Tag: china

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In The News

Serious Risks Of Trump Presidency For The Asian Economy

Watching share prices in Seoul
Watching share prices in Seoul Xinhua/ZUMA

HONG KONG — Just when China’s economy seemed to be stabilizing, Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president poses significant new risks. Not just for Chinese growth, but the entire Asia region. That’s because the president-elect campaigned on a policy platform with protectionism at its center. Trump wants to slap punitive tariffs on Chinese goods and label the world’s No. 2 economy a currency manipulator. Such a move would hurt Chinese exports. But it could also trigger a trade war if Beijing retaliates, catching other Asian economies in the crossfire. Other worries: A planned major regional trade pact, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, […]

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In The News

On This Day – November 5

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Panama Papers & Politics, From Pakistan to Iceland

SPOTLIGHT: PANAMA PAPERS & POLITICS, FROM PAKISTAN TO ICELAND It’s been more than six months since a massive leak first exposed vast networks of offshore financial dealings linked to a Panama-based law firm. But the reverberations of the so-called “Panama Papers” continue to show up in unlikely places. Pakistan’s opposition party announced today that two […]

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In The News

China, From Shrinking Exports To Currency Devaluation

Workers producing glasses cases in a factory in Hebei Province
Workers producing glasses cases in a factory in Hebei Province Mou Yu/Xinhua/ZUMA

-Analysis- BEIJING — The numbers are decidely mixed. Year-on-year, China’s exports fell in September by 10%, which was a 0.5% further drop over August. Meanwhile, the National Bureau of Statistics showed that third-quarter Chinese GDP growth steadied to a solid 6.7%. But putting aside the short-term trend lines, the longer-term outlook shows alarming signs of […]

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Economy Future

In China, Local Governments Crack Down On Sharing Economy

Chinese ride-sharing app Didi Chuxing
Chinese ride-sharing app Didi Chuxing jetsettersreal via Instagram

Mirroring some of the battles Uber has faced in cities around the world, local car-hailing apps in China like Didi Chuxing are getting heat from municipal administrations trying to protect the status quo.

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In The News

On This Day – October 25

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Duterte, All Business In China

Among the many memorable lines from Rodrigo Duterte’s run for the presidency was this colorful threat to Chinese leaders: If elected, he would personally ride a jet ski across the South China Sea to plant the Philippine flag on the Spratly Islands that are claimed by both countries as their own. Just past 100 days […]

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Geopolitics Ideas

Philippines, Underestimate Rodrigo Duterte At Your Peril

Rodrigo Duterte in Jolo, Philippines, on Aug.12
Rodrigo Duterte in Jolo, Philippines, on Aug.12 Rey Baniquet/Planet Pix/ZUMA

The controversial new Filippino president, who arrives in China today, has mostly garnered attention for his brutal crackdown on drug dealers. But his ambitions go far beyond.

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On This Day – October 1

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Future Geopolitics

Water Is The New Oil — The Rising Threat Of “Blue Gold” Wars

Bangladeshi children taking a bath by collecting supply water beside a road in Dhaka
Bangladeshi children taking a bath by collecting supply water beside a road in Dhaka Zakir Hossain Chowdhury/ZUMA

Global warming, population booms, rising urbanization, industrialization — an explosive mixture that may make water supplies the world’s new spark for armed conflict.

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Economy Ideas

Cuba Embraces Free Market, China-Style

Flag-raising ceremony at the U.S. embassy in Havana
Flag-raising ceremony at the U.S. embassy in Havana Liu Bin/Xinhua/ZUMA

Whatever the hopes for Cuba, the country’s regime seems keen to follow the profit model for the economy to shore up its political grip. Just like China and Russia.

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Studying Hard — Video Quote Of The Day

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Society

China To Its Citizens: Go Ahead And Film The Cops

Police officers on duty in a railway station in Wuhan
Police officers on duty in a railway station in Wuhan Xiao Yijiu/ZUMA

BEIJING — China’s Ministry of Public Security has weighed into a national debate about citizens filming police actions with an attention-grabbing video of its own. The video, released last month, confirms the public’s right to film or photograph police with the caveat that citizens must “not affect the execution of normal law enforcement.” It also […]

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Economy Geopolitics

Giant Ghost Town Reflects What’s Wrong With China’s Economic Model

Giant Ghost Town Reflects What's Wrong With China's Economic Model
Massive construction in Lanzhou New Area morseanthony via Instagram

LANZHOU NEW AREA This city is supposed to be the diamond’s on China’s Silk Road Economic Belt a new metropolis carved out of the mountains in the country’s arid northwest. But it is shaping up to be fool’s gold, a ghost city in the making. Lanzhou New Area, in Gansu province, embodies China’s twin dreams of catapulting its poorer western regions into the economic mainstream through an orgy of infrastructure spending and cementing its place at the heart of Asia through a revival of the ancient Silk Road. Hundreds of hills on the dry, sandy Loess Plateau were flattened by […]

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In China, Electric Shocks To ‘Cure’ Internet Addiction

Internet Cafe in Beijing, China
Internet Cafe in Beijing, China Kay Hendry

LINYI — Dr. Yang Yongxin first garnered attention a decade ago when he opened the “Young People Risk Behavior Intervention Center” in this city in the eastern province of Shandong. The “risk behavior” in question was not drugs or sex, but wasting time online. The Nanfang Daily reports that Yang, who used to work in […]

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August 22

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Society

China’s Olympic Flop, “Planned Economy” Sports System To Blame

Chinese gymnast Hao You after a fall at the Rio Olympics on Aug. 16
Chinese gymnast Hao You after a fall at the Rio Olympics on Aug. 16 Soeren Stache/DPA/ZUMA

-Analysis- BEIJING — As the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro come to an end, the Chinese delegation’s “failure” seems to be a foregone conclusion. Even in gymnastics, where it had excelled in the past, China won only two bronze medals, making it the worst performance of the past decade. The first reaction of the […]

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Economy

Why The Internet Giants Can’t Crack The Chinese Market

Both Didi and Uber were taking aim at traditional taxis
Both Didi and Uber were taking aim at traditional taxis Long Wei/Xinhua via ZUMA

No, it’s mostly not about censorship …

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August 13

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Economy Society

China Grapples With Baby Boom In The Year Of The Monkey

Newborns at a maternity in Lanzhou, northwestern China, on Feb. 17
Newborns at a maternity in Lanzhou, northwestern China, on Feb. 17 Chen Bin/Xinhua/ZUMA

BEIJING — “Our little monkey has decided to join the fun,” said Lucy, a 33-year-old woman expecting her first child this October. She’s one of many happy Chinese women due to give birth in the year of the monkey, an animal that is associated with cleverness in the Chinese zodiac calendar. A Founder Securities report […]

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Geopolitics

Guangzhou, How Villages Get Swallowed Into A Megacity

Workers dismantle buildings in Guangzhou
Workers dismantle buildings in Guangzhou Zhang Zhitao/Xinhua/ZUMA

In 2002, the major southern city gave developers a decade to revitalize 138 old villages as part of China’s rapid urbanization. Almost 15 years later, only four have been revamped, and the last holdout residents still refuse to leave.

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How Chinese Students Spend Summer Vacation? Getting Plastic Surgery

For some students, summer is a time to rest; for others, a time to work. But for a growing number of China’s female youth, the summer break is a chance to go under the knife. According to a report last week in China News, plastic surgery for Chinese women has begun to spread from the […]

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Society

Why China’s Middle Class Is Suddenly Being Squeezed

Chinese middle class in constant stress
Chinese middle class in constant stress Jian Gao/Xinhua/ZUMA

BEIJING — Chinese people watching American television series are exposed to an enviable image of an average middle class American family. Bound for a leafy neighborhood in the suburbs, a Chevrolet leaves the bustling city and rolls into the driveway of a wooden home on a quiet street. Two or three kids are playing on […]

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Society

In China, Where 15 Million Graduates Face Poor Job Prospects

Graduates at the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies in Guangzhou
Graduates at the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies in Guangzhou Jacky Zhao/Color China Photos/ZUMA

BEIJING — China established a policy for increasing university enrollment in 1999 in order to boost the economy and spur employment. By 2002, some 1.45 million students were graduating each year in China. This June, 7.65 million got their college diploma, yet another record high. The growing number of college-educated people is good news for […]

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Fury In China Over Maritime Dispute Ruling

Dongfang Zaobao, July 13 “The South Sea Islands have been part of China’s territory since ancient times,” Wednesday’s front page of the Chinese daily Dongfang Zaobao reads. “China does not accept the ruling that does not recognize the South China Sea.” The defiant headline comes in response to Tuesday’s decision by a UN tribunal to […]

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Economy Geopolitics

China Fights Rampant Counterfeiting Of French Wine

At the Bordeaux and Aquitaine Wine Festival in Wuhan, central China
At the Bordeaux and Aquitaine Wine Festival in Wuhan, central China Xiao Yijiu/Xinhua/ZUMA

BEIJING — Beijing recently announced that it would start to recognize a selection of French wines in China, a country where counterfeiting of prominent French wine brands is common. The announcement, made at the G20 agricultural ministers meeting in China, is a victory for France. China will now recognize 45 Bordeaux wines that have the […]

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Society

China’s Grand Soccer Ambitions

Chinese kindergartners practicing their soccer skills in Zaozhuang
Chinese kindergartners practicing their soccer skills in Zaozhuang Sun Zhongzhe/Xinhua/ZUMA

The last time China made a World Cup appearance in 2002, the team lost all three group matches and went out without a single goal. While Chinese fans are mad about soccer, their own national team rarely gives them reason to rejoice. But there are grand pl

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China Faces Catastrophic Floods, Braces For Typhoon

Dongfang Zaobao (Oriental Morning Post) — July 7, 2016 This Thursday edition of Shanghai-based Dongfang Zaobao features emergency forces at work in the Yangtze River basin, with the headline “Flood emergency! President Xi deploys Disaster Relief Forces.” At least 120 people are dead or missing, and an estimated 16 million people have been affected by […]

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Economy Future

Could Design Be The Next Frontier Of Innovation In China?

At the Design Intelligence Awards in Hangzhou on May 8
At the Design Intelligence Awards in Hangzhou on May 8 Xu Yu/Xinhua/ZUMA

To understand why design is important, take a look at Silicon Valley. Forty-two design firms in the U.S. technology hub have been bought up since 2004. About half these acquisitions were made this past year alone. The 25 startups that got the most venture capital financing were founded by designers. Google snapped up the two-person […]

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Society

How U.S. “Diploma Mills” Are Duping Chinese Students

The right degree opens doors
The right degree opens doors Lawrence Wang

Trump University isn’t the only questionable American higher education institution. Other self-proclaimed universities are virtual scams, and China is a prime customer.

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Geopolitics

What’s Hit The Brakes On China’s Foreign High-Speed Rail Ambition

Chinese bullet train
Chinese bullet train Cheng Min/Xinhua/ZUMA

-OpEd- BEIJING — On June 9, U.S. company XpressWest suddenly announced that it would end the joint venture agreement that it had signed with China Railway International to build a high-speed rail linking Las Vegas and Los Angeles. The U.S. firm said its decision to terminate the relationship with China Railway International was based “primarily […]

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Exposed: China’s School Tracks Made Of Toxic Tire Scraps

On your mark...what a clean track looks like
On your mark...what a clean track looks like Wikipedia

BEIJING — Recycling used materials is great. School athletics, too! But in China this week, we see where the two activities should never cross paths. The Tuesday night edition of Economic 30 Minutes, a program of CCTV, the Chinese state television broadcaster, exposed the shady story of China’s plastic school tracks and sports fields made […]

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Chinese Bank Employees Spanked In Public For Poor Job Performance

A video of Chinese bank employees being spanked with a kind of bat or paddle for poor job performance has gone viral, setting off outrage online in China. The video, apparently recorded during a training session at a rural bank in the poor western province of Shanxi, shows eight staff members — both men and […]

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Economy Geopolitics

A Roadmap For Future Chinese Energy Investments In Africa

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in Beijing on April 12
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in Beijing on April 12 Ma Zhancheng/Xinhua/ZUMA

BEIJING — China has received a string of recent visits from African government and business officials, including Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, in April, and Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi, who came in May accompanied by officials from his national petroleum company. The president of the Algerian national oil company also made a trip to China of […]

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Extra! Shanghai Disneyland Grand Opening

Dongfang Zaobao, June 16 Chinese daily Dongfang Zaobao featured the grand opening of Shanghai Disneyland on its front page Thursday after the theme park dynasty opened its doors at midnight following five years of construction. The $5.5 billion Shanghai Disney Resort is the American company’s biggest theme park outside of the U.S. Some 10,000 employees […]

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Economy Society

Mickey V. Dragon: Shanghai Disney Challenges China’s Domestic Theme Parks

At the Fantawild Adventure amusement park in Wuhu, eastern China
At the Fantawild Adventure amusement park in Wuhu, eastern China Yu Yong/Xinhua/ZUMA

SHANGHAI — After five years of construction, Shanghai Disneyland will be inaugurated on Thursday with much fanfare. And with the arrival of China’s first park from the American entertainment conglomerate, many Chinese players in the theme park business are asking if the proverbial “wolf has really come” this time — dressed as Mickey Mouse. But […]

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Hanging On

Hanging On

If you visit northern China’s Xuankong Temple, the famous “Hanging Temple” built into a cliff some 75 meters above the ground, believe me: You won’t let go of the hand rail.

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Society

The Limits Of China’s First Anti-Domestic Violence Law

Woman walking in Beijing
Woman walking in Beijing Jiwei Han/ZUMA

Abusive husbands are now criminally liable in China, and their victims can seek restraining orders. Rights advocates applaud the new rules, but say that many women are still reluctant to speak out.

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New ‘Test Nannies’ For High-Stakes Chinese Entrance Exam

China’s National Higher Education Entrance Examination (commonly known as Gaokao) is a two-day, nine-hour, monumentally stressful examination that the country’s 9.4 million graduating high school students took earlier this week. The grade on this test is the only qualification many Chinese universities consider for admittance, so for the many ambitious Chinese students and their families, […]

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Xi Jinping, A Stars-And-Stripes Front Page In China

Renmin Ribao, June 7, 2016 Tuesday’s front page of the Chinese state-run daily Renmin Ribao features President Xi Jinping in front of American and Chinese flags as he spoke at China-U.S. bilateral talks in Beijing. The 8th round of China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Development and the 7th round of China-U.S. Cultural Exchanges and High Level […]

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