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Geopolitics
Cuba and China announce patent for new Pan-Corona vaccine, aiming to protect against future Covid-19 variants
China-Cuba research center in Yongzhou (Hunan province), led by Cuban scientists from the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, developed the vaccine on China’s request; Pan-Corona has the technology of other Cuban Covid-19 vaccines (e.g., Abdala) and Hepatitis B
Joint Columbia-Oxford Universities study refutes Chinese “debt-trap diplomacy” in Africa and highlights debt owed to European bondholders
Chinese entities account for 8% (US$78 billion) of sub-Saharan Africa’s government debt (US$954 billion) and 18% of total external debt, of which ⅓ was owed to bilateral official partners, ⅓ to international financial institutions, and ⅓ in Eurobonds
National Politics
Regular mass testing marks new phase in China’s fight against Covid-19, requiring world-first planning and organization
State-funded system already operates in 55 cities (40% of the population), and requires negative tests from residents (every 2-7 days) to move freely; with 530,000 samplers and 730,000 lab technicians, costs could total US$ 67 billion by 2022
Record 11.93 million students take college entrance exam (gaokao) with hundreds taking the test in quarantined locations
Class of 2022 is the first to have graduated from high school under the pandemic, which intensified the stress generated by the exam; Shanghai postponed the gaokao to July 7, amid the fight against a Covid-19 outbreak
Economy
As Asia’s factory offshoring intensifies, China loses ASEAN countries’ export orders to the US, especially Vietnam
Between October 2021 and March 2022, falls in textiles (-5%), furniture (-7%) and mechanical and electrical products (-2%), intensified by Covid-19 outbreaks, but the relocation trend began ten years ago; China’s share of US furniture imports, for example, fell from 68% (2009) to 55.1% (2019)
Agriculture and Environment
China is expected to meet canola production self-sufficiency with 6.67 million hectares of crops this summer, largest area since 2015
Canola is the largest source of edible vegetable oil in China; harvest jump is due to higher market prices, local government policies, and special fund allocation of US$ 448.2 million to support planting
Use of plastic mulch in Chinese agriculture in recent decades helped farmers emerge from poverty, but soil contamination has become a problem
China accounts for 74% of total plastic film used globally (1.95 million tons/year), generating US$18.8-23.6 billion/year; government tries to combat use of ultra-thin plastics as research into biodegradable alternatives advances
Science and Technology
Shenzhou 14 spacecraft begins six-month mission with three taikonauts who will oversee final construction phase of Tiangong space station
Trio will be responsible for docking the 20-ton Wentian and Mengtian laboratory modules, which will enable materials exploration and space science and medicine research; the crew includes Liu Yang, first Chinese woman to go into space (2012)
People’s Life and Culture
Older migrant workers face increasing difficulties finding jobs in cities due to hiring age limits and the modernization of industries
Of the 300 million migrant workers, 27.1% are employed in industry, 19% in construction, and 50.9% in services, with 80 million aged 50+ (27.3% of the total); migrants have little social protection, with low skills and education levels
Bobby’s Factory documents life inside a cosmetics factory run by a Nigerian and Chinese couple in Yiwu, China
Director Zhang Yong uses documentaries to tell everyday stories of Chinese people living in Africa, and vice versa, strengthen Chinese-African relations, and overcome mutual stereotypes, often reinforced by Western and Chinese commercial productions
A still from the 2021 documentary “Bobby’s Factory” [Douban via Sixth Tone]
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