Golden week for tourists, but not for Liu Jianchao
Record-setting golden week travel, foreign affairs official falls, CCP Central Committee meeting dates set, EVs, batteries, and solar, and more.
This is The China Week, a succinct analysis of news from the People’s Republic. Please take out a paying subscription to receive all full newsletters and access to the archive.
Annals of consumption
Record-setting golden week travel
This year’s double holiday “golden week,” which begins on October 1 National Day, last until October 8. The traditional Mid-Autumn Festival of mooncake fame falls on October 6.
Chinese people are traveling in large numbers this year: China State Railway Group said it carried 23.13 million passengers on October 1, a record single-day figure, and some individual stations also set records: Guangzhou South Station handled a record 922,000 arrivals and departures that day, for example.
There were 2.47 million air passengers on October 1, 3.2% above 2024 numbers. Air travel was up 0.8% year-on-year to 308.9 million passenger trips. Waterway travel rose 20.5% year-on-year, to 1.32 million passenger trips.
Liu Haixing replaces Liu Jianchao
Senior foreign affairs official removed
Liú Jiànchāo 刘建超, the head of the Communist Party’s International Department, has been replaced by Liú Hǎixīng 刘海星. The International Department is the Party equivalent to the government’s outward-facing Foreign Ministry; under Xi Jinping the Party organization is the more powerful.
Liu Jianchao is “under investigation for alleged corruption and other violations of Party discipline” according to the Wall Street Journal. One Chinese internet rumor says he is suspected of having colluded with Wells Fargo bank to commit a crime.
The new guy, Liu Haixing, previously served as director of the Foreign Ministry’s Western Europe department, but perhaps more importantly, his last post was Executive Deputy Director of the Office of the Central National Security Commission, a Party watchdog that investigates problems in foreign policy and foreign relations.
Context: In 2023, Beijing suddenly removed Foreign Minister Qín Gāng 秦刚 from his post. The reason was widely believed to have been that he had an affair with a TV presenter who may have had connections to foreign intelligence services. Qin’s whereabouts are unknown, although some reports say he is working at a low-level job at a state-run bookseller.
The next Five Year Plan
CCP Central Committee meeting dates set
The 20th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party runs from 2022 to 2027, and has 205 members and 171 non-voting “alternates.” The Committee is led by the 24-member Politburo, which itself is led by the 7-member Politburo Standing Committee, chaired by Xi Jinping.
The 20th Central Committee will hold its fourth plenum in Beijing from October 20 to October 23. The biggest item on the agenda is the discussion of a draft document on the 15th Five-Year Plan, which will set goals and policy directions for China’s economic and industrial development from 2026 to 2030.
China’s unstoppable clean energy machine
EVs, batteries, and solar
Signs of the times:
Beijing announced a new policy that requires car manufacturers to obtain export licenses for electric passenger vehicles. This gives Beijing a lever to control both overcapacity in EV manufacturing (companies will be incentivized “to export higher-margin models and invest in sustainable overseas operations”), and to respond to dumping concerns from export destinations such as the European Union.
“CATL, one of the world’s most advanced battery makers…plans to send 2,000 workers to build and fit out a €4 billion ($4.7 billion) battery plant in Spain in a joint venture with Stellantis,” reports the Financial Times.
“China won the electric car race,” says Rest of World: “Up next: freight trucks—nine Chinese giants dominate a market Tesla and Volvo can barely crack.”
Imports of solar panels to African countries from China rose 60% in the 12 months to June 2025. New records for solar panel imports were set by 20 countries.
Other notables
Commercial space companies and satellite internet
While “American reporting treats Chinese participation in SpaceX as a national security problem,” writes Zichen Wang, “China’s own military views SpaceX as a direct security threat.”
Related: After several years during which China Telecom was the only one of the country’s Big Three mobile players to have a satellite internet license, China Mobile and China Unicom will also be allowed to offer such services.
Feminist buzzwords
Peking Quack explains: What is lǎo dēng 老登 and why is it everywhere. (Short answer: “Lao deng” refers to annoying middle-aged men and male-centered narratives.)
Passenger drone tourism
The Civil Aviation Administration of China’s Interim Measures for the Administration of the Aerial Tourism Market came into effect on October 1. The rules aim to “promote the healthy and orderly growth of low-altitude tourism formats such as aerial sightseeing and parachute flight services.”
Attracting top scientists
China’s universities are moving up the rankings of top computer science schools, notes AI scholar Jeffrey Ding.
Meanwhile, China’s new K visa, intended to attract foreign scientists and engineers, launched on October 1, although it is still not clear how it will work, and to what benefits visa holders will be entitled. However, the scheme has already attracted “an unexpected public backlash…with many voicing concerns about its potential impact on local employment and immigration.”