China

As the world’s second-largest economy, China has seen some high growth in recent past. With this growth, however, has come a widening gap between the rich and the poor. China’s income distribution statistics show that the country is facing a large income gap between the rich and the poor. China’s Gini coefficient has grown sharply to 0.466 points in 2021, which is above the warning level set by the United Nations of 0.4. By comparison, countries such as Germany, Canada, and Japan all have estimated Gini coefficients that hover at just over 0.3. There is also a significant income gap between urban and rural households, as well as between different provinces in China. Beijing and Shanghai had a 2021 per capita income which was 227% of the average national per capita income of $12,551. At...

Last month, China’s central bank cut short-term interest rates to 1.9% from 2%--the first rate cut since August 2022. There is a hint that Chinese authorities may introduce a bigger monetary stimulus package to revive the economy. With exports falling by 12.4 %, home sales tumbling, factory activity struggling to gather pace and unemployment rate among youth crossing all past records to touch 20.8% in May, the Chinese economy is sputtering on all major fronts. Accentuating woes of Chinese people is unfavourable news on the foreign investment front. According to Nikkei Asia, China could corner just $42.5 billion FDI between July and December 2022, constituting a 73% decline on the year. In 2023, despite making all efforts to woo investors, China was able to receive $39.71 billion worth of ...

In the face of an unprecedented unemployment crisis, China has turned to the revival of the street-stall economy as a potential solution. Megacities like Beijing and Shanghai are relaxing regulations to allow street vendors to operate in more public areas, signalling a shift in the government's approach to combating the alarming situation. Since the post-COVID era began, the Chinese economy has struggled to regain its pre-pandemic strength, resulting in a sharp rise in youth unemployment. Even college graduates cannot secure stable employment, exacerbating the issue further. State authorities have drawn parallels between the current plight of unemployed graduates and the characters from Kyong Yiji literature, urging them to "take off the long gown" and embrace entrepreneurship by se...

China is getting its millions of communist cadres ready and re-oriented for its new market philosophy—In China, for China. A comprehensive program, which basically teaches total acquiescence to the party leadership, is being implemented to strip cadres of any element of doubt or lack of clarity about the new, insular strategy. On the face of it, the strategy, that China claims is different from in China to service the world market approach, is about “the high-quality development of China's economy, carry out in-depth cooperation in the global industrial and supply chains, and work together to address global challenges such as climate change and build mutually beneficial partnerships.” The Chinese leadership contends for a new strategy to succeed, the army of workers must be of one m...

China is a mute witness to foreign investors buying property on its mainland as the country faces a foreclosure of properties because of thousands of defaults by developers on account of a government crackdown on speculation and a slowing economy. Apart from the crackdown and the economic slowdown, the developers’ market also floundered because of protests by homeowners against stalled construction projects and threats of mortgage boycotts. Singapore is leading the buying the spree. According to media reports, sales of Chinese distressed properties, including office buildings and factories, hit a quarterly record of $1.93 billion in the last three months of 2022, according to MSCI, an American finance company, up 14% from the same period a year earlier and 73% higher than in 2019, t...

China's economic challenges have reached a critical point, with youth unemployment soaring and the country's economy in a state of stagnation. The government, led by President Xi Jinping, is resorting to rhetoric reminiscent of the Cultural Revolution to address the issue. This article delves into the current state of China's economy, the struggles faced by its youth, and the potential consequences for the nation's future. Furthermore, it explores the need for a paradigm shift towards democracy and a market-driven economy that empowers its citizens. China's youth unemployment crisis is alarming, with over 20 percent of 16-to-24-year-olds unable to secure employment. President Xi Jinping's response to this predicament, urging college graduates to "eat bitterness" and endure self-inflict...

There are rumours that Li Geping is investigating a former top regulator. Li Geping, the general manager and executive director of CSC Financial, has left the Beijing-based investment bank and brokerage house and is the subject of government investigations, according to Caixin. Li resigned from all of his roles at the business for personal reasons, CSC Financial, which trades as China Securities and is listed in Shanghai and Hong Kong, said in a statement late on Thursday. In addition, Li served as the CFO of CSC Financial and a member of the boards committees in charge of risk management and strategic planning. After a board meeting at the firm on May 29, authorities removed the executive, according to various people who spoke to Caixin. According to a source with know...

ByteDance, which has its headquarters in Beijing, said last year that some of its staff members had unauthorised access to TikTok user data. Currently, a report claims that the app's developers' "critical financial information" has been kept on servers in China as it continues to face regulatory scrutiny in the US and overseas. These most current facts about the short-form video-sharing platform's procedures have only lately surfaced in a Forbes article. As a point of comparison, detractors have often cited TikTok's legal need to provide data to the Chinese Communist Party (which controls a share of ByteDance) upon request. However, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said at a congressional hearing in March that his business has "always" held American users' data in Singapore and Virgini...

When the global economy is again drifting towards a recessionary phase, it is fast losing its confidence in one of its engines of recovery of yesteryears, i.e., China which itself is passing through a slack season. According to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, global economic growth is projected to dip below 3% in 2023 and to remain at around 3% for the next five years. That is the global lender's lowest medium-term growth forecast since 1990, and well below the average growth of 3.8% seen in the past two decades. But this time, quite unlike in past, there are only few growth engines which could help economic recovery or stop further slide, and China is the least probable one because its own economy is not showing good omens. It was con...