aviation market, it faces twin challenges: scaling up domestic aircraft manufacturing and reducing emissions.