US-China Relations - 74. page

Well-known Chinese news site Tencent News recently reported that, according to an independent study that the Rhodium Group conducted, in the first five months of this year, China’s direct investment in the United States (including mergers) saw a year-over-year sharp decline of 92 percent, to US$1.8 billion. This is the lowest level in seven years. If one counts the sell-off of China-owned U.S. assets, China’s direct investment in the U.S. is actually -US$7.8 billion. The drama of Chinese companies “sweeping” the U.S. market with mega-deals has “faded into history.” The same statistics in 2016 were a completely different story. China’s direct investment doubled in 2016 to $46 billion. Since the second half of last year, the Chinese government has put a very tight control over out-flowing capital. As Xinhua has indicated, starting early this year, in the name of national security, the U.S. government has subjected Chinese investments to tight reviews. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has stopped many Chinese investment projects. Many Chinese companies are still in the process of selling their U.S. assets.

Source: Tencent News, June 21, 2018
https://kuaibao.qq.com/s/20180621A0KR3S00?refer=spider

Epoch Times reported that, just days prior to the start of the U.S. China trade war, the Chinese Embassy in the U.S. issued a notice on its website stating that the U.S. is not safe and that there is a high occurrence of gun violence, robbery, and theft. It warned Chinese tourists that they need to be alert to suspicious people around them and to avoid going out at night. The notice reminded the Chinese tourists that, when they call 911, they must speak Chinese so they can receive Chinese language assistance and also, if they believe that the law enforcement officers have improper conduct or discriminating behavior, they should collect proper evidence so they can appeal the case. The notice also warned about high medical costs in the U.S. and the danger of natural disasters in the summer season.

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, three million Chinese tourists visited the U.S. in 2017, the largest number next to Canada, Mexico, the U.K., and Japan.

Source: Epoch Times, July 3, 2018
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/18/7/3/n10533121.htm

At midnight on Friday, July 6, the first day of the U.S. tariffs against billions of dollars of Chinese goods took effect. People’s Daily, the Chinese Communist Party’s mouthpiece, struck back with an editorial.

The article made the accusation that, “The U.S. violated the WTO’s rules and launched the largest trade war to date.” It continued, “This (the U.S. tariffs) will not shake the foundation of China’s economic development, it will not weaken the confidence of the Chinese people in achieving the goal of ‘two hundred years,’ and it (the U.S.) will surely be hit back. However, the unreasonable arrogance carried by the trade hegemonism of the United States is quite damaging. It not only harms the interests of the enterprises and peoples of both countries, but also threatens the global free trade and multilateral system and hinders the pace of world economic recovery.

“The White House will not forget that more than half a century ago, China, suffering from war trauma and devastation, spoke out loud, ‘Blockade, blockade for eight and ten years, and all problems in China will have been solved.’ Today, as China is stepping toward the center of the World’s stage with strong national strength and moral appeal, will she allow the U.S. trade hegemonism to damage the core interests of the country and ask the people to make unprincipled concessions? Moreover, as a responsible power, China clearly understands that winning this trade war will make the U.S. see clearly that trade bullying has no future. We are thus defending the international economic and trade order. ‘If the war ends the war, the war is worth fighting.’ Without a bitter lesson, it is difficult for those who are blinded by self-interest to wake up and get back to reality.”

“The trade bully will never ever succeed!”

Source: People’s Daily, July 6, 2018
http://opinion.people.com.cn/n1/2018/0706/c1003-30132252.html

Xinhua rapidly reported on the same day when over 270 U.S. commerce organizations, national and local, issued a joint letter to the U.S. Congress asking that new laws be established to restrict the presidential power to determine tariffs. According to Article 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, the President has the power to start an investigation on imports to prevent damage to national security. President Trump ordered tariff increases based on the authorization of Article 232 and received widespread opposition both domestically and internationally. The commerce organizations were deeply concerned about the limitless potential of this tariff power, which may cause serious damage to the U.S. economy. The joint letter emphasized that the U.S. Constitution gave the Congress the right to administer imports and exports as well as tariffs. The congress should act now to ask the President to propose tariff plans for Congressional approval first, before their execution.

Source: Xinhua, June 26, 2018
http://www.xinhuanet.com/world/2018-06/27/c_129901925.htm

China Review News (CRN), a Beijing sponsored media based in Hong Kong, reported on how the world-wide competition for artificial intelligence (AI) experts has intensified. The areas involved include driverless cars, consumer data analysis, voice recognition, and facial recognition systems.

The “universal language” at the artificial intelligence conference held in New Orleans, Louisiana, in February of this year appeared to be Chinese. Chinese Internet companies such as the Alibaba Group and Tencent actively recruited talent.

According to the White Paper on Global Artificial Intelligence that Tencent’s research department published, companies around the world need about one million people who are experts in the area of artificial intelligence, but there are only 300,000 professionals who are actually active in this field. About 370 educational institutions around the world have the relevant research capabilities. Each year, they can produce around 20,000 experts. To fill such a serious talent gap, companies have gone abroad to search around the world for talent.

China and the United States are engaged in a fierce competition in the field of artificial intelligence. China’s state-issued plan for the “Next-Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Strategy,” released in 2017, pointed out that by 2020, the overall technology and application of artificial intelligence will be synchronized to the world’s advanced level. By 2030, the artificial intelligence theory, technology, and applications will reach the world’s leading level.

By 2025, the amount of data that the world generates will reach 10 times that of 2016. How to utilize this huge data will involve the work of how to get those who are talented in artificial intelligence and who have mastered high-level mathematics, statistics, and information processing knowledge.

Source: China Review News (CRN), June 26, 2018
http://hk.crntt.com/doc/1051/1/4/4/105114402.html?coluid=58&kindid=1212&docid=105114402