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lexicon

two centenary goals 两个一百年 liǎngge yìbǎinián

First articulated at the 15th National Party Congress in 1997, the concept has gained significant prominence in the Xi era, becoming an essential feature of his political agenda. The two goals are, by

  • 2021—the centenary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party—a ‘moderately prosperous’ society will be achieved
  • 2049—the centenary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China—‘great national rejuvenation’ will be achieved as China becomes a ‘wealthy, strong, democratic, civilised, harmonious, and modern socialist great power’; also referred to as the ‘Chinese dream’ 中国梦 Zhōngguó mèng

The first goal has been declared complete, and the Party is now putting all efforts into realising the second. A midpoint vision for 2035 was outlined at the 2021 Two Sessions: by then the PRC should be ‘basically modernised’.

food security 粮食安全 liángshí ānquán

Long equated with self-sufficiency—indeed ‘absolute security’ in rice and wheat—food security requires ~95 percent of grains (also including corn, barley and sorghum) be produced domestically. Emphasis is now switching to nutrition, safety, diversity and quality. With all factors of production limited, providing this for billions imposes steep trade-offs. The PRC imports huge quantities of soybean, meat and other products in order to keep up domestic production of staple grains. As diets diversify, mounting demand for imported meat and feed challenges self-sufficiency targets.

four-four-two 四四二 sìsì’èr

As seen in many political buzz-phrases, numbers are used to make a Party message memorable—in this case, Xi’s paramount position and political program. First appearing in September 2018, ‘four-four-two’ reminds the faithful to

raise consciousness of 

  • maintaining political integrity
  • thinking in big-picture terms
  • upholding the core leadership
  • staying in alignment with the Party

be confident in

  • the path
  • Party theories
  • the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics
  • China’s unique culture

and safeguard 

  • General Secretary Xi’s core status 
  • the Party Central Committee’s unified leadership

energy dual control scheme 能源双控制度 néngyuán shuāngkòng zhìdù

Control of energy consumption and intensity, deemed ‘dual’ aspects vital in curbing resource consumption and pollution (low-carbon transition is an additional goal as of 2020). Energy consumption per unit of GDP, a.k.a. ‘intensity’, became a binding target in the 11th 5-year plan; in the 12th, capping total energy ‘consumption’ was urged. Some regions ‘struggled’ to meet 13th plan ‘dual control’ targets, above all in the first three quarters of 2020. The 14th plan strives to cut intensity by over 13 percent. A consumption cap is mooted in the energy subplan.

magic drugs 神药 shényào

Unproven yet lucrative nostrums offered by doctors, hospitals and pharma firms, these (literally ‘godlike’) drugs are typified by mNGF (mouse nerve growth factor), a ‘treatment’ for autism. Approved corruptly, they are now repudiated as wasting Basic Medical Insurance funds (the ‘magic’ label is ironic). Since 2019, regulators have sought to de-licence them, ending BMI coverage. A list outing ‘magic’ drugs failed to include any TCM (traditional Chinese medicine), despite many overlaps. The related term ‘magic surgery’ (神术) refers to phoney medical procedures.

‘red line’ farmland 耕地红线 gēngdì hóngxiàn

A ‘red line’ is an inviolable minimum threshold (a ‘baseline’ 底线 in the cartoon).  Proclaimed by State Council in 2006, 120 million ha is officially reserved for arable land. Building factories, housing etc. is growing, as is conversion of farmland to forests and grasslands. The ‘red line’ permanently dedicates 100 million ha of farmland to staple grain crops. Land co-opted for other uses entails conversion back of equal acreage, of equal quality in the same region.

nongken system
农垦系统 nóngkěn xìtǒng

The nongken system consists of 1,785 state-owned farms in 34 relatively poor regions of 31 provinces. In total they occupy about 5 percent of arable land and sustain 13.5 million people. More than 3,000 SOEs holding over C¥750 bn in assets provide associated agricultural processing, distribution, and sales services. The nongken system is no longer sustainable. Farms are small, and ill-equipped to manage modern agricultural production, trade and distribution systems. They are weighed down by social provision responsibilities, unspecified and unsupervised state-owned assets, and are poorly run link

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