Economy/Resources - 57. page

Ma Xiaowei, director of China’s National Health Commission, published an article in the latest issue of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) official Qiushi magazine that permanent Covid camps should be prepared and planned in advance, and provincial capitals and cities with a 10 million population should establish PCR test sites within a 15-minute walking distance. Ma also emphasized weekly Covid testing.

Ma wrote, “Practice has proven that the existing enhanced prevention and control measures can achieve the goal of ‘dynamic zero Covid.’ The vast majority of the transmission chain can be controlled within the latent period, or in an even shorter period of time.” As the Omicron strain of Covid-19 virus is highly contagious and there are many asymptomatic infections, Ma suggested “the lockdown and quarantine be more resolute.”

Earlier, the Chinese government stated that it would require local provincial governments to build or renovate a certain number of camps to collect Covid patients.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), May 16, 2022
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202205160149.aspx

Project 985 was a project that was announced by the Chinese government at the 100th anniversary of Peking University on May 4, 1998, to promote the development and reputation of the Chinese higher education system by founding world-class universities in the 21st century. The name derives from the date of the announcement, May 1998, or 98/5 according to the Chinese date format. The project involves both national and local governments allocating large amounts of funding to certain universities in order to build new research centers, improve facilities, hold international conferences, attract world-renowned faculty and visiting scholars, and help Chinese faculty attend conferences abroad.

As of today, 39 universities are members of Project 985. They are regarded as the tier 1 universities in China out of 3,012 higher education institutions as of 2021.

Recently, a number of project 985 universities announced that they have withdrawn from the international ranking of universities and will not provide relevant materials and proof to the relevant authorities in the future. They include Renmin University of China, Nanjing University, Hubei University, and Lanzhou University.

Source: Sohu, May 9, 2022
https://www.sohu.com/a/545313475_120935730

Radio France Internationale (RFI) Chinese Edition recently reported that China announced not long ago that it would remove tariffs on its coal imports. As the world’s most populous country, China pledged in 2020 to start reducing carbon emissions by 2030. However, 56 percent of its energy consumption is still based on coal, which has been considered to be an energy source particularly harmful to the climate. In the announcement of China’s General Administration of Customs, the removal of import duties on coal lasts from May 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023. China currently imposes tariffs of three to six percent on imported coal. The General Administration of Customs said the measure was taken to “further secure the country’s energy supply” and development. Faced with last year’s power shortage, China has decided to boost its coal production and the government has ordered Chinese mines to “produce as much coal as possible.” In addition, in 2021, large-scale coal-fired power plant projects were also launched. Coal consumption in China, the world’s second-largest economy, rose 4.9 percent last year.

Source: RFI Chinese, April 28, 2022
https://bit.ly/3FnIOxT

The term “lying flat” became trendy in 2021. It refers to a lifestyle that calls for “not buying a house, not buying a car, not getting married, not having a baby, not consuming,” and “maintaining a minimum standard of living. It means refusing to become a machine for others to make money and a slave to be exploited.” “Lying flat” reflects the reality of over competition in Chinese society to such an extent that many young people no longer believe that hard work results in a better life. Right after this movement gained in popularity, the state media published articles criticizing ithis view. Since 2021, the term “lying flat” has become popular among young Chinese people. Recently, the chief administrative body of the central government State Council released a white paper on “China’s Youth in a New Era” and held a press conference.

He Junke, the first secretary of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League (CYL), said, “The state attaches great importance to the deep-rooted problems reflected in the ‘lying flat’ movement. The pressure of work, study and of life that the young generation faces are serious and realistic.” The Communist Youth League is a Chinese communist organization for young people between the ages of 14 and 28.

He also quoted Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, who said, “Happiness comes out of struggle, and struggle itself is a kind of happiness.”

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), April 21, 2022
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202204210223.aspx

Shanghai Securities News recently reported that, according to numbers that China’s National Bureau of Statistics just released, the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) was 47.4 percent in April, a decrease of 2.1 percentage points from the previous month, and the overall prosperity level of the manufacturing industry continued to decline. The PMI of large enterprises was 48.1 percent, a decrease of 3.2 percentage points from March; and the PMIs of medium and small enterprises were 47.5 percent and 45.6 percent. Both decreased by 1.0 percentage points from March. Sub-indices further showed that manufacturing activity slowed significantly, market demand has fallen sharply, inventories of major raw materials continued to decrease, employment of manufacturing enterprises has declined, and the delivery time of raw material suppliers has slowed down significantly.

In the meantime, Caixin also released its Chinese Manufacturing PMI numbers for April. Caixin PMI is a well-respected economic indicator monitored globally by financial institutions. Caixin’s China Manufacturing PMI recorded 46 for April, 2.1 points lower than March, and was in contractionary territory for the second consecutive month, the lowest value since March 2020. This trend is consistent with the National Bureau of Statistics. The various sub-indices of the Caixin PMI showed that both manufacturing supply and demand continued to contract in April. Both the production and the new orders recorded the lowest values since March 2020. Market orders and product circulation were disrupted. Some surveyed companies reported that customers canceled orders due to difficulties in delivery and logistics. New export sub-index in April fell to its lowest level since June 2020. Employment has been in contractionary territory for eight of the past nine months. Inflationary pressures remain high.

PMI (the Purchasing Managers Index) is an indicator of financial activity reflecting purchasing managers’ acquisitions of goods and services. A PMI number below 50 typically reflects a decline.

Source: Shanghai Securities News, April 30, 2022
https://news.cnstock.com/news,bwkx-202204-4873814.htm
https://news.cnstock.com/news,bwkx-202204-4873819.htm