Today’s Essential Eight:

1. A long way from stabilizing the economy - The bureaucracies are starting to push out measures after the meeting chaired by Li Keqiang Wednesday, but nothing really matters until the dynamic zero-Covid policy evolves into something less deadly to the economy. That may be happening, but chalk up that more to a guess on my part than any real evidence.

2. More reporting of alleged discord between Xi and Li Keqiang - There is still no evidence of anything, it almost feels like some news outlets think they need to run something since a competitor already has.

3. Blinken’s speech on US policy towards the PRC - US Secretary of State Blinken gave the long awaited speech summarizing the Biden’s Administration’s China policy. Expectations were low and there were no surprises. The tone is markedly different from the Trump era but the general diagnosis of the challenge seems broadly similar.

4. More US-China

5. PRC and Solomon Islands to forge "iron-clad" ties - Wang Yi reiterates that …