(Preview) Five Questions on the Fifth Plenum; Mbappé Hysteria and a Chinese Own Goal; The STAR 50 AI Bubble Has Burst

On today’s show Andrew and Bill begin with five questions on the Fifth Plenum as Xi continues his corruption crackdowns and propaganda campaigns emphasize ideological unity and discipline. Topics include: The logistics of this week’s meeting, the challenge of implementing policies throughout the country, the real corruption crisis that Xi inherited 14 years ago, costs of the crackdowns, and the inevitable arrival of a unified version of Xi Jinping Thought. From there: A tour of the hysterics surrounding Kylian Mbappé and Real Madrid this week, including the benign comments at issue, questions about why this is happening now, how the Party views Mao, how Chinese citizens view Mao, and why, if this is all part of a strategy, it may be a bad one. At the end: More bad news from the stock market as tech stocks continue to collapse, questions about forthcoming policies, and a bittersweet update on Pop Mart’s fortunes in the afterglow of the Labubu craze.

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Bill Bishop is the author of Sinocism

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Fifth Plenum begins; October Politburo meeting; Kim Jong Un visits Dandong; Tough proposed US investment rules; AI; GGI — Sinocism

Fifth Plenum; Struggle sessions for Mbappé after calling Mao a dictator; Struggles for A-share investors — Sinocism

Tougher discipline, and Xi’s authority, key at China’s Communist Party’s fifth plenum — Reuters

Xi Corruption Purges Upend Hunt for China’s Next Top Leaders — Bloomberg

Mbappé Apologizes for Perceived Mao Insult After China Backlash — Bloomberg

LALIGA and its President, Javier Tebas, apologise to Chinese fans — La Liga

CMG Sports and Youth Programming Center Spokesperson: We Do Not Accept Real Madrid’s Position — CCTV (Sinocism Translation)

In China, the AI bubble has already burst — Reuters

Pop Mart sales fall up to 50% as Labubu fever ebbs — Financial Times