Despite the economic difficulties, China remains steadfast in its support for Russia

On October 22, Chinese President Xi Jinping began a three-day visit to Russia. The focus of this trip is to attend the BRICS summit in Kazan. After Xi and Putin spoke for an hour, they held a public press conference. At the press conference, both described the relationship between the two countries as reaching an unprecedented level. In the information released to the outside world, both Putin and Xi mentioned the increase in trade between the two sides, and the issue of the Russia-Ukraine war. They even claimed that the relationship between Moscow and Beijing could be seen as a model for the modern world. This indicates that Xi Jinping continues to steadfastly support Putin in the Russia-Ukraine war, completely indifferent to the significant economic difficulties that China is facing, most of which are related to its stance in support of Putin. At the same time, senior officials from the State Council of China are actively visiting local areas for surveys. This is an important action by the Chinese government since it announced its economic stimulus plan at the end of September. It can be seen that senior officials from the State Council are continuing to gather data in preparation for the upcoming Central Economic Work Conference at the end of the year. However, if these officials are truly practical in collecting data and listening to voices from localities, they will realize how dire the economic situation is everywhere. Currently, China is preparing for the Double Eleven shopping festival, which takes place annually on November 11th. Data during this period could also help the world gain a clearer understanding of the decline in consumer spending among the Chinese people. Returning to the recent story, on October 22nd, Xi Jinping arrived in Russia to attend the BRICS summit. Last year, BRICS summit was quite embarrassing for Putin as it was held in South Africa, where Putin has become a war criminal with an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court. South Africa is a signatory to the relevant extradition terms, so Putin could not go there. If he did, he would be arrested and extradited to Brussels. Therefore, last time, Putin sent Foreign Minister Lavrov to represent him at the conference. This time, the BRICS summit is taking place on Russian soil, allowing Putin to finally attend. The venue is in Kazan. Xi Jinping met with Putin and their conversation lasted about an hour. Currently, Putin's situation is quite awkward. Clearly, he needs Xi Jinping because last year, he outlined six red lines in the Russia-Ukraine war. These six red lines include, first, Finland cannot join NATO. The reason of Putin for this is that if Finland joins NATO, it will border Russia. Second, NATO cannot provide offensive weapons to Ukraine. However, currently, systems like ATAKMS have been provided to Ukraine by NATO. Third, Ukraine must not attack the Crimea Bridge. Currently, this bridge has been nearly incapacitated. Fourth, Ukraine must not attack Russian territory. Presently, Ukraine has captured about 1,000 square kilometers of territory in Kursk. Fifth, Western countries must not provide F-16 fighter jets. Currently, Ukraine has received them as well. Lastly, the US and Western countries must not seize Russian assets. In fact, Russian assets have been frozen and the interest from these assets is used to aid Ukraine. Thus, all six red lines that Putin outlined at the beginning of the war have been erased. Russia is currently so weakened that it not only has to buy ammunition from North Korea but is also begging North Korea to send troops to join the fight. NATO is also currently investigating the situation of North Korea entering the conflict, while South Korea has declared it will provide offensive weapons to Ukraine. As you know, North Korea and South Korea have always been in a state of hostility. In fact, the Korean War has not officially ended, and North Korea and South Korea are only in a ceasefire state, without a peace treaty signed. Currently, the military confrontation between North Korea and South Korea is taking place through the proxy war between Ukraine and Russia. Although Putin's current situation is very poor, Xi Jinping's determination to support him is clearly unchanged. Putin told reporters that after China-Russia bilateral trade set a record last year, despite both countries being negatively affected from the outside, they maintained a trend of growth in economic interactions. Putin cited data from the Russian side, stating that from January to August, the trade value between the two sides increased by 4.5%. He mentioned that while the statistics from China have some minor discrepancies, the overall positive trend continues. Putin also emphasized that both sides have successfully launched joint projects in the fields of energy, industry, high technology, transportation, agriculture, and many other areas. In addition to economic issues, it is certain that the Russia-Ukraine war will be an indispensable topic in discussions between Putin and Xi Jinping. Regarding Xi Jinping's attitude toward this war, Russian presidential press secretary Peskov stated that Putin and Xi exchanged views on the Ukraine issue as well as the overall international situation. I suspect that the overall international situation refers to the US elections. Peskov pointed out that regarding what is happening in the world, the stance and methods of both sides once again show significant similarities. This means that on the issue of the Russia-Ukraine war, Xi Jinping and Putin have a consensus attitude. On the issue of the US elections, Xi Jinping and Putin's attitudes are also nearly the same. What does this indicate? It shows that Xi Jinping will continue to support Putin. I anticipate that the two sides will discuss the US war elections. Currently, the trend of Trump winning the election is becoming increasingly clear. The probability of Trump winning has reached 60%, surpassing that of Kamala Harris. Previously, Trump often stated that he viewed Putin as a good friend and that he understood Putin very well, as well as Xi Jinping. However, if Trump does actually win, it may not necessarily be good news for Putin. First, we need to understand that if Trump comes to power, he will not have much room to change his views on the Russia-Ukraine war or the Taiwan defense issue. The US has laws like the Taiwan Relations Act and various acts related to supporting Ukraine. Therefore, even if Trump wants to support Putin or Xi Jinping, he may not actually be able to do so. And even if he wants to, he may not be able to. Moreover, Ukraine will absolutely not agree to Trump's land for peace plan, so the Russia-Ukraine war will continue. Even if the US both does not want to provide much aid to Ukraine, other countries like France and Germany will continue to support Ukraine, and they may even fill the gap left by the US. The main reason is that they perceive the threat from Putin as significant. Second, if Ukraine fails, Putin could continue to annex Poland or other Eastern European countries, so they absolutely cannot allow Putin to win in Ukraine. If the US does not support, European countries will continue to do so. Second, if Trump comes to power, the Democratic Party will take advantage of the moment when Trump assumes office, while Biden is still in power, to increase aid to Ukraine, helping Ukraine as much as possible to defeat Putin and reclaim more Russian territory. Therefore, if Trump wins, Putin's life will certainly not be easy. The second point is that if Trump comes to power, he will impose many taxes on Chinese goods, which will severely harm China's economy. Currently, North Korea, according to information from Ukrainian President Zelensky, has sent two brigades with about 6,000 soldiers to Russia to fight against Ukraine. US Secretary of Defense Austin has also made a surprise visit to Kiev, and clearly, the US is still showing strong support for Ukraine. I believe that Xi Jinping, regarding China's economic issues, although he has implemented many stimulus measures, may not yet truly recognize the severity of China's economic situation. Recently, China announced its inflation data for September, showing that the prices of fresh meat, vegetables and fruits have increased by 16.2%, 22.9% and 6.7% respectively. Vegetable prices have risen by nearly a quarter, while pork prices have increased by about one-sixth, and fruit prices have also risen by about 6.7%. What does this indicate? As everyone knows, China prints a lot of money every year. But it can be seen that the consumer price index has not increased much, mainly because the consumer price index in China does not include real estate prices. Many people have spent money to buy houses, so much of the printed money has poured into the real estate market, making it a large reservoir. This has caused capital not to flow into sectors such as vegetables or pork, resulting in prices in those areas not rising too sharply. However, now, as the real estate market is no longer effective, the situation has changed. As a result, a large amount of printed money is starting to flow into people's dining tables. This is truly a very bad situation, because this increase in prices for people means a reduction in consumption. This means that the money spent on food has significantly increased, while the money allocated for clothing, travel, or transportation has decreased. Of course, as money for these areas decreases, it means they will limit purchases of non-essential items, as filling their stomachs is the top priority. The National Bureau of Statistics recently announced August unemployment data, showing that the unemployment rate for the urban workforce aged 16 to 24, excluding students, reached 18.8%. This means that about one-fifth of young people are unemployed. However, this figure only represents the registered unemployment rate. In reality, many people are unemployed but do not register. Therefore, the actual youth unemployment rate in China may be even higher. In addition, the income situation of the Chinese people is also noteworthy. According to the report on personal income tax data for 2023, up to 70% of the population does not pay personal income tax. Let's look at some data. There are about 100 million people with a monthly income of 3,500 to 5,000 yuan. The number of people with incomes above 5,000 yuan is only 65 million. Those with incomes from 5,000 to 10,000 yuan are 45 million, while those with annual incomes above 100,000 yuan are only about 20 million. If we consider that the labor force population is 720 million, it can be calculated that the number of people with incomes below 3,500 yuan in China exceeds 600 million. Previously, Li Keqiang once stated that more than half of the Chinese population has a monthly income that is not enough to reach 2,000 yuan, or even less than 1,000 yuan. Currently, the situation seems to show no improvement. If you have an annual income of 100,000 yuan, you are almost in the top 3% in China. With an annual income of 100,000 yuan, which is about 8,000 yuan a month, it is indeed not much, but you have joined the ranks of the highest earners. Many companies have now lost the ability to pay salaries. The situation of declining consumption in China is becoming increasingly apparent. There are reports that European luxury brands are struggling due to Chinese consumers no longer spending as before, leading to a significant drop in revenue, with some brands declining by as much as 5-7%. Notably, the French luxury brand Chanel is planning to cut jobs in China to cope with the rapid contraction of the luxury market. The current Chinese government may be looking towards the State Council, as this is directly related to people's livelihoods and employment, for which the State Council is the managing body. Senior officials from the State Council are actively visiting local areas for surveys. Thus, while the State Council of China is conducting economic surveys, Xi Jinping is supporting Russia, creating a stark contrast. Please leave your comments below to let us know your view. If you find this video useful, please support us with a subscribe, a like, and a comment to help us improve this channel. We sincerely thank you and look forward to seeing you in the next video.