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In August, China Suffered its Biggest Monthly Decline in Chip Production

According to data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on September 16, 2022, China’s integrated circuits (ICs) production in August 2022 was down by 24.7 percent year on year to 24.7 billion units. It is the largest monthly decrease since 1997 when NBS started collecting data. For the first eight months of 2022, China’s total semiconductor output fell by10 percent year on year to 218.1 billion units.

According to statistics from the business database platform Qichacha, a record 3,470 companies in the semiconductor business went out of business in the first eight months of the year. Analysts attributed it to China’s zero-COVID-19 policy and sluggish consumer demand. Chinese semiconductor companies cannot hold on and have eventually withdrawn from the semiconductor business one after another.

According to the NBS, in August,the  production of microcomputers dropped by18.6 percent to 317.5 billion units, marking the largest drop since December 2015,  The microcomputer category includes personal computers, smartphones, video game consoles, and other handheld electronic devices.

Sources:

China’s National Bureau of Statistics, September 16, 2022
http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/zxfb/202209/t20220916_1888302.html

Sina.com, September 14, 2022
https://finance.sina.com.cn/tech/it/2022-09-14/doc-imqqsmrn9012387.shtml

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

China Imposes New Restrictions on Live-Stream e-Commerce

Recently, China’s State Administration of Radio and Television and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism jointly issued a “Code of Conduct for Live-Stream Online Hosts.”

The purpose of the 18-article regulation was to curb the spread of perceived opposition to the CCP in online e-commerce, such as was shown by Li Jiaqi, a top e-commerce live streamer, two weeks before the regulation. In the evening on June 3, Li and his co-host were presented on TV before the audience with a plate of the British brand Wall’s layered ice cream. The ice cream was garnished with a chocolate ball and a chocolate stick on top. The show ended abruptly. The CCP authorities believed that it resembled the shape of a tank.

On the evening of June 4, 1989, the CCP leaders sent military tanks and heavily armed troops to Beijing’s Tiananmen Square and cracked down on student protesters who were demanding democracy and greater freedom. According to a recently declassified secret cable written on June 5, 1989, by Sir Alan Donald, the then-British ambassador to China, the death toll was 10,000. The CCP had announced a death roll of 241. The “Tank Man” picture showing a young man standing in front of Chinese military tanks trying to stop the tanks at Tiananmen Square in Beijing in 1989  has become the worldwide monumental symbol of the June 4 massacre. As a result of the vigilant efforts of the CCP to censor any references to the killings, most young Chinese, especially those born after the massacre, have little knowledge of the killings.

The 18-article regulation prohibits 31 behaviors in the live stream audio-visual programs.

Online live streamers must be politically correct. They must have a correct perspective of the world, life, and values. They must be “actively practicing the Core Socialist Values.”

Of the prohibitions, Article 14 Section 3 prohibits “publishing content that weakens, distorts or denies the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the socialist system, or economic reform and opening up.”

Under Article 17, online accounts shall be closed for those with serious issues or repeated problems who do not change their ways. “Their names shall be entered onto a ‘blacklist’ or ‘warning list’ and shall not be permitted to resume broadcasts through methods such as changing account names or platforms.”

Source: China National Radio and Television Administration, June 22, 2022                                                                                                                                                                    http://www.nrta.gov.cn/art/2022/6/22/art_3730_60758.html

China Ministry of Culture and Tourism, June 22, 2022                                                                                                                                                                                                              http://zwgk.mct.gov.cn/zfxxgkml/qt/202206/t20220622_934011.html

 

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Zero-Covid Policy – No Sign of Changing Course

As more cities in China brace for a possible lockdown, the Chinese Communist leadership shows no sign of changing the course of its zero-COVID policy.

On May 6, the CCP in Shanghai held a mobilization meeting to, “Resolutely Win the Great Shanghai Defense War.” The CCP Shanghai Secretary Li Qiang asked “military orders to be issued at every level.” Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng requested that every building, street and door must be checked in Pudong New District, Xuhui District, and Minhang District so that not one household is missed. The Mayor of Pudong New Area ordered that “even if one is smashed, he must complete the task.” Experts believe that this move was driven by political considerations and has no bearing on public health.

On May 7, CCP Shanghai Secretary Li Qiang inspected Jiading District. He reiterated the rhetoric. “The top priority is to reduce new cases and prevent rebound.” He called on people to “grit their teeth, stick it out, and resolutely win the battle of Shanghai’s defense.”

On the same day, the Xuhui District issued an emergency notice. From May 1 through 15, all residents must stay at home except for going out to have COVID testing. The community will stop accepting group purchases and express delivery. If a resident has placed an order, he must cancel or postpone the delivery time until after May 15. In addition, the authorities will suspend food distribution for those who do not participate in the COVID testing of them. The neighborhood committee will no longer issue exit permits to anyone to leave the community.

Earlier, a neighborhood committee in Pudong District issued a notice stating that it had received an order from above that if one has tested positive, all the residents on the entire floor would become “positive contacts” and “all the residents above and below the floor where the positive case occurs will be transferred and quarantined.”

Source: Epoch Times, May 8, 2022

https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/22/5/8/n13729974.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics Social Stability

Sharp Drop in Travel during China’s Qingming Festival Due to Covid-19 Flare-up

A recent COVID-19 flare-up and the authorities’ lockdown policy have depressed travel and tourism during the Qingming Festival from April 2 to 4. The Qingming Festival, also called Tomb Sweeping Day in China, is a time to remember and pay respect to ancestors.

 

According to China’s Ministry of Transportation, on April 5, 53.781 million traveled by railway, highway, waterway, and air combined during the Qingming Festival holiday, a sharp drop of 62.7 percent compared year on year with 2021.

 

Among those who traveled, those who  chose to use the railways fell by 83.7 percent compared with the same period in 2021. Travel by highways declined by 53.2 percent; trips via waterways were down by 77.0 percent, and air travel was down by 87.0 percent.

 

According to China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism data center, 75.419 million domestic trips took place across the country during the three-day festival, a year-on-year decrease of 26.2 percent. Domestic tourism revenue was estimated to be around 18.78 billion yuan, a decline of 30.9 percent, year on year.

 

Sources: 

Jiamian, April 6, 2022

https://www.jiemian.com/article/7298725.html

China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, April 6, 2022

http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2022-04/06/content_5683589.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Transitioning from Forced Abortions to Forced Births?

As China’s population crisis worsens, the Communist regime announced that it will intervene in the area of abortions among unmarried people.

The China Family Planning Association under the Chinese Communist Party of China released a directive titled, “China Family Planning Association’s Priorities for 2022.” It requires the development of special actions for abortion intervention among unmarried people to reduce unintended pregnancies and abortions among adolescents. In the past, the family planning agency enforced the one-child policy by forcing abortions.

According to media reports, the number of China’s annual abortions has hovered around 9.5 million over the past five years. This number came from an article published in 2021 in the Chinese Journal of Practical Gynecology and Obstetrics.

Separately, the Institute of Science and Technology under China’s National Health Commission conducted a survey in 2021 of 39,820 women who had abortions. Women under 25 who had abortions accounted for 47.5 percent. Other studies have shown that women under 20 who have abortions are becoming a significant portion  of those women who have abortions.

This comes as China is facing a demographic crisis after its birthrate has fallen for the fifth consecutive year.  Fewer babies were born in 2021 than during the Great Famine between 1959 and 1961. Beijing has directed governments at all levels to find ways to stop the population problem from worsening. The priorities issued by the China Family Planning Association have sparked concerns that women may be forced to give birth. It is estimated that there were 400 to 600 million abortions during the one-child policy between 1980 and 2015.

Sources:
1.) The China Family Planning Association, January 28, 2022
https://www.chinafpa.org.cn/tzgg/202201/t20220128_45623.html

2.)The Paper, February 9, 2022
https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_16629651

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics Social Stability

Facing the Real World: China’s Law Professor Was Censored

Within less than two hours of posting, China’s social media WeChat removed a 6000-word post by Lao Dongyan, a law professor at “China’s MIT,” Qinghua University. The title of the posting was, “Facing the Real World.” In 2016, Lao was awarded as The Most Influential Young Scholar in China in the area of the Humanities and Social Sciences. In the posting, Lao reviewed 2021 and looked forward to 2022. She did not mention the CCP leaders.

What did she say that led to the ban?

Lao stated, “In a society full of ‘positive energy’ discourse, the sense of uneasiness spreads like a tidal wave throughout society. The pursuit of freedom is often the subject of ridicule. People are increasingly indifferent to, or they even welcome, the increasing concentration of power and the stepping up of various kinds of control in the name of security, and the tightened rule over society using the technology of big data tracking.”

She continued, “Nearly all the catastrophes of the 20th century were caused by institutional evil. The darkness of human nature compounded by an evil system has repeatedly led to unimaginable tragedies.”  “Be prepared to be interviewed if you publish a diary documenting your daily life under the epidemic. If you show solidarity with a colleague who was expelled for his classroom speech, you may even face the experience of ‘being mentally ill.’”

Lao wrote that her “original intention to promote the rule of law in China has turned out to be pure wishful thinking.” She noted that today the theoretical vision of the rule of law and the actual practice of the rule of law are increasingly running in opposite directions. “What is even more absurd about this is that many of those who have been put in chains are not only not angry about losing their freedoms but they are actually quite comfortable with it. They are like frogs being boiled in increasingly warm water.” “It can be said that many people, including myself, choose just to bear it and retreat, thereby enabling evil people to continue to do evil with impunity. In a sense, we are responsible by our passive inaction and for the deterioration of our environment since we choose to tolerate it and even beat a retreat in the face of it.”

Finally, facing the real world, Lao concluded with a quote from J.K. Rowling’s commencement address at Harvard University. “If you choose to use your status and influence to raise your voice on behalf of those who have no voice; if you choose to identify not only with the powerful, but with the powerless; if you retain the ability to imagine yourself being in the lives of those who do not have your advantages, then it will not only be your proud families who celebrate your existence, but thousands and millions of people whose reality you have helped change.’ In my opinion, this is the real ‘positive energy.’ May you and I have such ‘positive energy.’”

Source: China Digital Times, January 29, 2022

【404文库】劳燕东飞｜直面真实的世界

Full text of English translation, https://gaodawei.wordpress.com/2022/01/29/2022-chinese-law-profs-lament-and-encouragement/

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

China’s Residential Foreclosures Are Spiking

Chinascope recently reported that 200,000 people in China stopped making their mortgage payments (See:  http://chinascope.org/archives/28823).  On January 14, 2022, Professor Han Fuling from the School of Finance of the Central University of Finance and Economics posted on Weibo, “At the beginning of 2022, the four major banks sued 200,000 owners for defaulting on their mortgages.” Weibo has since removed the posting.  The four major banks are the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the Agricultural Bank of China, the Bank of China, and the Construction Bank.

Since the beginning of 2022, there has been more news about defaults and foreclosures of residential houses in China.

All Foreclosure Auctions are well-known online auction platforms in China.  As of January 30, 2022, 1.72 million court-ordered foreclosures of residential houses were placed on the auction list.

In 2017, the number of foreclosure houses was 9,000; in 2018 it was 20,000; in 2019, 500,000; in 2020, more than 1.2 million. As of mid-December 2021, foreclosure houses in China hit a record high at over 1.68 million.

Among them, Jiangsu Province ranked first with 209,900 units, Zhejiang ranked second with 179,300 units, and Henan, Guangdong, and Shandong ranked third, fourth, and fifth.

While these are cumulative numbers, not net annual increases, an unprecedented spike is happening in foreclosures of residential houses.

Source: Xinhua Daily Media Group, January 17, 2022

http://www.xhby.net/fc/xwzx/202201/t20220117_7388962.shtml

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

China’s Population Sees the Slowest Growth in Decades

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the total population in mainland China, excluding foreigners, was 1.41 billion people as of the end of 2021, an increase of 480,000 people compared to 2020.

There were 10.62 million newborns and 10.14 million deaths. The natural population growth rate was therefore 0.034 percent for 2021.

Analysts in China observed that the number of newborns in China in 2021 was the lowest since 1949, and the birth rate was the lowest on record.

A moderate forecast for the future trend of China’s population assumes China spends 1 to 3 percent of its annual GDP on incentivizing women to have more children, which is the average spending rate of developed countries. In that case, China’s newborns will drop to below 10 million in the next two or three years, down to 773,000 in 2050 and 306,000 in 2100. Currently, China’s newborns are half that of India. The rate will be one-third of India’s by 2050 and less than one-quarter of India’s by 2100. According to this moderate forecast, China’s newborns will be overtaken by the United States in 2083 and will be two-thirds of the United States in 2100. While China’s total population is more than four times that of the United States, the number of newborns will be overtaken by the United States in two generations, showing the population’s rapid depletion.

Sources:
China National Bureau of Statistics, January 17, 2022
http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/zxfb/202201/t20220117_1826404.html
iFeng.com, January 17, 2022
https://tech.ifeng.com/c/8CssztQSfpL
Caixin, December 14, 2021
https://opinion.caixin.com/2021-12-14/101817400.html

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources