China

backed financial institutions in China have already placed annual salary caps on their senior executives, the Post has learned, as Beijing pushes forward with a campaign to narrow the wealth gap. The finance sector has been one of the main targets of China’s “common prosperity” drive, which has seen the industry hit with stricter regulatory supervision, rampant pay cuts and even some lay-offs in the past year.The Post previously reported that China’s state-backed financial institutions were planning to introduce staff salary caps set at 3 million yuan (then US$412,000) last July. Since then, several organisations have already implemented the policy – with some introducing an even lower cap, according to people familiar with the matter.Central government-owned financial institutions hav...

The frugal trend that began in China during the economic disruption of the pandemic and deepened amid the crisis in the property market is intensifying as Gen Z shuns government calls to spend, spend, spend and doubles down on saving. On China's Instagram-like Xiaohongshu, or RedNote as it is known in the West, many under-30s are swapping notes on how to spend less on office lunches and shop on the cheap. Influencers are also sharing tips on turning financial discipline into a lifestyle. Posts on how to save money total more than 1.5 million with more than 130 million views. "I feel that the economy is quite bad, and it seems like it's hard for everyone to make money, so I think it's important to protect my own wallet," said Ava Su, who joined Alibaba (9988.HK), opens ne...

China broke its own record in installing renewable power in 2024, as the world’s top polluter continues to push its energy transition while the US shifts away from fighting climate change. China broke its own record in installing renewable power in 2024, as the world’s top polluter continues to push its energy transition while the US shifts away from fighting climate change. Article content Article content The world’s second-largest economy added roughly 277 gigawatts of solar last year, surpassing the previous year’s record of 217 gigawatts, the National Energy Administration said in a statement on Tuesday. It also added nearly 80 gigawatts of wind, according to the statement. Article content The record installation means China has hit its 2030 renewables target six...

China recently raised an important parameter in its macro-prudential management to expand cross-border funding sources for companies and financial institutions.The macro-prudential adjustment parameter, a multiplier that decides the upper limit of outstanding cross-border financing available to an institution, was revised from 1.5 to 1.75, according to a joint statement issued by the People's Bank of China and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. The revision aims at guiding enterprises and financial institutions to optimise their asset-liability structure, a state-controlled media outlet reported. The country will also continue implementing its special campaign to stimulate consumption, actively expand imports and attract foreign investment this year, a national commer...

Chinese officials and ordinary people are hopeful but on edge as Donald Trump returns to the White House, eager to avoid a repeat of the bruising trade war that drove a wedge between the economic superpowers during his first term. Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, in meetings with Tesla CEO Elon Musk and other members of the U.S. business community in Washington ahead of Trump's inauguration, said he hoped U.S. companies would "take root" in China and help to stabilise bilateral relations, the official Xinhua news agency reported. When Trump was last president, he heaped tariffs on more than $300 billion of Chinese imports. In recent months, he has said he would add tariffs of at least 10% on top of what is already imposed on Chinese goods, a move that would hurt ...

Rural China is struggling to establish and sustain adequate medical infrastructure. “High-quality doctors are unwilling to live in rural areas and low-quality ones cannot provide good services”. It is becoming challenging to get medical care in some rural areas of China, a task that will only get more critical in coming years for ageing rural communities, where about 120 million people are already 60 or older. China’s development model is at a crossroads, say health and population experts, with a choice between much higher spending on pensions and healthcare or industrial upgrades and urbanisation, which Beijing sees as key to bolstering growth. The Challenge  At a twice-a-decade meeting of the ruling Communist Party last year, Beijing promised to pursue both. Howe...