China

<strong>Deep in economic woes, China finds EU’s de-risking strategy too painful to bear</strong>
29Jan mmBy Joe RodriguezNo Comments
Asia, China

Deep in economic woes, China finds EU’s de-risking strategy too painful to bear

After the 27-member European Union on January 24 unveiled a series of steps to de-risk itself from China, in an attempt to protect key sectors and emerging technologies from any possible security threat, Beijing, upset with the move of the 27-member bloc, has voiced its concern that it will have “profound implications for a wide range of areas, including investment, trade and technological cooperation.” But while in the expression of its frustration towards the EU’s de-risking strategy, China’s Foreign Ministry appears to be relatively restrained with spokesperson Wang Wenbin terming it as “protectionist and unilateral” move, Global Times which is mouthpiece of the Communist Party of China, has been indisputably harsh in its comment against the 27- member bloc’s stand. “The EU’s pla...
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<strong>Will ‘Year of Dragon’ change China’s worry on Declining Population</strong>
22Jan mmBy Joe RodriguezNo Comments
China

Will ‘Year of Dragon’ change China’s worry on Declining Population

According to Yuan Xin, the vice-president of the Population Association of China, there is a silver lining to the decline in China’s population this year: the cultural inclination to conceive a child during the Year of the Dragon. Many Chinese families believe that having a dragon baby will bring them luck and prosperity, and the statistics support this: the last Year of the Dragon, 2012, saw a surge in new births. However, it's important to acknowledge that while this cultural preference for giving birth in a fortunate year is cherished, it may not be sufficient to reverse the long-term downward trend in population growth, which requires urgent and effective measures to increase the birth rate. This is the message from demographic experts, as the latest data shows that China experienc...
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<strong>China gets restricted Nvidia computer based intelligence chips through dim business sectors</strong>
19Jan mmBy Joe RodriguezNo Comments
China, Market

China gets restricted Nvidia computer based intelligence chips through dim business sectors

Despite US export controls, China’s military and research sectors can still get Nvidia’s advanced AI chip. Experts say the US has not stopped the illegal trade of these chips in China. Proof has amassed that, in spite of the US's commodity controls, China's military-related firms, research focuses and colleges can in any case get Nvidia's very good quality man-made brainpower (computer based intelligence) chip. Innovation specialists say the Biden administration has bombed such a long ways to prevent little wholesalers from exchanging and sneaking the chips into the Chinese black business sectors. The US Trade Division's Department of Industry and Security (BIS) restricted the commodity of the A100 and H100 chips to China in October 2022 and the product of the A800 and H800 chips to the n...
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The Gavekal perspective: China investment and the Taiwan survey
18Jan mmBy Brian ThompsonNo Comments
China, World

The Gavekal perspective: China investment and the Taiwan survey

For once, the opinion polls were on the money. In Taiwan’s election, the Democratic Progressive Party candidate Lai Ching-te won the presidency with just over 40% of the vote, but the DPP lost its parliamentary majority. Of course, the reason the world was watching had little to do with Taiwan per se and everything to do with China. Taiwan is a key reason – although certainly not the only reason – why the majority of international investors today perceive China to be ‘uninvestible’. This perception is a marked turnaround from a year ago, when most investors – myself included – thought China’s post-Covid reopening would lead to a bounce similar to those seen in the US, the UK, Europe, Canada, Australia and elsewhere. Except the bounce might be even more potent, since China had been l...
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Many in China believe that the country’s economy is in a recession.
18Jan mmBy Joe RodriguezNo Comments
China, World

Many in China believe that the country’s economy is in a recession.

The night before China's civil service exam, Melody Zhang anxiously paced up and down the corridor of her dormitory, rehearsing her answers. Only when she got back to her room did she realise she had been crying the whole time.Zhang was hoping to start a career in state propaganda after more than 100 unsuccessful job applications in the media industry. With a record 2.6 million people going for 39,600 government jobs amid a youth unemployment crisis, she didn't get through."We were born in the wrong era," said the 24-year-old graduate from China's top Renmin University."No one cares about their dreams and ambitions anymore in an economic downturn. The endless job-hunting is a torture."A crisis of confidence in the economy is deterring consumers from spending and businesses from hiring and...
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China’s demographic dilemma and its effects on the world population
17Jan mmBy Brian ThompsonNo Comments
China, World

China’s demographic dilemma and its effects on the world population

GILLIAN TETT in Fool’s Gold, her fabulous book on the Global Financial Crisis, wrote that “silo thinking” was behind the collective failure to see the scale of the looming disaster. The regulators worked in silos and were thus unable to see the big picture, as they were also hoodwinked the Masters of the Universe. The same silo behaviour applied to the buyers and sellers of credit derivatives, who spectacularly failed to see the wood for the trees. The river flowing through the wood was, of course, polluted by highly toxic debt. When the river burst its banks, the trees were almost completely submerged. Several major petrochemical companies were close to bankruptcy in late 2008 and early 2009 because of the sudden collapse of petrochemical pricing happened, which left them with very...
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China’s private companies, pushed to prosper abroad, cautioned that the “days of runaway growth have gone” amid the debt crisis.
16Jan mmBy Walter ParezNo Comments
China, World

China’s private companies, pushed to prosper abroad, cautioned that the “days of runaway growth have gone” amid the debt crisis.

Fosun Group founder Guo Guangchang says the ‘days of runaway growth have gone’, with China’s private firms suffering from high debt and heavy asset loadsJuneyao Group chairman Wang Junjin also says entrepreneurs should ‘refuse lying flat’, and instead follow China’s going global strategy Some of China’s most prominent tycoons have been committed to reining in debt, and are also eying the overseas market for increased growth this year, despite Beijing’s attempt to play up domestic economic prospects and calls for more private investment. “The economic recovery last year was not as fast as we expected. Private firms are still facing huge pressure,” said Guo Guangchang, founder of Fosun Group, one of China’s largest private conglomerates. The 56-year-old is a respected voice in Chin...
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15Jan mmBy Brian ThompsonNo Comments
China, World

Geopolitical and economic forecast 2024: China’s instability and the security of the world

At the end of our three-part look at some of the major challenges the world and the global economy will face in 2024, we examine instability in China and the challenge of global security As we conclude our look at six major geopolitical and economic challenges that the world will face in the coming year in a new three-part blog series, we see that while 2024 is set to be a challenging year for a host of countries, few may have as many internationally consequential difficulties as the People’s Republic of China. A combination of socio-economic and foreign policy challenges will stretch the Chinese government’s attention to an untested degree; while simultaneously armed conflict is again becoming the solution de-jour in international relations, threatening global security. Challenge 5...
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Chinese exports fall 4.6% in the midst of the economic crisis after seven years.
13Jan mmBy Michael SmithNo Comments
China, World

Chinese exports fall 4.6% in the midst of the economic crisis after seven years.

Amid the economic crisis, Chinese exports saw a downfall for the first time since 2016 after global demand for Chinese-made goods slowed in 2023, CNN reported citing the Customs data released on Friday.According to CNN, the Chinese economy is struggling to stem deflationary pressures and consumer price inflation in 2023 was the weakest it has been in 14 years. Chinese exports were measured at USD 3.38 trillion in 2023, down by 4.6 per cent compared to the year before. In 2022, Chinese exports increased by 7 per cent from the year earlier. The last time China registered a decline in overseas shipments was in 2016 when exports fell 7.7 per cent.Imports also fell last year, by 5.5 per cent to USD 2.56 trillion, CNN reported, adding that it left the world's second-largest economy with a tr...
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<strong>Will economic blight persist in China even in 2024?</strong>
12Jan mmBy Joe RodriguezNo Comments
China

Will economic blight persist in China even in 2024?

After China’s most powerful leader Deng Xiaoping introduced a free-enterprise system and reforms into the country’s economy in the 1980s, his successors Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao gave further momentum to the country’s growth. Under President Hu Jintao’s two-five-year term, China’s average growth remained around 10%--a spectacular performance that saw the country’s development in almost all sectors. But today, China under President Xi Jinping is faltering economically, politically, and diplomatically. It is struggling to keep the gross domestic product growth rate in the 4-5% range in 2024 to “vigorously” promote investment, said Financial Times. Import of Chinese goods to the American market declined by more than 20% in the January-November period, according to the US Commerce Departme...
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