D.
whereas, under the current leadership of Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the
Communist Party of China (CPC) and Chinese President, China has launched a series of
initiatives, including a ‘New Silk Road’ project to integrate China economically with
Central Asia and, ultimately, with Europe and Africa, the establishment of the Asian
Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and a strategically important energy deal with
Russia for the supply of 38 billion cubic metres of natural gas annually, the construction
of an oil pipeline and other joint oil exploration and exploitation projects in China;
whereas in the last few years China has been pursuing increasingly active investment
policies, in the EU as well as in its eastern neighbourhood;
E.
whereas President Xi Jinping has launched the ‘Chinese Dream’ initiative, which was
put forward as a concept and vision aimed at realising national rejuvenation and
building a moderately prosperous society across a broad spectrum of economic, social,
cultural and political dimensions, and at China becoming a fully developed nation by
2049;
F.
whereas China has experienced very high levels of economic growth in the last 20
years, and 600 million Chinese citizens have been lifted out of poverty;
G.
whereas the 2015 Chinese stock market crash has impacted negatively on global
financial stability, including in the EU;
H.
whereas China’s family planning policy has caused a rapid ageing process among the
population since the 1980s, with over 200 million citizens now over 60 years old;
I.
whereas environmental degradation in China has taken on dramatic proportions and
ever more urgent, strong and targeted government action is necessary; whereas the
question of sustainable development and climate change was discussed at the recent
EU-China summit and a joint statement on climate change was issued;
J.
whereas China has acknowledged the need for the threat of climate change to be
addressed, and has undertaken to adopt a protocol or other legal instrument that will
enable a comprehensive agreement on the issue to be reached at the Paris Climate
Change Conference;
K.
whereas President Xi’s popular anti-corruption campaign, launched in 2012 and aimed
at addressing governance issues by targeting Party, government, military and stateowned company officials suspected of corruption, has claimed one high-profile victim
after another, exposing not only graft but also vast fortunes amassed by Chinese leaders
and also revealing the infiltration of the political system by powerful criminal networks;
L.
whereas foreign NGOs have been flourishing and playing a vital role for the
development of local NGOs and the opening-up of China since the reform;
M.
whereas, in the interests of national security, China has published three new draft laws
this year which include provisions on cybersecurity and NGOs;
N.
whereas in 2013 and 2014 Beijing, Kunming and Urumqi were the targets of major and
violent terrorist attacks, leaving 72 people dead and 356 injured; whereas China is
preparing a counter-terror law, which underlines the fact that the government gives the
fight against terrorism the highest priority;