A Hong Kong boy arrives in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, 08.01.2023 [VCG]
Dear readers,
On January 12, Tings Chak participated in a livestream with CODEPINK co-founder Jodie Evans to talk about her experience in China over the past three years (watch here).
This week, journalist Li Jingjing published the cuts of interviews made at the end of the year with Mika Erskog on Africa’s foreign relations (here), Marco Fernandes on political shifts in Latin America (here), and Tings Chak on Western media and China (here).
– Dongsheng Editorial Collective
Geopolitics
President Xi and Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos set out to resume cooperation in oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea
14 agreements were signed – including the creation of a diplomatic communication mechanism to resolve maritime issues – and according to Marcos’ office, there was US$22.8 billion in investment pledges from Chinese investors for renewable energy, electric vehicles, mineral processing and agriculture
China reopens its borders after three years of the pandemic, and countries like South Korea, the US, and Japan impose restrictions on Chinese travelers
More than 250,000 people entered the country on the first day of opening the borders; China has suspended short-term visas for South Korean and Japanese nationals in response to restrictions imposed by those countries
National Politics
Change in health policy and reopening in China comes at a time when the population has higher levels of immunity
According to Liang Wannian, responsible for the Covid-19 response policy, this winter was the best time to implement the flexibilities, as vaccination rates among the elderly are at 80% and the virulence of Omicron has declined; by next summer, vaccines will have lost some of their protective capacity
Jack Ma relinquishes control of Ant Group, which seeks to restructure after regulations on the tech sector
Ma had disappeared from public life after criticizing Chinese regulators in 2020; due to the changes, the company will have to wait up to three years to go public, while its consumer lending subsidiary received approval for a capital injection of 10.5 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion)
Economy
After 20 years of being a key driver of China’s economic growth, the US$60 trillion estate sector has reached an inflection point
Demand for housing starts to reach a limit by the slowdown in urbanization and decline in population size; in two years, private sector participation in land purchases dropped from 70% to 28.3% (2022), due to government regulations to curb real estate speculation
Yuan follows the appreciation trend of recent months, now supported by optimism regarding economic recovery in 2023
After a low exchange rate in early November (7.328), the People’s Bank of China has set the average exchange rate at 6.8912 per US dollar; in contrast to the downturns in the US and Europe, China could revive consumer and services activity in the second half of 2023
Agriculture and Environment
China steps up oil and gas exploration amid possible deepening energy crisis over Ukraine conflict
Oil production in 2022 may have reached 205 million tonnes, the highest since 2016, while imports (501 million tonnes), fell from 72% in 2021 to 70.9% last year; China is trying to bolster energy security by expanding energy partnerships with the Middle East and neighbors like Russia and Central Asian countries
With a strategy launched in 2022, China sets the goal of becoming a climate-adapted society by 2035
The plan emphasizes the importance of monitoring, early warning, and risk management, with a system that has already saved lives in extreme events in Guangdong being considered as a model for the rest of the country; for specialists, one of the challenges is raising the awareness of government employees and the population in general about the severity of climate risks
People’s Life and Culture
Rural and grassroots physicians are the first line of defense and play a crucial role against COVID-19
More than 90% of patients in the countryside are treated at municipal hospitals, and the system of shared medicine cabinets ensures the supply of antipyretic and cough medicines; as of October, 19,400 outpatient clinics were built in hospitals and community centers across the country
New archaeological discoveries may be evidence of a network for communication and exchange between different societies in Chinese civilization
Both jade and dragons were common to several belief systems and, for experts, these factors formed the basis for a united Chinese civilization in later history; new discoveries were announced last month, including a bow-shaped jade ornament known as a huang from the Neolithic period, which in China dates back 4,000 to 10,000 years
An arch-shaped jade ornament known as huang, unearthed at the Lingjiatan site, Anhui province [China Daily]
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