Chinascope – Page 119

CNA: First Day of Spring Festival Travel Recorded 30 Million Travelers

Primary Taiwanese news agency Central News Agency (CNA) recently reported that China’s Covid prevention policies have been downgraded. Many people are having their first return home reunion in three years. On the 7th, the first day of the Spring Festival travel rush, a total of 34.736 million passengers were transported by railways, roads and airways in China. This represents an increase of 38.9 percent over the same period in 2022. China’s Spring Festival travel is known to be the largest population movement on the surface of the Earth. The 2023 Spring Festival travel period is from January 7th to February 15th, a total of 40 days. Xu Chengguang, the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Transportation, said that the total passenger flow during the Spring Festival travel period this year is estimated to be about 2.095 billion, an increase of 99.5 percent over the same period last year, and returned to 70.3 percent of the same period in 2019. Among them, visiting relatives accounted for about 55 percent of the passenger flow, work accounted for about 24 percent, plus tourism and business travel accounted for about 10 percent respectively. However, this year’s Spring Festival travel peak is superimposed with the Covid peak, which made this Spring Festival travel the most uncertain and the most complicated one. The situation introduces the greatest difficulties and challenges in recent years. At this moment, it is hard to find train tickets, and many popular routes have been sold out. In addition, there is also an increase in demand for flights. According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China, during the Spring Festival travel season, an average of 11,000 passenger flights will be arranged daily.

Source: CNA, January 8, 2023
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202301080129.aspx

Briefings | | January 11, 2023 | Social Stability

In 2022, Chinese Companies’ U.S. IPOs Raised about 96 Percent Less than in 2021

Well-known Chinese news site Sohu (NASDAQ: SOHU) recently reported that it has been a year and a half since the fever of Chinese companies going public in the U.S. cooled down. According to Wind Data, in 2022, Chinese companies went public in the United States and raised a total of US$582 million, a decrease of about 96 percent compared with the annual financing amount in 2021. Of the dozen or so companies that went public in the U.S. in 2022, most of them were small companies with a fundraising amount of less than US$50 million. The scale of its financing was significantly lower than the level of the previous two years. In 2021, about 40 Chinese companies went public in the U.S., and 16 of them raised more than US$100 million. In 2020, 18 US-listed companies raised over US$100 million. In 2022, as of December 28, the number of IPOs listed in the United States was only 17, setting a new low for the past six years. At present, data-related technology companies going public in the United States still face strict scrutiny from both Chinese and American regulators. Several companies have even withdrawn their prospectuses for listing in the United States.

Source: Sohu, January 2, 2023
https://www.sohu.com/a/623887838_120814277

Briefings | | January 9, 2023 | US-China Relations

UDN: Sweden Wants to Join NATO, but not All Turkey’s Demands Can be Met

United Daily News (UDN), one of the primary Taiwanese news groups, recently reported that Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Sweden is confident Turkey will allow Sweden to join the NATO military alliance, but Sweden will not be able to meet all of Turkey’s demands in exchange. Whether NATO expands in size needs to receive unanimous approval from all member states. Kristersson said that Turkey confirmed that Sweden did what Sweden promised, but Turkey also made clear that it wanted what Sweden couldn’t or didn’t want to do for it. Sweden, Finland and Turkey signed a tripartite agreement last year that is expected to end Turkey’s opposition to the two countries joining NATO. Sweden and Finland have long maintained close ties with Western militaries but have been reluctant to join military alliances for fear of angering Russia. However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February prompted a change in attitude in Sweden and Finland. Turkey had previously used the support for Finland and Sweden to join NATO as leverage, demanding that the two countries take a tougher stance against Kurdish militias that Turkey considers terrorists.

Source: UDN, January 8, 2023
https://udn.com/news/story/6809/6896295

Briefings | | January 9, 2023 | Geo-Strategic Trend

A “Firecracker Revolution” Took Place in China

After the blank-sheet paper protest, also called the “A4 Revolution” where A4 refers to the paper size, Chinese people started a new protest on the rights to set off firecrackers – some people called it the “Firecracker Revolution.”

Setting off firecrackers is a Chinese tradition to celebrate the new year. It had been a must-have activity for many years. However, in the past decade, the authorities banned it in the cities due to the risk of causing fires.

On Near Year’s eve, people in Xuchang City, Henan Province gathered at a central square. Some set off firecrackers. Police tried to arrest the “offenders,” but were blocked by other people. More and more people set off firecrackers at different spots on the square. In the end, the police gave up and let people enjoy their celebration.

A similar firecracker “offense” took place in Luyi County, Zhoukou City of the same province in central China on the next night. Police came and started arresting people. According to an online video, a large group of people surrounded the police car, demanding the release of those who had been arrested. People and police officers pushed each other. Some young people smashed the police car, breaking its front windshield. Eventually people flipped the police car upside down. Special police came and arrested six people.

The “Firecracker Revolution” also happened in several cities and provinces including Henan, Shandong, Hebei, Jiangsu, Guangxi, and Chongqing.

Some cities loosened their restrictions on firecrackers. Dalian City, Liaoning Province announced certain districts that could set off firecrackers on Chinese Near Year’s Eve (January 21 this year). Dongying city and Binzhou City in Shandong Province also announced firecrackers were allowed in certain regions and at certain times.

Some commentators felt that from the A4 revolution to the firecracker revolution, the Chinese people showed that they are no longer so afraid of the authorities. They have started to demand their rights.

Sources:
1. Epoch Times, January 4, 2023
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/23/1/4/n13899249.htm
2. New Talk, January 5, 2023
https://newtalk.tw/news/view/2023-01-05/851861

Briefings | | January 6, 2023 | @CS Government/Politics Social Stability

Mainland Chinese Media: Patients Are Pouring in Like the Tide! Half of the ICU Patients Have Severe Pneumonia

Below are excerpts from a mainland Chinese report on the current situation of covid patients at Minhang Hospital which is affiliated with Fudan University in Shanghai.

“Emergency Department Director Sun Keyu said, ‘We usually have more than 1,000 emergency visits, more than 20 when there are many who stay. The emergency medical department has a maximum of more than 300 people a day. The recent peak of emergency visits reached more than 2,000 people, nearly 1,000 emergency medical visits, and more than 100 stays. Those who stay in the ward come at night, and they will be hospitalized the next day.’”

“Now that the (covid) emergency is peaking, the (covid)-positive medical staff has continued to work including those who have the illness. Those with a high fever may only rest for a day or two, and those with no fever or a low fever have basically persisted.” One day after 9 o’clock in the evening, a nurse found Sun Keyu and burst into tears, ‘I really can’t hold up anymore.’ The pressure was too great; the patients have poured in like the tide. There is no time to do anything; the medical staff members themselves have a fever. I have never encountered such a situation before, .. . ”

“The cell phone of Gao Yuan, director of the critical care medicine department, keeps ringing. In the ICU, patients with severe pneumonia have accounted for half of all patients. Another quarter are patients with underlying diseases that worsened after the infection.”

“‘Things are still at the peak plateau phase and now is the most difficult time. As Director Zhang Wenhong said yesterday, it is expected to last for another two weeks.’ Sun Keyu said that the wards are full now, and only when someone is discharged from the hospital is a bed vacated. The biggest difficulty is that patients need to be hospitalized, but ‘an available bed is hard to find.’ In the future, it is expected that the number of patients coming in by ambulance will decrease, but the patients may be in a more serious condition.”

Sources: Netease, January 5, 2023 https://www.163.com/news/article/HQA9DSOJ00019B3E.html https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/tKQ7nP8oqrnxe00bOr6xsg

Briefings | | January 6, 2023 | Economy/Resources Social Stability

2022 China’s Housing Sales Plummeted by 5 Trillion Yuan

According to China Real Estate Information Corporation (CRIC), a Shanghai based real estate consulting firm, the overall sales in China’s housing sector in 2022 is expected to approximate 13.5 trillion yuan (US$ 1.95 trillion), a 5 trillion yuan (US$ 0.72 trillion) or 27 percent decrease from the 18.19 trillion yuan (US$ 2.63 trillion) in 2021. 90 percent of the top 100 real estate developers under-performed last year. The number of developers with sales above 100 billion yuan (US$ 14.5 billion) dropped from 43 during the peak time to only 20 today.

Against this backdrop of diminishing domestic and foreign financing channels, developers are facing huge amounts of outstanding debt. They are also facing other pressures, such as the pressure to deliver properties on-time. Starting in September, a few housing giants slashed their housing prices. A few reductions were as deep as 40 percent. Although the marketing and sales drive continued into the 4th quarter, Chinese home buyers continued to show little enthusiasm.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), January 1, 2023
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202301010137.aspx percent

Briefings | | January 4, 2023 | Economy/Resources

China’s Official December PMI Numbers Continued Falling

China’s National Bureau of Statistics just released its official PMI numbers for December. Affected by factors such as the impact of Covid-19, China’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) has declined from the previous month. Among them, the manufacturing purchasing managers’ index, non-manufacturing business activity index and comprehensive PMI output index were 47.0 percent, 41.6 percent and 42.6 percent, respectively. The overall level of prosperity of the Chinese economy has declined. The December Manufacturing PMI fell one percentage point from November. Detailed data showed that both the supply and demand sides have declined. A number of price indices have rebounded. The employment index continued to go down. Affected by Covid, the employee attendance rate of manufacturing enterprises is obviously insufficient. PMI sub-indices of people’s livelihood-related industries continue to expand. In December, the non-manufacturing business activity index was 41.6 percent, down 5.1 percentage points from the previous month and the level of non-manufacturing prosperity continued to fall. The level of prosperity in the service industry has fallen. In December, companies surveyed in the service industry reported that the major impact of Covid had reached 61.3 percent, which was 10 percent higher than it was in the previous month. The market activity of the service industry dropped significantly. Of the 21 categories surveyed, 15 are in contraction territory. Only the construction industry stayed above the expansion line. The construction industry business activity index was 54.4 percent, one percentage lower than November.

Sources:

(1) National Bureau of Statistics, December 31, 2022
http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/zxfb/202212/t20221230_1891388.html

(2) China Net Financial News, December 31, 2022
http://m.gxfin.com/article/finance/xw/default/2022-12-31/5922783.html

Briefings | | January 2, 2023 | Economy/Resources

Wu Guoguang: Xi Jinping’s Reversal of the Course, Will China’s Transition be Peaceful or Marked with Bloodshed?

Cheng Xiaonong: U.S.-China Strategic Relations Have Crystallized

Xinhua Commentaries: “Exposing the Three Major Political Deficits of the U.S.”

The CCP’s Performing Arts Troupes in the U.S.

In 2022, Chinese Companies’ U.S. IPOs Raised about 96 Percent Less than in 2021

UDN: Sweden Wants to Join NATO, but not All Turkey’s Demands Can be Met

2022 China’s Housing Sales Plummeted by 5 Trillion Yuan

China’s Official December PMI Numbers Continued Falling

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