Day: August 28, 2023

Chinese Efforts to Boost Domestic Stock Market Sputter

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The Chinese government over the weekend launched an effort to shore up the country’s troubled stock market, putting in place various measures to encourage investment. As of Monday, those measures appeared to have had only a modest impact. After opening more than 5% higher Monday than it had been at the end of trading the previous week, an index that tracks the share prices of 300 of the country’s largest companies lost most of those gains before the end of the day. It closed up just 1.2% at the end…

Even outside of China, many Uyghurs find that they are not safe

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Facing surveillance, internment and repression at home, thousands of China’s Uyghur population have fled abroad. But even outside of China, many find that they are not safe. VOA examines how the Chinese government uses diplomacy, economic pressure and even international institutions to extend its reach and pursue political enemies far beyond its borders. Voice of America

China region offers cash ‘rewards’ for newlyweds if bride is under 25

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A county in eastern China is offering couples a “reward” of 1,000 yuan ($137) if the bride is aged 25 or younger, the latest in a series of measures to incentivise young people to get married amid rising concern over a declining national birthrate. The notice, which was published on Changshan county’s official WeChat account last week, said the reward was to promote “age-appropriate marriage and childbearing” for first marriages. It also included a series of childcare, fertility and education subsidies for couples who have children. Concerned about China’s first…

Hong Kong: Cantonese language group shuts down after targeting by national security police

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A group that promotes the Cantonese language shut down on Monday after Hong Kong authorities said a fictional essay depicting a decline in liberties in the city on the group’s website violated the national security law, in the latest example of the city’s erosion of freedom of expression. Andrew Chan, chair of the Societas Linguistica Hongkongensis, said in a Facebook post that national security officers visited a home where some of his family members live last week when he was out of town. The officers, who did not have a…

Can China arrest the renminbi’s slide?

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Receive free Renminbi updates We’ll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest Renminbi news every morning. China’s renminbi is flirting with its lowest level against the dollar since the 2008 financial crisis and analysts expect its strength to be further tested in the coming weeks as the country’s rebound from the pandemic splutters. The currency has dropped more than 5 per cent against the dollar this year, touching Rmb7.29 to the greenback and just shy of the high of Rmb7.32 hit last year, which marked the…

China’s shoppers hesitate to spend big in face of deflation

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China’s shoppers hesitant to spend big in face of deflation

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What is included in my trial? During your trial you will have complete digital access to FT.com with everything in both of our Standard Digital and Premium Digital packages. Standard Digital includes access to a wealth of global news, analysis and expert opinion. Premium Digital includes access to our premier business column, Lex, as well as 15 curated newsletters covering key business themes with original, in-depth reporting. For a full comparison of Standard and Premium Digital, click here. Change the plan you will roll onto at any time during your…

Expanded Brics can help Africa deepen its ties with China and Asia

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Among the six countries invited last week to join the Brics bloc are the African countries of Egypt and Ethiopia. Joining the grouping will not only allow Cairo and Addis Ababa to sell their products to the other members of bloc more easily but also contribute to the establishment of a just international economic system. An expanded bloc, along with the potential use of a common currency in trading among the Brics countries, will help in countering US unilateralism. This, as Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said, will help “raise…

China coal power spree continues at frantic pace with 300+ plants in pipeline despite 2030 carbon pledge, research says

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China this year has continued a coal spree that started in the summer of 2022, approving more permits for new coal plants, commissioning newly built plants and even bringing long-dormant plants back online despite the approaching 2030 deadline for the nation to reach peak carbon emissions, according to new research. The country approved permits for 52 gigawatts (GW) of new coal power capacity in the first half of 2023, maintaining the previous pace of approving two plants per week, according to a report published by Global Energy Monitor (GEM) and…

China population: cash reward for couples if bride is 25 or younger in latest effort to boost marriages, births

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A county in one of China’s wealthiest provinces has announced a cash reward for couples if the bride is 25 or younger – a first for China as it scrambles for new and efficient ways to incentivise births against an intensifying demographic crisis. Changshan county in the western Zhejiang province announced last week that newlyweds will receive 1,000 yuan (US$138) in cash if the bride is aged 25 or younger. In China, the legal marriage age is 22 for men and 20 for women. The move is in stark contrast…