Opinion Archives - Page 23 of 46

30May

By Online DeskNo Comments

China Briefing 30 May 2024: March emissions drop; ‘United’ G7 stance on ‘overcapacity’; Li Shuo on climate finance

Key developments March data indicates carbon emissions peak SURGE ENDED: Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in China fell 3% in March 2024, ending a 14-month surge and possibly signalling that Chinese CO2 emissions peaked in 2023, according to new analysis for Carbon Brief by Lauri Myllyvirta. The fall was driven by the record growth of solar and wind power generation, which “covered 90% of the growth in electricity demand”, and by declining construction activity. An increasing portion of electricity demand is being covered by distributed solar, which comprised 45% of last year’s solar capacity additions. Meanwhile, limited demand for steel and cement due to continued uncertainty in the real-estate sector saw a drop in emissions of 30 megatonnes of CO2 (MTCO2) from the construction sect

29May

By Online DeskNo Comments

China’s Quixotic Quest to Innovate

George Magnus is a research associate at Oxford University’s China Centre and at the School of Oriental and Asian Studies, the former Chief Economist at UBS, and the author of Red Flags: Why Xi’s China Is in Jeopardy. By now, the systemic problems that bedevil China’s economy are obvious. The country is suffering from slowing economic growth, stagnating productivity, a malfunctioning property sector, the misallocation and inefficient use of capital, debt-capacity constraints, and weak household income and consumer demand. But it is less clear how Beijing should fix these problems. Many economists outside China, as well as some inside the country, believe that it must recalibrate its development model by making it far more market-oriented and driven by consumer spending. Chinese leader

28May

By Online DeskNo Comments

Is China going to devalue the yuan?

China’s exports face multiple headwinds. Growing resistance in developed countries and some developing countries to accommodating a surge of exports from excess production mean protectionist policies are on the rise worldwide. China’s exporters are likely to face higher tariffs and greater restrictions to their market access in years to come. Compounding these headwinds, China this month signaled its willingness to let its currency, the renminbi (RMB), weaken against a strengthening dollar. The move is reflected in the Chinese central bank’s daily fixing of the RMB, also called the yuan. Last week, the People’s Bank of China set the yuan’s daily reference rate at its lowest level since January, indicating a reversal of a long-held policy of holding the reference rate steady as an ancho

28May

By Online DeskNo Comments

China’s overcapacity debate and how to avoid a collision course

Chinese companies are rapidly gaining market share in strategic industries amid increasing accusations of subsidy-induced overcapacity. But what does ‘overcapacity’ actually mean, how concerned should we be, and what might happen next? The debate on overcapacity is heating up Discussions about China’s overcapacity issue have been ongoing for many years. Most recently, various industries, such as those dealing with solar panels, wind turbines, steel, and cement, have started to debate the issue. The discourse was reignited following US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s visit to China in April, where she brought up concerns about industrial overcapacity, noting that China’s economy was too large to “export its way to rapid growth,” and called for shifting away f

28May

By Online DeskNo Comments

Taiwan’s parliament passes bill pushing pro-China changes

Taiwan’s opposition-controlled legislature has ignored massive protests to push through controversial legislative changes seen as favourable to China. The laws, adopted on Tuesday, pushed through by the opposition nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) and smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), give lawmakers the power to require the president to give regular reports to parliament and answer lawmakers’ questions. It also criminalises contempt of parliament by government officials. Critics argued the legislation was vague and lacked the checks and balances necessary to prevent abuse. The bill also hands the legislature increased control of budgets, including defence spending. The legislature will also be able to demand that the military, private companies or individuals disclose information d

22May

By Online DeskNo Comments

Metricizing policy texts: Comprehensive dataset on China’s Agri-policy intensity spanning 1982–2023

Due to the lack of direct assessment metrics, existing studies on the intensity of agricultural policies often utilize indicators such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of agriculture or the quantity of agricultural policies as measures. Optimizing methods for analyzing the intensity of agricultural policies will significantly impact parameter selection in agricultural policy research and the evaluation of policy effectiveness. In this study, we constructed a Chinese Agricultural Policy Corpus using agricultural policies released by various governmental agencies at the national level in China from 1982 to April 2023. We quantified the values of agricultural domain terms in the corpus and evaluated the intensity of each agricultural policy document. The validation results of this study indic...

18May

By Online DeskNo Comments

How China is using AI news anchors to deliver its propaganda

The news presenter has a deeply uncanny air as he delivers a partisan and pejorative message in Mandarin: Taiwan’s outgoing president, Tsai Ing-wen, is as effective as limp spinach, her period in office beset by economic under performance, social problems and protests. “Water spinach looks at water spinach. Turns out that water spinach isn’t just a name,” says the presenter, in an extended metaphor about Tsai being “Hollow Tsai” – a pun related to the Mandarin word for water spinach. This is not a conventional broadcast journalist, even if the lack of impartiality is no longer a shock. The anchor is generated by an artificial intelligence programme, and the segment is trying, albeit clumsily, to influence the Taiwanese presidential election. The source and creator of the video ar

17May

By Online DeskNo Comments

Putin visits China’s ‘Little Moscow’ as allies seek to cement economic ties – as it happened

Closing summary We’re pausing our live coverage of Putin’s trip to China now, here were the main developments: Vladimir Putin is concluding his two day trip to China, aimed at boosting ties between the two nations at a time when both face western economic sanctions. Former US president Donald Trump has accused Putin and Xi of getting together to “do damage”. He said: “They’re right now together working on plans where they … get together and do damage, because that’s ultimately what they’re thinking about doing, damage.” While Putin’s visit to China continues, back in Russia his deputy foreign minister has said Moscow will respond in kind to any ambiguous nuclear behaviour from the West. While Putin’s visit to China continues, back in Russia his deputy foreign min

17May

By Online DeskNo Comments

Russia’s Putin eyes greater support from China for Ukraine war effort

Russian President Vladimir Putin is wrapping up his visit to neighbouring China, aiming to win greater support from Beijing for his military operation in Ukraine and expand crucial trade to his country’s increasingly isolated economy. Russia and China’s partnership has only grown closer since the invasion of Ukraine, and Beijing has rebuffed Western claims that it is aiding Moscow’s war effort while offering a critical economic lifeline with trade hitting $240bn in 2023. Putin visited the northeastern city of Harbin on Friday, the final day of his two-day visit, to highlight the two countries’ “trade and cultural exchange”, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported. On Thursday, Putin arrived in Beijing on his first trip abroad since his March re-election, meeting President Xi Ji

16May

By Online DeskNo Comments

Who benefits from US tariffs on Chinese imports? Experts weigh in

The trade war between the United States and China continued this week with its latest salvo – a move that comes amid a heated race for the White House. On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden announced tariff hikes on imports of various Chinese goods, worth $18bn. Lithium-ion batteries make up $13bn of the total imports, while certain steel and aluminium products, as well as items like medical gloves and syringes, accounted for the remaining $5bn. Experts say tariffs on these products will likely have limited effects on consumer goods prices and economic growth. The greater gain, they say, may lie at the ballot box, as Biden jockeys for a second term in the White House. “These tariffs are very much on the margins, and the impacts on the economy will be a rounding error,” Bernard Ya