China

The Chinese economy is in doldrums. One of the manifestations is the alarmingly high rate of unemployment among the youth. Senior Lecturer of Victoria University of Wellington Christian Yao has been quoted in a news analysis from Wellington on October 9, 2023, that the rate of youth unemployment in China of 21.3 percent is not only high but alarming, because this can affect other economies as well as geopolitical relations. The rate has more than doubled the pre-Covid rate of May 2018. Interestingly this had coincided with the National Bureau of Statistics of China announcing it would no longer report age-specific data; under the pretext that it needed to “improve and optimize labour force survey statistics.” One of the reasons for this growing incidence of youth unemployment ...

In a special report, US Department of State has accused People’s Republic of China of investing billions of dollars in disinformation, surveillance tactics to to influence the international community. The global engagement centre in its latest report highlighted that propaganda, disinformation and censorship are three main tactics being used by the XI government to manipulate and influence the information at the global level. The report came at a time when US and West have been at loggerheads with China over Taiwan, Xinjiang, semiconductors and other critical issues. China’s foreign ministry has outrightly rejected the report stating that report is in itself disinformation as it misrepresents facts and truth According to the report, China has been pouring billions of US dollars i...

The rising unemployment in China has sparked changes in the youth behaviour in the country such as growing inclination toward religion, preferences to staying with parents and indulging in betting and gambling, which do not appear in conformity with the values and ideology of the ruling China Communist Party (CCP). The Chinese youth has started flocking to temples to pray for luck amidst diminishing employment opportunities in China, which has been stuck by dual problems of sluggish post-Covid-pandemic economic recovery and real estate fuelled slowdown. According to research conducted by the Chinese travel company Qunar, the visits by young worshippers to Yonghe Temple, which is popular for seeking blessings for career and financial success, have seen a sharp increase. It recorded 5...

The ongoing real estate crisis in China is set to affect economic growth and it has already started hurting the average Chinese population. They are incurring huge losses due to loan repayments and non-payment to workers and small businessmen by property giants. China, where protests are a rare sight, is seeing distressed homebuyers and investors agitating at government offices.12 The middle-class population in China has refused to pay loans on unfinished homes that are a result of a decade-long real estate bubble. Homeowners in Hunan Province said their lives have become "extremely difficult" and they could not afford the monthly mortgage. “We have to take risks out of desperation and follow the path of a mortgage strike,” they wrote to the local officials.3 Zhongrong International...

Throughout the 1980s, Japan’s economy was the envy of the world. But by 1989 a real estate and stock market bubble spooked policymakers, who hiked interest rates to tame inflation. Japan’s bourse tanked, the value of assets plummeted, and several big banks either failed or required government bailouts. As businesses folded and joblessness rose, Japan became mired in a decade-long recession. There are distinct parallels for China’s economic downturn today, which in many ways is typical of any credit-driven boom and bust cycle. China’s housing market—which contributes some 30% of GDP—is the chief villain. Despite a shrinking population, Chinese developers gorged on debt to build more new homes every year than the U.S. and Europe combined. Today, China has more than 23 million unsold apar...