Economy/Resources - 96. page

According to the German Focus, a weekly magazine, Chinese companies have greatly reduced their investment in Europe. Investment in Germany has even down by 95 percent.

According to a study that the consulting firm Ernst & Young published in the first half of 2019, Chinese investments in Europe were only US$2.4 billion, or 2.1 billion euros. That represents an 80 percent drop from the same period last year. Although Chinese companies bought the shares of or acquired 81 European companies, most of them were small size investments.

China does not even have a large-scale M&A in Germany. Chinese investment in Germany was only US$0.5 billion in the first half of 2019. In 2018, the total Chinese investment was US$10 billion. This is the equivalent of a reduction of 95 percent. The consulting firm believed that the main reason for the decline was the suspicion and caution toward Chinese companies in Europe and the impact of the US-China trade war on the Chinese economy. 2016 was a record year, with Chinese investment of more than $85 billion in EU countries.

Source: Radio France International, August 12, 2019
http://rfi.my/4NQh.T

Sofreight, a China-based international freight information platform, recently posted an article in its news section indicating that the Chinese central government has been considering and is now planning to remove all tariffs in the Shanghai Free-Trade Zone. In the midst of a grand trade war with the United States, the Chinese government wants to position itself as the leader of free trade. The plan may be announced within this year at the earliest. According to the draft plan, foreign companies will not pay any tariff for cargo staying in the Zone, with a much-simplified customs process. Currently, normal tariffs still apply to cargo in the Zone with Chinese Customs still administering them. Today, to establish a company registered in the Shanghai Free-Trade Zone, the process takes a few months, though the government claims it takes only five days. If the plan succeeds, it has the potential to be deployed to all of China’s free-trade zones. Neither officials in the Zone nor the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) responded to requests for confirmation or comments.

Source: Sofreight, August 6, 2019
http://www.sofreight.com/news_36710.html

As the prospect of the US-China trade war continues to be unpredictable, many Chinese manufacturers have turned to Vietnam to set up plants in the hope of avoiding high tariffs.

The statistics show that, in the first seven months of this year, the Southeast Asian country attracted US$20.2 billion in foreign investment, down 13.4 percent from the same period last year.

China topped other countries by investing US$1.78 billion in Vietnam in the first seven months. However, due to the large number of investment projects, a total of 364, the average size of each investment was quite small.

With the ongoing US-China trade war, since last year, Chinese manufacturers have set up small-size plants in Vietnam. The purpose is to import semi-finished products from China, change the country of production, and then sell to the U.S. and European markets to avoid high tariffs.

The General Department of Vietnam Customs reported that 15 products imported from China have shown a significant growth. Six of them are on the list of targets for high tariff sanctions that the United States has imposed on China, including timber products, electric wires, electronic components, mobile phones, furniture, household appliances, and leather shoes.

Source: Central News Agency, July 30, 2019
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/afe/201907300115.aspx

Xinmin Evening News reported that, according to the National Bureau of Statistics and the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the national marriage rate in 2018 was only 7.2 percent, which is the lowest it has been in nearly 10 years. 2013 was the turning point and the marriage rate has been declining for five consecutive years since 2014. More developed regions had a relatively lower marriage rate. The marriage rate in 2018 in Shanghai was only 4.4 percent, the lowest in the nation. Zhejiang was 5.9 percent which was the second lowest, and the marriage rates in Guangdong, Beijing, Tianjin and other places were also lower. Economists believe that the low national marriage rate in 2018 is closely related to the stronger independence of young people. With the improvement of the income level and the change of perspective about life, economically independent young people can have more options. They can maintain a relationship or they can live together but not get married. Therefore, many people believe that, while marriage is a need for a certain group of people, it is not for everyone, nor is it the only correct choice. While China’s marriage rate has hit a record low, the divorce rate has been climbing for 16 consecutive years. In 2002, only one out of seven married couples got a divorce. By 2017, the divorce rate was one out of every three marriages. One scholar pointed out that the imbalance between males and females is an important reason for the low marriage rate in the country. According to the sixth national census data, there were 154 million males aged between 14 and 27 in 2010 and 143 million females aged 12 to 25 in 2010. That means that a large number of males will not be able to get married when they reach the legal age for marriage, which is 22.

Source: qq.com, July 13, 2019
https://xw.qq.com/partner/hwbrowser/20190713A0NZQ5/20190713A0NZQ500?ADTAG=hwb&pgv_ref=hwb&appid=hwbrowser&ctype=news