For your listening while reading our summary and apropos of the People’s Life and Culture article, we share with you “Countless” (無數) by Joker Xue (薛之謙), a famous singer of Mandopop, i.e. Chinese popular music.
Geopolitics
Survey shows US tech firms rely on China for a good chunk of their sales
The biggest source of revenue in 2022 for Qualcomm, Lam Research, and four other US companies in the semiconductor industry was China; the US-based Semiconductor Industry Association has been lobbying the White House to back off the sanctions, as they could end up hurting US companies themselves
By the end of the year, Huawei could return to the 5G phone market thanks to advances in its semiconductor design tools and chips from China’s SMIC
Due to US and European bans, Huawei’s revenue peaked at 483 billion yuan (US$67 billion) in 2020, before falling nearly 50% a year later; HiSilicon, Huawei’s chip design subsidiary, has had a 0% global smartphone processor market share for four consecutive quarters since April 2022
National Politics
New regulation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) services takes a lighter approach, aiming to balance innovation and oversight
Rules apply to services that employ generative AI technologies to create text, images, audio, and video, specifically targeting Chinese audiences; providers can only launch their generative AI products after safety review and registration of the algorithm, and data used must be accurate, legally obtained and respect intellectual property
As the grace period ends, investors from mainland China will no longer be able to trade shares through the share programs with Hong Kong
Considered “fake foreign capital”, Chinese investors used the mechanism to gain cheaper financing costs and greater leverage in Hong Kong; the practice can distort data on foreign investment inflows into China, while allowing them to manipulate their share prices on the mainland
Economy
China’s GDP grows 5.5% in first half of 2023 to 59.3 trillion yuan (US$8.3 trillion)
Among the reasons for this performance in the first half of the year are: the rapid recovery of the services sector and the steady growth of infrastructure investment.
The total value added of industrial enterprises with annual revenue from their activities greater than 20 million yuan (US$2.79 million), grew by 3.8% year-on-year. Retail sales of consumer goods rose 8.2% year-on-year to 22.76 trillion yuan (US$3.17 trillion).
Some economists also consider that in order to ensure the achievement of the 5% GDP growth target in 2023, the central government may intensify stimulus measures for the second half of the year.
Agriculture and Environment
China has lowest summer harvest in 5 years (down 0.9%) as a result of prolonged rains and high temperatures
Adverse weather could also affect the fall harvest, which accounts for 75% of the country’s annual grain production; in this context, the company Alibaba announced that it will promote research to improve seeds through artificial intelligence so that they have greater yield and resistance to diseases and climate change
Science and Technology
China announces its plan to reach the Moon in 2030, which would be the second country to do so after the last lunar landing by the US in 1972
Unlike the Apollo 11 mission, China will launch the landing module and the manned spacecraft separately, and they will dock in lunar orbit to complete the landing, the same system that will be used by the remote-controlled Tianwen 3 mission to Mars; the Chinese space agency is collaborating with Russia’s Roscosmos to build a joint lunar base in the mid-2030s
People’s Life and Culture
Durian, a tropical fruit from Southeast Asia, is gaining popularity in China
Known as the king of fruits, the durian is presented to newly engaged or married couples, and also to future mothers-in-law; with lower taxes and customs procedures under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership trade pact between China and ASEAN countries, fruit imports increased by more than 150% in this year’s first quarter
Shijiazhuang wants to become the city of Rock music and will organize several festivals in the coming months
With the post-pandemic return of larger-scale, mass events, the city located in Hebei province wants to capitalize on the sector to boost its economy; other cities have already done so, such as Quzhou in Zhejiang province, where a two-day Joker Xue concert attracted 107,200 tourists and generated revenue of more than 814 million yuan (US$113 million)
Rock bands play in public places in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province [Liang Zidong/chinadaily.com.cn]
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