“When Spring Festival coincides with a snowstorm: Residents could not leave the city of Wuhan three years ago [because of the Covid-19 outbreak]. Now, three years later, we can’t get into it,” according to a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. The X user posted a video showing a packed railway station which had lines of people stuck on escalators because it was too crowded for them to move. BBC
Amid the spate of economic policy announced in recent days and Beijing’s intervention to arrest a plummeting stock market, Chinese equities rebounded Tuesday and Wednesday, but the overall gloom may be far from over for the world’s second-largest economy. News broke on Tuesday that the “national team” – Beijing-charged fund managers – had stepped in to rescue the market as the country’s three major stock indexes continued to dive. In a statement Tuesday, Central Huijin Investment, a subsidiary of China’s sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp, said it endorsed the…
About a year after Bao Fan disappeared from public view, his boutique Chinese investment bank is shrinking and being circled by rivals. Almost a third of China Renaissance Holdings’ staff in Hong Kong, which includes investment banking, private equity and wealth management teams, have either resigned or lost their jobs, people familiar with the matter said. Li Yuan, who oversees the wealth business, is leaving the company. Including mainland China, about 100 staffers left the firm in the past year, one of the people said. At the same time, the…
The Shanghai government’s controversial ban on ride-hailing services at one of China’s busiest airports only lasted a week, but that was enough to spark doubts over the country’s commitment to finding growth momentum in a slowing economy. The Shanghai Road Administration Bureau announced on Sunday at midnight that pickup services booked through ride-hailing apps would resume at Pudong International Airport after a ban levied on January 29, adding the decision was made “after receiving feedback from the general public”. The airport was the second-busiest in China last year in terms…
WASHINGTON — China’s stock markets may have rallied on Tuesday, seeing the largest one-day gain in two years, but recent declines have left Chinese investors so angry that they have been flocking to an unlikely place to vent their frustration — the U.S. Embassy in Beijing’s account on the social media site Weibo. Up until Tuesday, Chinese markets had been pummeled for weeks as the world’s second-largest economy struggles under the weight of a range of problems from slow growth to high unemployment, a battered property sector, and reluctant foreign…
IDG Capital, a venture firm with offices in Beijing and Hong Kong, said it’s working to clear up “confusion” over its inclusion on a US Pentagon list of companies with ties to the Chinese military. The company was surprised to discover its name on the list and said that it had not been consulted ahead of time or asked for information. The firm plans to seek clarification and redress. “We are not a Chinese military company, nor do we have any association with the Chinese military, and we do not…
Since Myanmar’s coup three years ago, anti-junta forces claim to have shot down at least seven military fighter jets and helicopters – three in January alone – a serious blow to the military increasingly relying on its advantage in the air against underequipped rebel groups making gains on the ground. Radio Free Asia was unable to verify the shoot-downs, which rebels groups say were achieved mostly through small-arms fire. The military has said nothing about them. Nearly all the incidents occurred within the past year, and three since the start…
“The government’s pronatalist policies will have a limited effect. Married couples have cited high economic costs as a major reason for having fewer children, based on various market surveys,” the EIU report said. Meanwhile, China’s workforce is also shrinking, as its working-age population aged between 16-59 also fell from 875.56 million in 2022 to 864.81 million last year, which may lead to an acceleration of automation, as well as the postponement of the retirement age, the report said. “[But] the government [is expected] to postpone the retirement age only gradually…
Phnom Penh, Cambodia — Cambodia’s new prime minister, Hun Manet, has enjoyed warming relations with the Western world during his first six months in power, while simultaneously reaffirming Phnom Penh’s ties to Beijing and maintaining the hardline tactics of his father and predecessor, Hun Sen. That dichotomy has enraged human rights and democracy advocates who want the United States, Japan, European Union and other democratic donors to exert pressure on the new government to reform and reopen space for political freedom after what was essentially a one-party election in July.…
WASHINGTON — As Pyongyang continues to enhance its nuclear and missile programs while refusing to engage with Washington, analysts are divided on whether the U.S. should continue pursuing denuclearization or consider possible arms control options. North Korea has been escalating tensions in the region with missile launches and threats to occupy South Korea if war breaks out. Its latest launch came on Friday. The country test-fired what it called a new type of anti-aircraft missile and conducted “a cruise missile super-large warhead power test” off its west coast, according to…