Geopolitics
Over 30 major business organizations appeal to Biden against tariffs on imports from China (US $550 billion/year), which have fueled US inflation
With imports from China equivalent to ¼ of US manufacturing output (US $2.4 trillion), ending the 20% tariff applied to half of imports from China could reduce durable goods cost by 2% in the US
Science and Technology
Chinese companies and mobile payment apps boost Africa’s fintech sector, serving populations without access to formal banking
Offering insurance, loans, funeral cover, and remittances on e-banking apps compatible with non-smartphones on 2G networks, hundreds of locally and foreign-funded fintech companies serve unbanked Africans; Huawei powers TeleBirr (Ethiopia) and M-Pesa (Kenya), which transacts more than most banks
National Politics
Alibaba Group will lose tax breaks given to high-tech companies, adding US $1.7 billion to its taxes this fiscal year
Key enterprises pay less taxes (10-15%) than the country’s average (25%); China’s top e-commerce platform warned investors that its total tax burden will increase (from 18% to 23-25%), amid government’s targeted suspension of the sector’s tax benefits
Government issues national fitness plan to promote public health, driving sports industry to US$773 billion by 2025 (+72% from 2019)
Plan includes creating 2,000 fitness venues within 15-minutes walking distance, making a sports instructor available for every 500 residents, and ensuring 38.5% of people exercise regularly, with two hours/day of sports for students
Agriculture and Environment
Record algae bloom covers 60,594 km2 of Shandong’s coast, diminishing oxygen levels essential for marine life
Believed to originate from neighboring Jiangsu’s seaweed farms – which expanded from 29,751 to 102,961 acres (2004-19) – Qingdao’s government has deployed 12,686 vessels to collect what could total one million tonnes of Ulva prolifera
Economy
China’s industrial production increased from 2.7% to 25.4% of global total (1990-2020), totaling US $4.8 trillion in 2020
China’s manufacturing surpasses the US, Germany, and Japan’s combined; China leads in high-tech exports (US $715.8 billion) – followed by the US (US $156.1 billion) – but still relies on imported strategic inputs, such as chips
China’s 2020 household debt hits record high, reaching 130.9% of disposable income and hurting domestic consumption growth
In June 2020, credit cards bills over six months overdue totaled US $13.1 billion, ten times more than a decade earlier, with total household debt equivalent to 62% of GDP
People’s Life and Culture
China’s competitive, test-oriented education system fueled for-profit tutoring industry boom (2010-18) reinforcing social classes
Due to pressures on only-children to “get ahead”, over 30% of primary and middle schoolers participated in extracurricular classes in 2018, doubling parents’ spending (US $51 billion) since 2016; experts warn industry overhaul could result in underground tutoring
China’s elderly who use the internet are happier, using digital tools to maintain relationships and access services
Rather than being “digital refugees”, Tsinghua research of 200 elderly (2018-20) found higher levels of happiness for those online, using technology to create relationships that mirror close-knit rural society; online scams and fake news are common problems
Women fill labor shortages in construction and transportation sectors, spurred by China’s declining working-age population and new rural revitalization initiatives
In 2018, 9.5 million women worked in construction, comprising 14% of construction workers (from 10%, 2014); in some projects, ⅓ of city construction workers are women (from near-zero in 1980s), despite gender wage gap
Women maintenance road workers in Beijing, 2016 [Xinhua/Li Xin]
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