Li Meets JAPIT Delegation - New Regulations on Government Data Sharing - Wang Meets David Perdue as Geneva Deal Frays
Here are the key reports and articles that I found noteworthy from the People’s Daily’s edition on Wednesday, June 04, 2025.
Page 1: There’s a report on Li Qiang meeting with a delegation led by Yohei Kono, president of the Japanese Association for the Promotion of International Trade (JAPIT). The report says that:
“Li Qiang said that last November, President Xi Jinping met with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Lima and agreed to comprehensively promote the strategic mutually beneficial relationship between China and Japan and to build a constructive and stable China-Japan relationship that meets the requirements of the new era, which has pointed out the general direction for the joint efforts of both sides. China and Japan are neighbours that cannot be moved away; since they cannot be moved away, they should be good neighbours and good partners. China is willing to work with all sectors of Japan to take positive actions to implement the political consensus of ‘being cooperative partners and not posing threats to each other’, achieve more practical cooperation results, and build a solid foundation for political mutual trust and people-to-people friendship between the two countries. It is hoped that the Japanese side will work with China to constructively manage differences, firmly grasp the correct direction of bilateral relations, and promote the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations.” 李强表示，去年11月，习近平主席同石破茂首相在利马举行会晤，一致同意全面推进中日战略互惠关系，致力于构建契合新时代要求的建设性、稳定的中日关系，为双方共同努力指明了大方向。中日是搬不走的邻居，既然搬不走，就要做好邻居、好伙伴。中方愿同日方各界一道积极行动，把“互为合作伙伴、互不构成威胁”的政治共识落到实处，取得更多务实合作成果，筑牢两国政治互信和民间友好基础。希望日方同中方一道，建设性管控分歧，牢牢把握两国关系的正确方向，推动双边关系健康稳定发展.
Li Qiang pointed out that the current international situation is undergoing profound and complex changes, which is bringing great challenges to the economic development of all countries. China and Japan have many unique advantages in deepening cooperation, especially the strong complementarity of industries and their respective strengths in the field of scientific and technological innovation.Both sides should make good use of these advantages, strengthen industrial docking and integration, expand the scale of trade and investment, expand cooperation in emerging fields such as digital economy, green economy, biomedicine and third-party markets, through achieving higher-level mutual benefit and win-win results, adding more momentum to their respective development, making greater contributions to world economic growth. China will firmly expand high-level opening up and welcome more foreign-funded enterprises, including Japanese companies, to develop in China. It is hoped that JAPIT will continue to play an active role in promoting the deepening of economic and trade cooperation between the two countries and enhancing friendship and mutual trust. We also welcome all sectors of Japan to strengthen exchanges with China in fields such as culture, tourism, sports, youth, and ecological environmental protection. 李强指出，当前国际形势正在发生深刻复杂变化，给各国经济发展带来很大挑战。中日深化合作有许多特有优势，特别是产业互补性强，在科技创新领域各有所长。双方要用好这些优势，加强产业对接融合，扩大贸易投资规模，拓展数字经济、绿色经济、生物医药等新兴领域和第三方市场合作，通过实现更高水平的互利共赢，为各自发展增添更多动力，为世界经济增长作出更大贡献。中国将坚定扩大高水平开放，欢迎包括日本企业在内的更多外资企业来华发展。希望日本国际贸易促进协会继续为推动两国深化经贸合作、增进友好互信发挥积极作用，也欢迎日本各界同中国加强文化、旅游、体育、青年、生态环保等领域交流。
As per Xinhua, Kono said that “under the current international situation, Japan and China should enhance communication and coordination to jointly safeguard multilateralism and the free trade system. The JAPIT has long been committed to Japan-China friendship and is willing to continue to expand exchanges with China, enhance mutual understanding, and make positive contributions to deepening ties between the two peoples and promoting mutually beneficial cooperation.”
Next, there’s a report on Ding Xuexiang’s comments about the need for deeper financial cooperation among SCO countries. The key point he made as per the report is:
“China is willing to take its rotating presidency of the SCO as an opportunity and work with other member states to prioritize development, strengthen financial cooperation, expand the local currency settlement, promote digital inclusive finance, and actively work for the establishment of an SCO development bank.”
Next, there’s a report with data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism informing that during the three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday, 119 million domestic trips were made nationwide, a year-on-year increase of 5.7%; the total domestic travel expenditure was 42.73 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.9%.
Page 2: There’s a report on the new Regulations on Government Data Sharing. The report says that the regulations comprise 8 chapters and 44 articles. The full document is available here. Key points:
Article 3 defines “government data” as “all types of data collected and generated by government departments in the process of performing their duties in accordance with the law.” This excludes “data that is state secret or a work secret.”
Article 4 says: “Government data sharing should adhere to the leadership of the Communist Party of China, implement the overall national security concept, balance development and security, and follow the principles of overall coordination, unified standards, sharing in accordance with the law, reasonable use, and safety and controllability.”
Article 11 says that government departments shall designate their government data work agencies. The article then outlines the scope of the work of this agency.
Article 12 calls for the compilation of government data directories at different levels of governments. The State Council will outline guidelines and standards for this.
Article 14 says that government data will be divided into three categories based on shareability: unconditional, conditional, and not to be shared: (1) Government data that can be shared with all government departments belongs to the unconditional sharing category; (2) Government data that can be shared with relevant government departments under certain conditions belongs to the conditional sharing category; (3) Government data that are clearly prohibited from being shared with other government departments by laws, administrative regulations, and State Council decisions are not subject to sharing. Article 15 requires governments that list data in the third category to “clarify the corresponding laws, administrative regulations and State Council decisions” that serve as the basis for this. 第十四条 政务数据按照共享属性分为无条件共享、有条件共享和不予共享三类: (一) 可以提供给所有政府部门共享使用的政务数据属于无条件共享类；（二）可以按照一定条件提供给有关政府部门共享使用的政务数据属于有条件共享类；（三）法律、行政法规以及国务院决定明确规定不能提供给其他政府部门共享使用的政务数据属于不予共享类. 第十五条 政府部门应当科学合理确定政务数据共享属性，不得通过擅自增设条件等方式阻碍、影响政务数据共享. 对属于有条件共享类的政务数据，政府部门应当在政务数据目录中列明共享范围、使用用途等共享使用条件。对属于不予共享类的政务数据，政府部门应当在政务数据目录中列明理由，并明确相应的法律、行政法规以及国务院决定依据.
Article 21 details the timelines for sharing. Basically, if the data requested falls within the unconditional sharing category, a response is expected within 1 working day from the date of receipt of the application. If it falls in the conditionally sharing category, then a response on whether it is acceptable to share that data should be sent in 10 working days from the date of receipt of the application. A 10-day extension is permitted if deemed necessary. Article 22 says that once a department has replied in the affirmative to share the data, it has 20 working days from the date of the reply to do so. Also in this chapter of the regulations, there is really no strong punishment for the misuse of data like unauthorised sharing. Chapter 6, however, outlines legal liabilities.
Chapter 5 of the document calls for the building of an integrated national government affairs big data system, requiring existing government data platforms to be incorporated into this system.
Next, there’s a report setting expectations with regard to the BRI Science and Technology Exchange Conference, which will be held in Chengdu, Sichuan from June 10 to 12. Some key points:
There will be 38 activities, including the Second BRI Science and Technology Innovation Ministerial Meeting
The conference will accelerate the construction of the Belt and Road Science and Technology Innovation Partnership Network.
The report informs that China has inked intergovernmental scientific and technological cooperation agreements with more than 80 BRI countries.
In the fields of agriculture, new energy, and health, China has started to build more than 70 BRI joint laboratories with BRI partners
Guangxi, Yunnan, Ningxia, Jiangsu, Hubei, Guangdong and other areas have established 10 international technology transfer centers with BRI countries.
China has supported young scientists from 80% BRI partner countries to come to China for short-term scientific research and exchanges. The areas involved are modern agriculture, life health, ecological environment, materials science and other fields.
Page 3: A couple of reports to note. First, Wang Yi met with David Perdue, the new US ambassador to the country. As per the report, Wang “expressed the hope that he will play an active role in promoting the healthy, steady and sustainable development of bilateral relations.” The report added that:
Wang hoped that “Perdue will serve as a reliable communicator, a mediator of differences and a promoter of cooperation between the two countries. China-U.S. relations are currently at an important and critical juncture, Wang said. Looking back on the journey of nearly half a century filled with twists and turns since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the most important revelation is that equality and respect are the prerequisites for exchanges between the two sides, and dialogue and cooperation are the only correct choice…Wang stressed that after the bilateral economic and trade talks in Geneva, China has earnestly and strictly implemented the consensus reached by both sides. But, it is regrettable that the United States has since introduced a series of negative measures for groundless reasons, infringing upon China’s legitimate rights and interests. China firmly opposes such actions, he noted. Wang said the U.S. side should meet China halfway, earnestly implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state during their phone call in January this year, and create necessary conditions for the return of bilateral relations to the right track.”
While on this issue, this WSJ story on He Lifeng and the Chinese negotiation approach with the US is worth reading.
“In Geneva in mid-May, Vice Premier He Lifeng extracted a 90-day trade truce from a Trump team that had until then declined to pause a tariff blitz on China the way it had for other countries. The deal calmed the nerves of investors and markets around the world. Now, after both sides have complained that the other wasn’t upholding the terms of the deal, that trade truce is teetering, once again jolting global investors and businesses. At the center of the storm is He, Xi’s economic gatekeeper, who has made clear China’s strategy in this trade war is nothing like the approach it had in Trump’s first term. During the Geneva talks, He had removed a final sticking point by agreeing to U.S. demands that China resume rare-earth exports. Yet since then He has dug in his heels, slow-walking approvals of licenses to export the minerals critical in the manufacturing of modern cars and other products. Beijing blames the U.S. for the breakdown, saying a warning against the use of certain artificial-intelligence chips from China’s Huawei Technologies was a renewal of U.S. aggression, and complained to Washington that it undermined the trade deal. It also took offense at the U.S. plan to aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students. The U.S. said the Huawei warning was a restatement of a previous policy. Trump has expressed hopes to talk to Xi directly to break the impasse. A call could happen as early as this week, the White House said.”
“During Trump’s first presidency, two years of trade negotiations between Beijing and Washington yielded a deal widely seen as favoring the U.S. At the time, the China team was led by a Harvard-trained, pro-market pragmatist who understood U.S. concerns. This time, Xi has given He, a firm believer in state control just like his boss, a clear mandate of not catering to America. Last month’s Geneva deal, which China saw as a win, showed Xi the value of sticking to his guns, according to people who consult with senior Chinese officials.”