Report: Shenzhen No 1 in investment vitality in China
Shenzhen in South China’s Guangdong province has taken the top spot in investment vitality in China, according to a report released by corporate information tracker Tianyancha. Shanghai and Beijing came in second and third place respectively. Nanjing, capital of East China’s Jiangsu province, overtook first-tier city Guangzhou to rank fourth.
http://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202103/24/WS605aa9e4a31024ad0bab144e.html
American Rescue Plan: China’s exports set for US$60 billion boost from ‘rampant US demand’
Chinese exports are likely to increase by US$60 billion over 2021-22 as Americans snap up computers, household equipment and clothing flush with US$1,400 stimulus cheques The American Rescue Plan could increase China’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 0.5 per cent over the next year, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-24/a-60-billion-u-s-stimulus-windfall-is-heading-china-s-way
17 things you may not know about China’s electric vehicle industry
China has one of the fastest growing EV markets in the world with an estimated 500 electric car makers having piled into the world’s largest vehicle market As the Chinese government prods indigenous innovation, home-grown brands such as Nio, Xpeng and Li Auto, have sprouted to get a larger slice of the market under the Made in China 2025 industrial master plan
https://www.msn.com/en-xl/money/other/17-things-you-may-not-know-about-chinas-electric-vehicle-industry/ar-BB1eWmcX
Why we should cut capitalism some slack after the Covid pressure cooker
The biggest champion of tightness, of allowing for no margin of error even in complex, geographically dispersed supply chains, is the investment community. Tensions in the U.S.-China economic relationship, and the rise of protectionism globally because of high unemployment, are already throwing sand in the wheels of capitalism. Should financiers be forced to permanently lower their expectations of returns? Perhaps not.Rapid digitization, especially in emerging markets, will compensate for decompression. When assets can be juiced more with artificial intelligence and the internet of things, shareholders earn the same returns with less debt. Since algorithms and connected robots won’t pay taxes, it’s only fair that private industry doesn’t come to governments with a begging bowl after every new manmade or natural crisis. Capitalism in the 21st-century will self-insure by cutting itself some slack.
https://theprint.in/opinion/why-we-should-cut-capitalism-some-slack-after-the-covid-pressure-cooker/628119/
Will Post-Pandemic Retail Be Online Or Offline?
Much has been made of the post-pandemic shift to e-commerce. But some retail executives believe offline sales will slowly start to surge again. Retailers can expect a strong return to their physical stores once tens of millions of consumers have been vaccinated. In the third quarter of 2020, online sales in China increased by 27 percent, while offline sales declined by 4 percent. Retailers that want to thrive in the post-COVID-19 environment must adopt efficient, consumer-centric services and invest in technologies that boost the omnichannel experience across all platform
Unsurprisingly, China is already using new technologies to enhance the showroom model and promote pop-up shopping experiences. Storefront CMO Stephanie Kidder says that pop-up stores fit the Chinese market perfectly because they deliver “a unique, limited-time-only experience,” and they create desirability through a sense of exclusivity. “This match made in heaven between Chinese consumer culture and the pop-up phenomenon is one of the reasons why pop-up stores have been on the rise in China,” said Kidder. “In fact, the compound annual growth rate of pop-up retailing has exceeded 100 percent since 2015, and estimations tell us that by 2020, over 3,000 pop-up stores will have been launched in China.”
https://jingdaily.com/post-pandemic-retail-online-offline/
Xiaomi moves past struggling Huawei as No 1 Chinese smartphone vendor in global market
Xiaomi recorded its most profitable year in 2020 on the back of expanded sales and global market share The Beijing-based company was the world’s third-largest smartphone vendor in the fourth quarter, behind Apple and Samsung
https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3126993/xiaomi-moves-past-struggling-huawei-no-1-chinese-smartphone-vendor
Tencent’s robust earnings belie looming regulatory challenges
Regulatory scrutiny over gaming, fintech and antitrust issues clouds Tencent’s future, despite its stellar 2020 financial results Tencent plays down the impact of a potential restructuring of its fintech business
https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3127013/tencents-robust-earnings-belie-looming-regulatory-challenges
China mulls new state-backed company to oversee tech data
E-commerce and payment firms could be the first batch to join the venture The plan may require changes to laws governing data ownership
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/3/25/bb-china-mulls-new-state-backed-firm-to-oversee-tech-data-report
Is Chinese business on the cusp of a ‘leapfrog moment’ in ESG reporting?
ESG reporting by Chinese businesses will be fundamental to achieving the country’s climate goals. The Forum and PwC China brought together Chinese business leaders and ESG practitioners to explore the barriers and opportunities in ESG reporting.The findings are published in a new report. Here’s a summary. China’s ambition to reach peak carbon before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 will require Chinese companies to start transitioning to a lower-carbon business model today. Corporate reporting of a complete set of environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics, including making emission data visible and comparable, will be a key ingredient to help regulators make timely policy decisions, guide capital flows, and enable customers to make informed decisions.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/03/chinese-business-leapfrog-moment-esg-reporting/
China sets up nuclear safety committee to boost 2060 carbon neutral efforts
Committee will create ‘strict and high’ nuclear safety standard, government says Nuclear power generation capacity is set to increase, with nuclear having a role if China is to cut its carbon dioxide emissions
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3126984/china-sets-nuclear-safety-committee-boost-2060-carbon-neutral
podcast : China’s Recovery Less Uneven and Healthier: China Beige Book
Shehzad Qazi, managing director at China Beige Book International, discusses the company’s findings on China’s recovery and the outlook for the economy. He speaks on “Bloomberg Daybreak: Australia.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2021-03-25/china-s-recovery-less-uneven-and-healthier-china-beige-book-video
One step forward, two steps back What will the new normal look like for China?
In the short term, a successful COVID-19 response and recovery will allow China to temporarily strengthen its position, but in the long term, its problems aren’t going anywhere, Stephen R Nagy writes. As vaccinations spread and the COVID-19 pandemic is slowly brought under control, China seems to have been more resilient to the pandemic when compared to the West, at least superficially.
https://www.policyforum.net/one-step-forward-two-steps-back/
China squeezes Western brands as Xinjiang backlash builds
China on Thursday launched a PR war on Western brands critical of rights abuses against Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang, with celebrities severing ties to Nike and Adidas, H&M facing a boycott and Burberry dumped from a deal with a gaming giant.
https://news.yahoo.com/china-squeezes-western-brands-xinjiang-090944105.html
China says members of RCEP pact aim for deal to take effect from 2022
China is encouraging the early implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and members of the Asia-Pacific trade pact aim for it to take effect from Jan. 1, 2022, Wang Shouwen, China’s vice commerce minister, said on Thursday.
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/china-says-members-rcep-pact-052248435.html
China pushing for ‘early implementation’ of RCEP trade deal in January
A total of 15 Asia-Pacific economies and 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in November China ratified RCEP at the start of March, and the deal must be confirmed by at least six Asean countries and three non-Asean countries before it can come into effect
https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3126918/china-pushing-early-implementation-rcep-trade-deal-january
Europe’s Tightrope Diplomacy on China
The EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment was born in a complex political environment but now has renewed potential to warm economic relationships between the two powers. As U.S.-China tensions rise, the EU may have taken a different route into uncharted territory.
https://carnegieendowment.org/2021/03/24/europe-s-tightrope-diplomacy-on-china-pub-84159
China may just have doomed its trade deal with Europe
Marro said that the investment deal isn’t “dead on arrival” just yet. And several experts have pointed out that it’s in Beijing’s best interest to bolster economic ties: China is the European Union’s second biggest trading partner behind the United States, while the European Union is China’s largest trading partner, according to the European Commission. “The biggest risk to the [investment deal] is not Beijing pulling out, but unleashing an aggressive response that undercuts European support for the pact,” wrote analysts at Eurasia Group in a research note published late last week. Some influential voices in China appear to understand that, too. Hu Xijin, the editor of the state-run tabloid the Global Times, played up the “symbolic” nature of the sanctions Tuesday on his Weibo account. “Please note that the mutual sanctions didn’t touch trade and the economy, so it’s mainly just a verbal fight,” Hu wrote on the Chinese social media platform. “The essence of China and the West’s relations are business. That’s the real interest.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/03/24/economy/china-eu-investment-deal-sanctions-intl-hnk/index.html
As Xinjiang cotton row rages, European firms ‘caught between rock and hard place’
EU Chamber of Commerce in China says its members are facing an increasingly politicised business environment Firms face backlash if they are perceived to be saying something that is ‘anti-China’, it says
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3127025/xinjiang-cotton-row-rages-european-firms-caught-between-rock
Beijing unleashes netizens on H&M over boycott of slave labour
H&M is a member of the chamber, which said it would not talk directly about the Swedish retailer’s case but said European companies were “caught between a rock and a hard place”. “On the one side, public opinion in Europe is demanding that companies demonstrate clear and transparent corporate social responsibility principles. On the other, they are potentially subjected to public backlash in China if, through demonstrating that they are acting responsibly and that their supply chains are beyond reproach, they are perceived to be saying something that is ‘anti-China’, ” it said.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/beijing-unleashes-netizens-on-hm-over-boycott-of-slave-labour/news-story/108b1879d1e105957242b34af09ad741
EU-China deal on the rocks as sanctions shake support in European Parliament
Three of Europe’s top four parties have already said they will not ratify, and a lively discussion is taking place in the fourth Deal now faces uphill struggle to be ratified in 2022, with critics saying China misjudged the mood in Brussels
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/eu-china-deal-rocks-sanctions-155949486.html
US-EU announce dialogue on China; Nato pledges to work with Japan, other Asia-Pacific nations to counter Beijing
New transatlantic dialogue needed to deal with China as ‘partner’, ‘competitor’ and ‘rival’, Josep Borrell of the EU says after meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg discusses plan to build ties with ‘like-minded democracies’ in Asia-Pacific The deal requires ratification by the European Parliament—a process slated to begin next year—before it can be signed into effect. “Generally as long as our elected officials are sanctioned by a third state, we can’t pursue any agreement with said state,” said one source familiar with internal dynamics. EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis had previously been quoted by the Financial Times saying that “the ratification process cannot be separated from the evolving dynamics of the wider EU-China relationship”.
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/us-eu-announce-dialogue-china-175035403.html
TARIFFS: WHY BIDEN HAS LEFT TRUMP’S CHINA TAXES IN PLACE
“China is simultaneously a rival, a trade partner, and an outsized player whose cooperation we’ll also need to address certain global challenges,” Katherine Tai, now Biden’s US trade representative, said at her Senate confirmation hearing.
https://shepherdgazette.com/tariffs-why-biden-has-left-trumps-china-taxes-in-place/
Commentary: On China, Biden risks being boxed in by his predecessor’s combative approach
Trapped in the politics of America’s bipartisan groundswell of anti-China sentiment, Biden’s team appears to be staying the course set by the Trump administration, says Stephen S Roach.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/commentary/us-china-trade-war-biden-xi-alaska-meeting-phase-one-deficit-ip-14478628
US-China relations: why Joe Biden should go back to basics
Both sides should focus on the economic and trade issues that have long anchored the US-China relationship and work towards a bilateral investment treaty That doesn’t mean dismissing other tough issues, such as human rights, but re-establishing common ground and mutual trust before expanding the agenda
https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3126746/us-china-relations-why-biden-should-go-back-basics
Is China a threat to world order? Two analysts explain
Russel hails US ‘position of strength,’ Odell says ‘dangerous to oversimplify’ Historians may look back at the U.S.-China meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, last week as a pivotal moment in geopolitics — when a rising power and a ruling power sat across the table and debated whose view of international order was right. There are many examples in the history of the U.S.-China relationship where we had a very serious disagreement on one set of issues but we were able to cooperate on another issue. For example, when I was in government, the U.S. sold $11 billion in arms to Taiwan, and negotiated successfully the U.S.-China Climate Agreement. With skill and good diplomacy, we know that it can be done. It has been done in the past. Today, however, it may be much more difficult. China is stronger. China is more confident. China is richer. China has more global influence. And China’s leader is a much more aggressive leader. And, the U.S. is in a weaker position, today, than it was five years ago. I’m not saying that it’s easy but I am saying that it’s possible.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Editor-s-Picks/Interview/Is-China-a-threat-to-world-order-Two-analysts-explain
As US puts heat on China, Japan under pressure to side with Taiwan
Japan’s long-held ambiguity towards Taiwan has enabled it to keep official ties with Beijing, while staying in favour with Taipei US pressure, concerns over Beijing’s perceived aggression and a shared history with its island neighbour mean Japan may need to make its position clear
https://www.msn.com/en-xl/news/other/as-us-puts-heat-on-china-japan-under-pressure-to-side-with-taiwan/ar-BB1eVTmg
Can China impose military force against Taiwan?
US military commanders have warned about the imminent threat of Beijing trying to recover control over the democratic island. But some experts say greater danger lies with China’s inconspicuous “gray zone tactics.”
https://www.dw.com/en/can-china-impose-military-force-against-taiwan/a-56988658
Behind the drama in Alaska, US-China relations are really the same old story
The latest high-level meeting had plenty of drama, but the plot is growing stale. Neither side’s opening position has changed much in the past decade From China’s perspective, unless the US treats it with ‘respect’, relations won’t get much better
https://www.msn.com/en-xl/news/other/behind-the-drama-in-alaska-us-china-relations-are-really-the-same-old-story/ar-BB1eVGRn
As China faces sanctions from the West, it looks to the Middle East for alliance and influence
Foreign Minister Wang Yi thanks Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for Saudi support on Xinjiang and Hong Kong Beijing’s relationship with Riyadh may be complicated by its close ties with Iran
https://www.msn.com/en-xl/news/other/as-china-faces-sanctions-from-the-west-it-looks-to-the-middle-east-for-alliance-and-influence/ar-BB1eXcGd
A clear mantra for US defence strategy
Holding the line on deterrence requires clear red lines, supported by ready and credible forces. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin may wish to adopt the prior administration’s guidance of denying China dominance inside the ‘first island chain’ in a conflict, defending the first-island-chain nations, including Taiwan, and dominating all domains outside the first island-chain. Admiral Phil Davidson, Commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, called for spending more than $US27 billion over the next several years as part of a Pacific Deterrence Initiative to enhance defense, resilience and readiness for defending the first two island chains. But there is an obvious tension between a US ability to protect regional actors and China’s desire to prevent interference in its neighborhood. Secretary Austin’s team will seek to offset US military capabilities with bilateral dialogue, including the frank discussions in Achorage, Alaska. There will also be a need for risk-reduction and confidence-building measures with Beijing, the aim now is to build positions of strength while getting Washington’s house in order. Xi is similarly focused on his domestic agenda with this year’s centenary of the CCP, hosting the Winter Olympics and the 2020 party congress. Over time the Biden administration will seek to leverage its strength at home and strong alliances for more stable relations with China. Before being tapped as Deputy Secretary of Defense, Kathleen Hicks wrote that the way to compete with China’s military–civil fusion strategy was not through disruption, but instead through boosting US efforts in tandem with allies and partners. Similarly, as the Biden administration’s defence strategy seeks to turn the page on the past four years, its mantra is clear — less confrontation, more cooperation.
https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2021/03/25/a-clear-mantra-for-us-defence-strategy/?
Will China weaponise its rare earth edge?
In January 2021, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology discussed the possibility of restricting rare earth mineral exports to the United States, marking yet another salvo in the increasing technological competition between the two countries. While it remains unlikely that China will place strict trade restrictions on the United States for rare earths or other critical minerals, China will almost certainly continue to strategically use its comparative advantage to promote broader industrial policy goals. But in any case, China is unlikely to weaponise its rare earth trade policy so bluntly. The case of Japan is again informative. Japan acted quickly in diversifying its supply chain through a combination of diplomacy with countries that had domestic supplies of rare earths, overseas joint ventures, encouraging recycling and alternatives and private trading companies securing non-Chinese sources, reducing its dependence by almost thirty per cent. While the United States has been slower to respond, Chinese policymakers must know that using their rare earth supply as a trade threat would inflict a limited and short-term sting, and that China’s monopoly will not easily return once lost.
On the other hand, Chinese rare earth industrial policy — the strategic use of differential price controls, export quotas and investments in expertise — has been highly successful at attracting inward investment and at keeping investment in downstream rare earth technologies in China. These are precisely the kinds of industries and technologies pursued in President Xi Jinping’s Made in China 2025 plan and global economic leadership. The long-term advantages of the status quo in rare earths far outweigh the short-term benefits of using coercion in the US–China technology race.
https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2021/03/25/will-china-weaponise-its-rare-earth-edge/
Could China’s population crisis be reaching a point of no return?
China’s rapidly declining fertility reflects the legacy of family planning policies, which had caused the birth rate to plummet well below replacement level by the 1990s If it is to sustain its economic dynamism, it must expand its labour force by raising the retirement age and encouraging families to have more children
https://www.msn.com/en-xl/news/other/could-china-s-population-crisis-be-reaching-a-point-of-no-return/ar-BB1eVWE8
Xi Jinping points to China’s cultural past to shape country’s future
Xi returns to his political roots in first trip since the national legislature passed the latest five-year plan As Beijing comes under pressure from the West, president seeks to project image of calm, observer says
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3127017/xi-jinping-points-chinas-cultural-past-shape-countrys-future
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