India, not China, will be the world’s most populous nation

Here’s what you need to know about China today:

A massive fire swept through a private hospital in Beijing on Tuesday, killing at least 29 people. Public anger has been building over censorship, and because of the poor safety record of the company that operates the hospital. But a dozen employees, including the hospital’s head and her deputy, have been detained by police. 

India will surpass China as the world’s most populous nation by the middle of 2023, according to new data from the United Nations. India’s population is expected to hit around 1.4286 billion, slightly above the 1.4257 billion people in China. (The population number for China does not include Hong Kong and Macau, Special Administrative Regions of China, nor Taiwan.)

China and Russia have vowed to expand military ties, signaling that the two countries will continue to maintain close ties despite Russia’s war on Ukraine. The two countries agreed to “maintain close high-level communication…[and] expand cooperation between the theaters” in a meeting between their defense ministers in Moscow yesterday, the first visit by the Chinese defense minister to Russia since its invasion in February 2022.

G7 nations reaffirmed their support for Taiwan, following the backlash from French President Emmanuel Macron’s remarks that the EU should not blindly follow U.S. policies. The joint communiqué, released by the group’s foreign ministers after their three-day meeting in Japan, also raised concern over China’s actions in the disputed East and South China Seas. “There is no legal basis for China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea, and we oppose China’s militarization activities in the region,” the statement said. It also reiterated its support for Ukraine, though did not unveil any new sanctions on Russia.

China’s Guangdong Province is doubling down on chipmaking amid an intensifying tech war with the West. The southern Chinese province, which is a major manufacturing hub for electronics, has about 40 major semiconductor projects either under construction or currently being planned, with the combined investments worth more than 500 billion yuan ($74 billion).

GPT Industry Alliance is the name of a new group including China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom, which was announced in Beijing yesterday (in Chinese). The group’s stated aim is to incubate a more “inclusive, secure, and self-developed AI” in the country as ChatGPT-type bots continue to draw attention from investors, the public, and the government — on April 11, the Cyberspace Administration of China released draft rules (in Chinese) on “Generative Artificial Intelligence Services.”

Alibaba’s high-tech grocery chain is planning a Hong Kong IPO next year, according to Chinese media reports. Freshippo 盒马鲜生, which operates over 270 stores, turned a profit for the first time in 2022. Alibaba’s logistics arm, Cainiao, reportedly began pursuing a listing after Alibaba’s March 28 announcement of its breakup into six groups.

State media: Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 met with Gabon’s president, Ali Bongo Ondimba. This was the top story on Xinhua’s English and Chinese websites, with the English version calling Bongo “‘an old friend’ of the Chinese people.” Bongo has ruled Gabon since 2009, when he took over from his father, who was president from 1967. Gabon has a population of about 2.3 million.

Xi was also the focus of the main front-page story of Party newspaper People’s Daily about a new outline of Party regulations for 2023 to 2027; the plan is “guided by Xi Jinping Thought” and is “aimed at ensuring that the whole Party maintains a high degree of alignment in thought, politics and action…with comrade Xi Jinping as the core.”