Economy
China’s GDP grows 8.1% to US $18 trillion in 2021, the largest jump in a decade, exceeding expectations of the IMF, World Bank, and Beijing
Industrial and services sector grows 8.2%, especially in high-tech manufacturing (18.2%) and software/IT (17.2%), but fourth-quarter slowdown (4%) makes the Central Bank loosen monetary policy
China’s per capita GDP reaches US $12,551 and consumption grows 12.6% to US $3,800/capita
Average annual personal disposable income (earnings minus taxes) reaches US $5,537 (+9.1%) – US $7,474 (urban) and US $2,984 (rural) – and the biggest expenses being food, tobacco, and alcohol (29.8%), housing (23.4%), education, culture and leisure (10.8%), and health (8.8%)
Geopolitics
China’s foreign trade (US $6.05 trillion) is up 30%, hitting historic high, while its trade surplus (US $676.4 billion) grows 26.5%
Control of the pandemic has given China an advantage in the global production chain, especially in electronics and medical products; though China’s biggest trading partner is ASEAN, the US contributed over half of China’s trade surplus, despite the trade war
Foreign Direct Investment in China increases by 14.9%, reaching record high of US $180.8 billion
High-tech industries (+17.1%) and services (+16.7%) lead FDI growth, with the BRI (+29.4%) and ASEAN (+29%) countries being the biggest sources; the list of sectors with FDI restrictions decreases from 33 to 31 in 2021
National Politics
President Xi maintains a zero tolerance stance on corruption as part of the CPC’s decade-long “self-reform,” in lead-up to 20th National Congress
Since 2012, 900,000 CPC members were expelled and 400 high-level officials were removed; in the first three quarters of 2021, top anti-corruption bodies sanctioned 414,000 officials (22 at ministerial and provincial level) and received 2.84 million reports
Three-year reform of state-owned enterprises nears completion, as central SOEs earn US $275.49 billion net profits (January-November 2021)
Beginning in 1970s, the 2020 action plan deepened reforms using market forces to increase efficiency, introduce private capital, retain more talents, and improve profitability among SOEs; this supports growth in strategic sectors where private companies have limited profitability
Agriculture and Environment
Plastic waste from e-commerce and food delivery sectors skyrockets to 1.1 million tons from 83.4 billion packages (2020)
To reduce “white pollution” in landfills from the US $104.1 billion industry that made 17.1 billion food deliveries in 2020, incineration technologies are used, a plastic ban was passed last year, and low environmental taxes implemented, but all have a limited impact
Ozone pollution decreased wheat yields by 33% and hybrid rice by 30%, costing US $52 billion annually (2017-19), according to new study
Cutting 50% of ground-level ozone concentration – mainly from burning fossil fuels – could increase wheat (20%) and rice (10%) yields, but complex interactions with other pollutants pose challenges, requiring mitigation measures including chemicals that help plants block ozone
People’s Life and Culture
China saw slowest population net growth (480,000) in 60 years as birth rate hits record low (7.52 per 1,000 people) in 2021
Population reached 1.41 billion with 14% elderly (>65 years) and working-age (15-59) population of 62.45% experienced the first growth in a decade, but government policies to boost birth rate is expected to have little impact
China’s once thriving newsstands are dwindling as print media declines, hastened during the pandemic
Emerging a century ago to sell newspapers and basic goods, newsstands grew rapidly in the 1990s in effort to provide employment to laid-off workers after restructuring of state-owned enterprises; Shanghai’s 3,000 newsstands declined to 200 by 2019
A newsstand in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, September 2018 [Li Canrong/People Visual via Sixth Tone]
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