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People’s Daily: Chinese Manufacturing PMI Declined in February

People’s Daily recently reported that, according to data jointly released by the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, China’s February manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) was 49.1 percent, down 0.1 percentage points from the previous month.

“The manufacturing industry was in the traditional off-season in February. In addition, the easing of COVID-19 controls means that more employees are returning home for the holidays than in previous years. This has greatly affected the production and operation of [Chinese] companies. The overall activity of the manufacturing industry has declined.”

The production sub-index of the PMI was 49.8 percent, down 1.5 percent from the previous month, reflecting a deceleration of corporate production activities; the new orders sub-index was 49.0 percent, remaining the same as in January. The PMI of large enterprises remained above the critical point, at 50.4 percent, the same reading as the previous month. The PMI for medium-sized enterprises was 49.1 percent, an increase of 0.2 points from the previous month. The small business PMI was 46.4 percent, a decrease of 0.8 percentage points from January. The high-tech manufacturing PMI was 50.8 percent, down 0.3 percentage points from January. The PMIs for equipment manufacturing and producers of consumer goods were 49.5 percent and 50.0 percent, respectively, down 0.6 and 0.1 percentage points from the previous month.

Source: People’s Daily, March 2, 2024
http://finance.people.com.cn/n1/2024/0302/c1004-40187337.html

Sina: US-led “Shared Principles on 6G” Aims to Curb China’s 6G Development

Well-known Chinese news site Sina (NASDQ: SINA) recently published an article commenting on a “Joint Statement Endorsing Principles for 6G” that was jointly released by the United States as well as nine other countries. The article stated that “this US-led effort is obviously aimed at curbing China’s 6G development.”

The Sina article quoted sources saying “this move is intended to compete for dominance of the 6G standard.” The article also stated that “China has an extremely large user base, and Chinese technology companies such as Huawei have their own independent 6G strategies. … China has established a 6G promotion group in 2019 to systematically promote various tasks such as demand, technology, standards and international cooperation. The group also launched 6G technology trials.”

The ten countries party to the statement include the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Japan, South Korea and Sweden. A copy of the statement released by the White House on February 26 enumerated six “shared principles” to be fulfilled by 6G networks: “Trusted Technology that is Protective of National Security”, “Secure, Resilient, and Protective of Privacy”, “Global Industry-led and Inclusive Standard Setting & International Collaborations”, “Cooperation to Enable Open and Interoperable Innovation”, “Affordability, Sustainability, and Global Connectivity”, and “Spectrum and Manufacturing.”

Sources:
Sina, February 28, 2024
https://news.sina.com.cn/c/2024-02-28/doc-inakqwnf2276916.shtml

The White House, “Joint Statement Endorsing Principles for 6G: Secure, Open, and Resilient by Design.”
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/02/26/joint-statement-endorsing-principles-for-6g-secure-open-and-resilient-by-design/

Global Times: South Korea’s EV Subsidy Plan Unfavorable to Chinese Companies

Global Times, a tabloid under the Chinese Communist Party’s flagship People’s Daily newspaper, recently reported that the South Korean Ministry of the Environment has updated its electric vehicle (EV) purchase subsidy plan for 2024. According to the article, certain vehicles will be disadvantaged by the new subsidy plan, including:

  • vehicles equipped with lithium iron phosphate batteries (the main product of Chinese battery companies), and
  • cars built by foreign companies that are not able to set up direct after-sales service centers throughout South Korea.

The new subsidy plan introduces a “battery environmental protection factor” aiming to account for the “waste battery recycling value” in the subsidy. According to this new standard, electric vehicles equipped with lithium iron phosphate batteries will be subsidized less on the grounds that such batteries contain less valuable recyclable metals. Subsidies for Korean consumers purchasing EVs equipped with Chinese batteries will shrink by up to 40 percent.

“Some have said that this move is the South Korean government’s response to the rapid increase in the domestic supply of electric vehicles equipped with Chinese batteries.” One commentator said that “the new policy is to align with foreign policies such as the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, which is detrimental to Chinese battery companies to a certain extent.” According to Yonhap News Agency, “about 96.4 percent of South Korea’s EV battery imports currently come from China.”

Source: Global Times, February 7, 2024
https://m.huanqiu.com/article/4GUtT6ffRr9

Lianhe Zaobao: U.S. Consul General Says Hong Kong Internet Censorship Tightening

Singapore’s primary Chinese-language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao recently reported that Gregory May, the U.S. Consul General in Hong Kong, said Hong Kong’s Internet censorship is “tightening and is becoming more like that in Mainland China.”

Connectivity and data security concerns in Hong Kong have reached a level that prompted some U.S. business executives to use disposable phones and laptops when visiting the city. Gregory May said that Hong Kong “began to go downhill and tried to delete certain content from the Internet or block certain websites.”

He called for Hong Kong to stop restricting freedoms, and he expressed the belief that Hong Kong could effectively improve its reputation by releasing of people facing prison for political speech incidents, e.g. Next Media founder Jimmy Lai. He also said that “Hong Kong still has significant business advantages — as long as the Hong Kong government abides by its commitment in the Sino-British Joint Declaration to maintain a high degree of autonomy and remain unchanged for 50 years, relations between Hong Kong and the United States may improve.”

Source: Lianhe Zaobao, March 1, 2024
https://www.kzaobao.com/bolg/20240301/157420.html

CNA: China’s Parenting Costs Near Highest in the World

The cost of raising a child to age 18 in China is 6.3 times greater than China’s per-capita GDP, according to a recent report by primary Taiwanese news agency Central News Agency (CNA). By comparison, the cost of raising a Child in Australia is only 2.08 times Australia’s per-capita GDP. The costs in France, Sweden, Germany, the United States and Japan were (respectively) 2.24 times, 2.91 times, 3.64 times, 4.11 times, and 4.26 times each country’s per-capita GDP.

The CNA article cited the “China Childbirth Cost Report, 2024 Edition,” published by Chinese think tank Yuwa Population Research. Yuwa specializes in population and related public policy issues. The Report said that the cost of parenting is one of the most important factors affecting families’ willingness to have children. According to a 2017 survey by China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission, the top three reasons why women of childbearing age abstain from having children are: heavy financial burden (77.4 percent), age (45.6 percent), and lack of a caretaker for the child (33.2 percent).

China’s population shrunk in 2023 for the second consecutive year after peaking in 2021. The number of Chinese newborns in 2023 has dropped to about half of the level seen in 2016.

Source: CNA, February 21, 2024
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202402210348.aspx

Xinhua: National Data Administration Launches Survey on Data Resources

A recent Xinhua article reported that, according to China’s National Data Administration (NDA), China has launched a “national data resources survey.” This nationwide survey will investigate the generation, storage, circulation, exchange, development, utilization, and security of China’s data resources. Its goal is to “implement the NDA’s ‘Overall Plan for the Construction of Digital China,’ assess China’s baseline of data resources, accelerate the utilization of data resources, and better leverage the value of the data element.” The survey will be jointly conducted by the NDA, the Office of the Central Cybersecurity and Information Technology Commission, the Ministry of Industry & Information Technology, and the Ministry of Public Security.

The survey targets the following organizations: provincial data management agencies, industry and information technology departments, public security departments (bureaus), provincial key data collection and storage equipment vendors, consumer Internet platform and industrial Internet platform companies, big data and artificial intelligence technology companies, application companies, data exchanges, central-government-owned enterprises, industry associations, chambers of commerce as well as the National Information Center.

Source: Xinhua, February 21, 2024
http://www.xinhuanet.com/20240221/3e499e3361d947619b117cfc4b9c9a9b/c.html

Mingpao: China’s 2023 Foreign Direct Investment Hit 30-Year Low

Mingpao, one of the primary Hong Kong newspapers, recently ran a report on data released by China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange. According to the released data, China’s “Direct Investment Liabilities” in its international balance of payment table rose by just US$33 billion in 2023. This represents a decrease of 82 percent from 2022, marking the lowest level of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in  China since 1993.

According to data from the Japanese government, net new investment by Japanese companies in China last year was the lowest in at least 10 years, and was lower than the funds flowing from Japan into Vietnam or India. Taiwanese government data showed that new investment by Taiwanese companies in Mainland China last year also reached the lowest level since 2001, with new investment reaching a year-over-year decrease of 39.8 percent. New foreign investment by Korean companies in China in the first nine months of 2023 also dropped 91 percent compared with 2022, falling to the lowest level since 2002. However, German companies’ direct investment in Mainland China hit record high last year.

Advanced economies across the globe have raised interest rates even as China has been cutting rates to stimulate its economy. Thus international companies are increasingly incentivized to store their cash overseas, outside of China, where they can earn more interest.

Source: Mingpao, February 20, 2024
http://tinyurl.com/3xx4p6r2

UDN: North Korea’s Kim Yo-Jong Unofficially Wants to Invite Japanese Prime Minister to Visit

United Daily News (UDN), one of the primary Taiwanese news groups, reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s sister Kim Yo-jong recently made an unusual comment, saying that North Korea is open to improving relations with Japan. She hinted that North Korea may invite the Japanese leader to visit Pyongyang in the future. The remarks came in response to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida saying not long ago that there has been a strong need to change the current relationship between the two countries.

North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency reported that Kim Yo Jong said that, as long as Japan abandons its bad habit of criticizing North Korea’s exercise of legitimate defense rights and stops talking about the “already resolved” issue of Japanese abductions by North Korea, the two countries can work together. However, Kim Yo Jong emphasized that this was just her personal opinion (rather than an statement from the North Korean government).

In January, Kim Jong-un sent a rare telegram to Kishida expressing condolences after the Noto earthquake in Japan. Analysts say it may be that North Korea is signaling desire for improved relations with Japan.

The Japanese government has been analyzing the content of Kim Yo Jong’s statements and has declined to comment for the time being.

The senior official for North Korea affairs at the U.S. State Department said that the U.S. supports all diplomacy and dialogue between Japan and North Korea. An official from South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that communications between Japan and North Korea should be conducive to denuclearization of North Korea as well as to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

Source: UDN, February 17, 2024
https://udn.com/news/story/6809/7774277