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17/03/2020

AutoNavi maps data shows recovery in traffic around shopping areas in China as coronavirus fears recede

AutoNavi’s latest data shows increase in offline traffic and searches of major business districts
Traffic data could signal that consumer activity in China has entered a recovery

AutoNavi’s mobile app users can search the names of malls and shops to see real-time traffic data. Photo: AP

Data from AutoNavi, the maps app operated by Alibaba Group Holding, shows that traffic in major shopping districts in China picked up by an average of 30 per cent over the past month, as consumer activity gradually returns to normal now that the coronavirus infection rate appears to have peaked in the country.

The early sign of increased consumer activity in China contrasts with the panic and economic uncertainty now engulfing Europe and the US, as the widening pandemic forces governments around the world to take lessons from China on how to tackle the spread of the disease with curfews and social distancing measures.

AutoNavi’s latest big data report, released on Monday, shows that traffic in and around shopping districts in several major cities in the country rose 30 per cent over the weekend of March 14-15 compared with the weekend of February 15-16, when the coronavirus in China was at its height and many areas in the country were under lockdown.

China’s Meituan Dianping to join maps service battle

15 Aug 2019

“Consumer confidence is starting to rebound as the coronavirus comes under control,” said Guo Ning, vice-president of AutoNavi. “We are seeing more and more people stepping out, with offline consumption slowly recovering.”

Alibaba is the owner of the South China Morning Post.

China’s nearly two-month lockdown has dealt a hammer blow to the economy, with retail sales – a key metric of consumption – down by 20.5 per cent across the combined two months of January and February, marking the first decline on record. The virus has however proved a boon for China’s e-commerce sector, as shoppers stuck at home buy even more online.

The new data appears to show that the country’s offline economy could now see a slow recovery. This does not mean that retail businesses can slack off on preventive measures – hand sanitiser, extra cleaning and temperature monitoring are likely to remain fixtures of everyday life in shopping malls.

AutoNavi’s mobile app users can search the names of malls and shops to see real-time traffic data – often used to avoid visiting malls at peak periods. AutoNavi said the average 30 per cent increase in traffic refers to the combined volume of people using the app to navigate the shopping destinations.

Alibaba’s AutoNavi crosses 100 million daily users

5 Oct 2018

AutoNavi has more than 400 million monthly active users, according to company data. It was the first domestic travel platform to exceed 100 million daily active users.

Digital maps have become a key tool in China’s attempts to control the coronavirus pandemic, with competitor map apps from Baidu and Tencent also launching features to track population flows and provide information on clinics able to test for and treat the disease.

Covid-19, as the novel coronavirus is known, has now killed over 3,200 people in China and infected just over 80,000, of which around 68,000 have recovered. There are now around 87,000 confirmed cases outside China, according to the latest figures from health authorities.

Source: SCMP

Posted in Alibaba Group Holding, around, AutoNavi, Big data, China, coronavirus, Coronavirus pandemic, COVID-19, Data, Digital maps, e-commerce sector, economy, Fears, hammer blow, lockdown, maps, Meituan Dianping, novel coronavirus, recede, recovery, shopping areas, shows, south china morning post, traffic, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

16/03/2020

As coronavirus spreads in Africa, countries move quickly to contain disease with travel bans, closures

South Africa, Kenya latest to halt arrivals from ‘high-risk’ countries as cases across the continent double over the weekend
Concerns are growing over whether health care systems in some African nations will be able to cope

Masked volunteers provide soap and water for participants to wash their hands against the new coronavirus at a women’s 5km fun run in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Sunday. Photo: AP

Travel bans and school closures were announced in South Africa and Kenya on Sunday, as concerns grew over the capacity of the continent’s fragile health systems to cope with the spread of the deadly new coronavirus, with more than a dozen countries reporting their first cases.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster, banning arrivals by foreign nationals from high-risk countries including Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Germany, the United States, Britain and China, effective Wednesday.

“We have cancelled visas to visitors from those countries from today and previously granted visas are hereby revoked,” Ramaphosa said in a televised address on Sunday evening, adding that any foreign national who had visited high-risk countries in the past 20 days would be denied a visa.

South African schools will also be closed from Wednesday until after the Easter weekend. Gatherings of more than 100 people have been banned and mass celebrations for Human Rights Day and other events cancelled. “Never before in the history of our democracy has our country been confronted with such a severe situation,” Ramaphosa said.

In Kenya, where three cases of Covid-19 – the disease caused by the new coronavirus – have now been confirmed, President Uhuru Kenyatta suspended travel from any country with reported infections. Only Kenyan citizens and foreigners with valid residency permits would be allowed entry, provided they proceeded to self-quarantine or a government-designated quarantine facility, he said.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta reports two more cases of coronavirus in the country, bringing its total number of cases to three. Photo: DPA

Kenyatta also suspended learning in all educational institutions with immediate effect. “Some of the measures may cause inconvenience, but I want to assure you they are designed to ensure that we effectively contain the spread of the virus,” he said.

Kenya and South Africa join Ghana, Rwanda and Morocco in implementing travel restrictions or outright bans, while others are closing churches, museums, sporting activities, nightclubs and tourist attractions in a bid to curb the spread of the disease.

The continent was largely spared in the early days of the outbreak but has now recorded more than 300 cases and six deaths. Algeria, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia all reported more new cases over the weekend, which saw numbers of new infections across Africa more than double in just two days.

As numbers rise, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said there are around a dozen countries on the continent without the capacity to do their own testing.

They will have to send samples to countries like South Africa, which itself is struggling to contain the virus, with confirmed cases doubling to 61 on Sunday, a day after 114 of its citizens were repatriated from the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the original epicentre of the outbreak and the first to be placed in lockdown.

John Nkengasong, director of the Africa CDC, warned that the risk of other African countries detecting new cases of Covid-19 remained high. “Our strategy is clear: we want to capacitate the member states, so they can quickly detect and mitigate the effects of the disease in Africa, and, if widespread transmission occurs, prevent severe illness and death,” he said.

The World Health Organisation has already warned that critical gaps remain in the capacity of many African nations to trace, detect and treat the disease. On Friday, the WHO Africa office said it was “striving to help member states fill these gaps” but warned of global shortages in personal protective equipment (PPE) including gloves, masks and hand sanitiser.

Major coronavirus outbreak in Africa ‘just a matter of time’

13 Mar 2020

WHO said its first blanket distribution of PPEs, to 24 African countries, had been completed and another wave of distributions was planned.

“With Covid-19 officially declared a pandemic, all countries in Africa must act,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa. “Every country can still change the course of this pandemic by scaling up their emergency preparedness or response.

“Cases may still be low in Africa and we can keep it that way with robust all-of-government actions to fight the new coronavirus.”

The 55 member states of the African Union have suspended meetings until May, while the six countries that make up the East African Community have suspended all planned meetings until further notice.

Coronavirus delays Nigeria’s US$1.5 billion Chinese-built rail project

7 Mar 2020

In Algeria – one of the worst-hit North African countries, with 48 cases and four deaths, as of Monday morning – all schools and universities have been closed, while Senegal, with 24 cases to date, has closed schools and cancelled its Independence Day festivities on April 4, which this year marks 60 years since its independence from France. Cruise ships have also been banned from docking in Senegal.

On Sunday, Rwanda closed all its places of worship and suspended large gatherings such as weddings and sporting activities. Schools and universities in the central African country are also closed. National airline RwandAir has also suspended flights between the capital Kigali and Mumbai until April 30.

This is in addition to earlier suspensions of its routes with Tel Aviv and the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, which remain in place until further notice.

While most African airlines have suspended flights to cities in mainland China, Ethiopian Airlines has continued flying to most of its destinations, describing its China routes as among its most profitable. Nevertheless, chief executive Tewolde GebreMariam last week said coronavirus fears had cut demand by a fifth on most of its routes.

Source: Reuters

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12/03/2020

Coronavirus: China should not rely on massive stimulus to overcome ‘unprecedented’ economic slowdown

In response to the 2008 global financial crisis, China pumped a 4 trillion yuan (US$575 billion) into its economy but it led to a mountain of local government debt
Various early indicators suggest China’s economy will slow in the first quarter of 2020, with some suggestions it will suffer a first contraction since 1976

President Xi Jinping said China must accelerate construction of “new infrastructures such as 5G networks and data centres” on top of speeding up “key projects and major infrastructure construction” in response to the economic impact caused by the coronavirus outbreak. Photo: Xinhua

China should not try to bolster its coronavirus-hit economy by again resorting to a massive debt-fuelled fiscal and monetary stimulus programme, according to a group of government advisers.

Various early indicators suggest China’s economy will slow in the first quarter of 2020, with some even suggesting it will suffer a first contraction since the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976.

This raises the question if China will miss its key 2020 growth target, with voices on both sides of the debate discussing what stimulus policies are needed to offset the deep impact of the coronavirus.

China is already leaning towards some additional stimulus, with Premier Li Keqiang ordering the central bank pump additional money into the banking system, while President Xi Jinping has announced the need for more spending on “new infrastructure”.

Are there other ways out for China except stimulus policies?Liu Shijin

“Are there other ways out for China except stimulus policies?” rhetorically asked Liu Shijin, who previously worked closely with Vice-Premier Liu He, the top economic aide to Xi, at the Development Research Centre, the think tank attached to the State Council.

“If it really works, why can’t Japan and the United States reach a 5 per cent growth rate?”

It is believed China will need to achieve an average 5.6 per cent growth in 2020 to achieve its goal of doubling the size of its economy from 2010, which is a key goal for

Xi to achieve his target

of creating a “comprehensively well-off” society.

China’s economy grew by 6.1 per cent in 2019, and while it was the slowest in 29 years, the US economy only grew 2.3 per cent, with Japan’s estimated to grow by 0.9 per cent.

What is gross domestic product (GDP)?

Liu Shijin, who is now a deputy head of the China Development Research Foundation and a policy adviser to the People’s Bank of China, argued that a growth rate averaging 5 per cent over the next decade is sufficient for China to meet its development goals.

Growth in 2020, though, may well be below 5 per cent given that the impact of the coronavirus is “unprecedented” and larger than both severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) in 2003 and the 2008 global financial crisis.

Xi said earlier this month that China must accelerate construction of “new infrastructures such as 5G networks and data centres” on top of speeding up “key projects and major infrastructure construction already included in state plans” like additional high-speed railway lines in response to the economic impact caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

But as this will mainly rely on corporate and private investment, Liu Shijin feels it will be too small to engineer a major rebound in the growth rate.

When encountering challenges, we should first push forward new reform measures to unleash growth potential. Now is the right timeLiu Shijin

“It’s a different thing compared to real [government-led] economic stabilisation,” Liu Shijin told a web seminar hosted by Peking University’s National School of Development on Wednesday.

“When encountering challenges, we should first push forward new reform measures to unleash growth potential. Now is the right time.”

Instead, to support longer-term growth, China should put its efforts into the development of its “city clusters”, which could lead to higher spending on housing construction, urban infrastructure and manufacturing, added Liu Shijin, which would increase the growth rate by up to an additional percentage point over the next decade.

China has so far refrained from the massive stimulus programme it adopted in 2008 in response to the global financial crisis, which included a 4 trillion yuan (US$575 billion) plan that pumped cheap money into government-backed projects but also created a mountain of local government debt.

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Zhang Bin, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said infrastructure construction will remain an important part of any plan to support growth.

“If the funding [for the 4 trillion yuan stimulus] had come solely from treasury bonds or local government bonds [rather than risky lending], there wouldn’t be so much shadow banking, unmanageable credit expansion, high leverage, implicit liabilities or financial risks,” he said.

“If the balance sheets of corporations, households and local governments can’t be repaired, it might lead to insufficient demand and a decline into a vicious [downward] cycle.”

Zhang, like Liu Shijin, is a key member of the China Finance 40 Forum, a group of state economists who advocate more structural reforms to support the Chinese economy. In particular, Zhang has set sights on reforms that would boost consumption, which accounted for 58 per cent of Chinese growth last year.

“The biggest weak link of the Chinese economy is that 200 to 300 million migrant workers can’t [legally] settle in big cities,” he said. “Only if they are able to settle in the city that China can be called a real well-off society. It will also boost the economy, lift demand for manufactured goods and unleashed consumption potential.”

Currently, most large Chinese cities only provide social services including health care and schooling to residents who have a legal permit, or hukou. Most migrant workers who come to the big cities for jobs are blocked from obtaining a hukou, meaning they have to travel back to their rural hometowns to have access to basic social services, so often do not settle in their adopted city.

In response to this idea, Xu Yuan, a professor at Peking University, called for the government to build 10 million affordable housing units annually to accommodate new urban citizens, which would address short-term economic pain and serve the nation’s long-term development.

China will release its annual growth target as well as other key goals, including the fiscal deficit ratio and local bond quota, at the National People’s Congress, although the annual parliamentary convention, previously scheduled for March 5, has been postponed, with a new date yet to be announced.

Source: SCMP

Posted in 1976, 2020 growth target, 5G networks, affordable housing units, China, China Development Research Foundation, China Finance 40 Forum, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Construction, coronavirus, data centres, Development Research Centre, Economic, economic slowdown, Health care, hukou, Japan, legal permit, massive stimulus, migrant workers, National People’s Congress, National School of Development, new infrastructures, overcome, Peking University, Peking University’s, People’s Bank of China (PBOC), President Xi Jinping, schooling, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), slowdown, social services, State Council, Uncategorized, United States, unprecedented, urban citizens, Xinhua | Leave a Comment »

11/03/2020

China unveils new measures to keep foreign trade, investment stable

BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) — China will take new measures to keep the foreign trade and investment stable, and help the enterprises tide over difficulties to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

Further steps will be taken to smooth the industrial and capital chain, and promote work and production resumption in coordination, according to a State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang Tuesday.

Li urged continued efforts to give better play to the role of reloan and rediscount to ensure supply of materials for epidemic prevention and control and support firms in difficulty.

Source: Xinhua

Posted in China, coronavirus outbreak, foreign trade, Investment, Premier Li Keqiang, stable, State Council, Uncategorized, unveils | Leave a Comment »

10/03/2020

China launches new BeiDou navigation satellite

(EyesonSci)CHINA-XICHANG-SATELLITE-LAUNCH (CN)

China launches a new satellite of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China’s Sichuan Province, March 9, 2020, only one step away from completing the whole global system. The satellite, the 54th of the BeiDou family, was sent into a geostationary orbit as planned by a Long March-3B carrier rocket. The newly launched satellite is the second geostationary earth orbit satellite of the BDS-3 system, and the last one is expected to be launched in May. (Photo by Guo Wenbin/Xinhua)

XICHANG, March 9 (Xinhua) — China launched a new satellite of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China’s Sichuan Province at 7:55 p.m. Monday (Beijing Time), only one step away from completing the whole global system.

The satellite, the 54th of the BeiDou family, was sent into a geostationary orbit as planned by a Long March-3B carrier rocket.

China began to construct its navigation system, named after the Chinese term for the Big Dipper constellation, in the 1990s and started serving the Asia-Pacific Region in 2012. At present, all the first generation BDS-1 satellites have ended operations, and a total of 54 BDS-2 and BDS-3 satellites have been sent into space.

Compared with other navigation systems in the world, the design of the BDS constellation is unique, including medium earth orbit, inclined geosynchronous earth orbit and geostationary earth orbit satellites.

The BDS-3 system will consist of a total of 30 satellites, including 24 medium earth orbit satellites, three geostationary earth orbit satellites and three inclined geosynchronous earth orbit satellites.

The newly launched satellite is the second geostationary earth orbit satellite of the BDS-3 system, and the last one is expected to be launched in May.

The satellite and the carrier rocket were developed by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) and the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, respectively.

Space engineers have overcome difficulties during the novel coronavirus epidemic to ensure the success of the mission.

Monday’s launch was the 327th mission of the Long March rocket series.

The new satellite has the most functions and signals, the largest size and the longest designed life span among all the BDS-3 satellites, said Chen Zhonggui, chief designer of BDS-3 satellites from CAST.

The satellite is based on the Dongfanghong-3B platform, currently one of the largest satellite platforms being used in China, and can carry more fuels to ensure its long life, said Chen.

The satellite has integrated the functions of navigation and communication. The accuracy of dynamic positioning can reach the decimeter level, according to Liu Tianxiong, deputy chief designer of BDS-3 satellites.

It can provide services for the driverless vehicles, accurate berthing of ships, as well as takeoff and landing of airplanes. It will be widely used in the fields of communication, electric power, finance, mapping, transportation, fishery, agriculture and forestry.

The ability of short message communication has been improved 10 times on this satellite. Users can send a message of over 1,000 Chinese characters at one time as well as pictures via the satellite, quite useful in emergencies.

The satellite’s ability to receive signals has also been greatly improved, which could help miniaturize users’ terminals, said Pan Yuqian, one of the satellite’s designers.

China aims to complete the construction of the BDS constellation in May and provide high-precision, reliable positioning, navigation and timing services anywhere in the world.

Source: Xinhua

Posted in accurate berthing of ships, agriculture, Big Dipper constellation, China, China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), communication, Dongfanghong-3B platform, driverless vehicles, electric power, Finance, fishery, forestry, geostationary orbit, launches, Long March rocket series, mapping, new, novel coronavirus epidemic, sichuan province, Space engineers, takeoff and landing of airplanes, transportation, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

09/03/2020

British Steel: Takeover set to be completed

A Chinese firm is set to complete its takeover of British Steel on Monday.

Jingye Group previously said that it would save more than 3,000 jobs in Scunthorpe and Teesside and modernise the towns’ steelworks.

The firm reportedly offered £50m to buy the company after it collapsed and was placed under the control of the UK Insolvency Service last year.

Unions have said that nearly 500 workers could still face losing their jobs.

British Steel employed about 5,000 people at the time of its collapse, and is the second-largest steelmaker in the country.

Jingye Group, which also makes steel, has also promised to invest about £1.2bn over the next 10 years on upgrading its plants and machinery.

Jingye’s chief executive has described the deal as a “new chapter in British steelmaking”.

Uncertainty for workers

Confirmation of the takeover will follow months of uncertainty for workers. The government has kept British Steel running since last May as it looked for a buyer for the business.Jingye signed an agreement to purchase British Steel in November after talks between the Official Receiver, which handled the insolvency process, and a Turkish bidder fell apart.

Steelworker at British Steel plant in Scunthorpe — Image caption Unions have said that nearly 500 British Steel workers could still face losing their jobs

In January, the French government said it might veto the deal because it considered British Steel’s plant in Hayange a strategic national asset.

Located in north-east France, the plant is seen as important because it supplies track for the country’s railways.

Jingye’s boss said earlier this year that he remained “interested” in purchasing the plant, but has pressed on with purchasing assets in the UK and the Netherlands.

British Steel was formed in 2016 after being sold by India’s Tata for £1 to the private equity firm Greybull Capital.

It entered insolvency less than three years later. It had sought financial support from the government before it was placed in liquidation.

Analysis: Sarah Corker, BBC business correspondent

They’ve been making iron and steel in Scunthorpe for more than 150 years. This is very much a one industry town and when the steelworks struggles the whole community feels it.

The plant directly employs almost 3,000 people but supports another 20,000 jobs in the wider supply chain. From hairdressers to market traders, businesses say they’ve noticed people reining in their spending amid the ongoing uncertainty.

British Steel Scunthorpe site — Image caption The bulk of British Steel’s staff work at the Scunthorpe plant

The loss-making steel plant has had a string of owners over the decades from Corus to Tata Steel to Greybull Capital – all tried and failed to turn the business around. A fourth-generation steelworker told me back in May that it felt as though they were “staring over the edge of the abyss” as the plant was on the brink of closure with mass redundancies ahead. But – again – Scunthorpe steelworks has been rescued by a new owner at the eleventh hour promising huge investment.

There is some scepticism about how much influence China will soon have in the UK steel industry. While steelworkers are deeply relieved that the takeover is going ahead, they are asking what Jingye can and will do differently amid tough global trading conditions where many before have struggled

Source: The BBC

Posted in completed, Corus, French government, India's Tata, Takeover, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

09/03/2020

China issues new policies to fight against poverty

BEIJING, March 8 (Xinhua) — China has rolled out a slew of measures to strengthen social assistance for people most in need and fight against poverty, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said Sunday.

A census targeting poor people will be launched to ensure those eligible are covered by the social security system and have access to supportive policies, the ministry said at a teleconference on poverty relief.

Efforts will be intensified to support disadvantaged groups, including the elderly, the disabled and minors who are incapable of working, have no source of income, and have no others to rely on for support, it said.

The ministry also stressed encouraging social organizations to participate in poverty relief and accelerating the implementation of charity projects to combat poverty.

Targeted assistance will be provided for areas of extreme poverty, said the ministry, calling for more relief projects, financial support and personnel training for these regions.

Source: Xinhua

Posted in against, Census, China, fight, issues, Ministry of Civil Affairs, new, policies, poverty, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

08/03/2020

‘Kingdoms of women’: how modernity threatens Asia’s female-centric societies

Matriarchal and matrilineal communities centred around women have existed for centuries in China, India and Indonesia
But a recent influx of tourism, technology and mainstream patriarchal ideas is rapidly changing their way of life

Khasi women leave their village of Nongtraw in India’s northeastern Meghalaya state to collect herbs from the fields. Photo: AFP

While women’s rights may have become a major topic of discussion around the world in recent years, there are female-centric communities that for centuries have distinguished themselves by carving out their own feminist traditions in places such as China, India
and Indonesia.

But many of these matriarchal and matrilineal societies are now struggling to survive, amid threats posed by the modern world such as mass tourism, technology and the infiltration of ideas from mainstream patriarchal society.

In China, for instance, there is a small Mosuo tribe known as the “kingdom of women”.

“Key to the Mosuo culture is their matrilineal family structure, with a basic building block of only members sharing the same female bloodline making up the family … Any male bloodline is not taken into account,” says Choo Waihong, a former Singaporean corporate lawyer who has researched the community for the past decade.

Lugu Lake in China’s Yunnan province is home to the Mosuo tribe. Photo: hemis.fr

At the top of the hierarchy is the grandmother, who is the head of the household. “Her daughters run the home and look after all the children of the female siblings … The sons and grandsons are expected in their supporting role to shoulder the manual tasks required to maintain the farmstead,” Choo says.

Researchers say that there are about 30,000 to 40,000 Mosuo people – most of whom live in the far eastern foothills of the Himalayas in Yunnan, southwest China. This unique community has come together in a series of villages dotted around a mountain and Lugu Lake, while growing numbers have moved out to work in larger towns and cities elsewhere in the country.

According to Choo, author of the book The Kingdom of Women: Life, Love and Death in China’s Hidden Mountains, the most distinctive facet of this community that sets it apart from mainstream society is the absence of formal marriage arrangements between men and women. Instead, they have “walking marriages”, where the man goes to the woman’s home, spends the night with her and then leaves the following morning.

The Kingdom of Women: China’s ‘lost tribe’ of matriarchs, the Mosuo

15 Mar 2017

The couple can choose to have a temporary or even a permanent arrangement as partners, but they are not bound by marriage ties. If they have children, the baby belongs to the woman’s household. “In fact, the man is not considered part of the matrilineal family and his ties to the baby do not determine the social place of the baby,” the researcher says.

Such a society, where women are not subjected to men and sexual freedom is an intrinsic part of their culture, is so radically different from mainstream patriarchal family structures that the Mosuo tribe has been examined and studied over time. More recently, its unique features have also become an eye-catching selling point for the local tourism industry.

TOURISM INDUSTRY

The Mosuo tribe used to live off the land by farming, herding and hunting. But many families now rely on tourism after the tribe’s culture and Lugu Lake became more popular and widely known.

“Tour buses on fancy freeways and planes arriving at a new airport bring more and more tourists daily to turn the whole area into a busy travel playground,” Choo says. “Every household around the lake is involved one way or another with the hotel, restaurant and tour guide industries.”

While the tourism industry has brought money and better food for most families as well more access to educational opportunities for their children, it is also posing a serious threat to their culture and traditional ways of life.

“The greatest challenge for the tribe is their rapid transition from living a rudimentary subsistence farming way of life right into a burgeoning modern middle-class existence within a short span of 20 or so years,” Choo says.

Mosuo people pictured at a wedding ceremony with an all-meat feast in 2013. Photo: Shutterstock

The Mosuo are now being bombarded not only by mainstream traditional Chinese values, but also by new economic values connected to money and the digital economy. “That is a lot to take in for people who had no writing to support their oral language … and only had primary schools for their children not so long ago,” she says.

Older Mosuo are now being pushed to learn Mandarin in order to keep up with the younger generations.

At the same time, the researcher says, “their long-held cultural beliefs and principles are evolving as the young generation gets exposed to the outside world and start to question the old ways of doing things.”

How life is changing for Thailand’s Karen tribe

17 Mar 2017

Walking marriages are not as common, with more youngsters getting married and forming nuclear families. “Large matrilineal families which were the norm are now breaking up into smaller nuclear families. All this dilutes the traditional matrilineal Mosuo family structure,” Choo says.

“The central place of the female in old Mosuo society is slowly being affected, as the male Mosuo are beginning to entertain some patriarchal outlook in the face of outside cultural influences.”

China may have radically reinvented itself in recent decades, but the changes to the Mosuo tribe have been nearly as dramatic. “The world of the Mosuo when I first ventured into their midst 12 years ago is a distant past as I look [today in 2020] at how they have changed,” Choo says.

PATRIARCHY IN DISGUISE

There are dozens of female-centric communities scattered around the world. The Garo and Khasi tribes, which are also traditionally matrilineal societies, can be found mostly in India.

In a Khasi family, the youngest daughter inherits the ancestral property, while in the Garo community, women also inherit property, but don’t necessarily have to be the youngest daughter of the family.

Caroline Marak, former head of the Garo Department at the North Eastern Hill University in India, says that the Garo are female-oriented, but not female-dominated. Women “have no part in the field of administration decision-making”, she wrote in an academic paper.

In recent years, the husbands of Garo women who are property owners have had a greater say over land deals, such as with government. “We are now trying to reclaim our rights from the males,” says Sume Sangma, secretary of the Garo Mothers Union NGO. “Women in the community are self-reliant and we are fighting for their real power.”

Khasi women wash leaves for cooking in the village of Nongtraw in India’s north-eastern Meghalaya state. Photo: AFP

Tiplut Nongbri, from the Centre for North East Studies and Policy Research at the Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi, also says women don’t have much authority in Garo and Khasi societies. “Patriarchy is in disguise in both the communities. The societies are matrilineal only as far as descent, residence and inheritance of property are concerned,” she says. “Women are not allowed to take part in politics.”

RG Lyngdoh, former home minister of Meghalaya – the hilly state in north-eastern India where both communities are based – says inward migration and the presence of Christian missionaries in the state have affected traditional lifestyles. “The old practices of equity between males and females have eroded,” Lyngdoh says.

“This has led to a perception of inadequacy among the males, [creating] discord within the family, which found expression in many negative ways, such as domestic violence and abandonment of wives, which never existed within the Khasi community.”

Gertrude Lamare, a member of the Khasi-Jaintia community now pursuing her PhD in anthropology at the London School of Economics and Political Science, argues that “with families becoming more nuclear, women do have a huge role in the decision-making process”.

A Khasi woman walks in the rain with children past a paddy field along the Assam-Meghalaya state border in India. Photo: AP

Researchers have estimated that there are 1 million Garo in India and

Bangladesh

, and 1.7 million Khasi in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills.

Some of them have become increasingly wary of outsiders preying on their natural resources, which are dwindling, thanks to deforestation and climate change.

Another challenge these communities are facing has to do with the growing trend of mixed marriages. “In recent years, children of a Khasi or Garo mother and non-tribal father [have] not [been] welcomed. The males in the family want their women to marry within the tribal community,” researcher Nongbri says, noting that younger generations are going through an identity crisis.

STILL PROUD

The world’s largest known matrilineal society today is believed to be in Indonesia: the Minangkabau, also known as Minang. Their community of about 8 million is scattered around the world, but most are in Indonesia’s West Sumatra province. While traditionally animist, they were later influenced by Hinduism and Buddhism, and most have since embraced Islam.

But much like the others, their community is also changing.

Nursyirwan Effendi, dean of the Faculty of Social and Political Science at Andalas University, says that many of those who remain in villages and rural areas still hold tight to the tribe’s values.

“Women are central in the distribution of assets, such as rice fields, gardens and [houses], from their ancestors,” he says.

Dancers pose during the 2018 Minangkabau art and culture festival in Batusangkar, West Sumatra. Photo: AFP

Traditionally, Minangkabau women play an essential role in their children’s education and hold inheritance rights, while men are expected to take jobs elsewhere and occupy political and religious positions. When they do get married, the man moves to the woman’s house.

But Nursyirwan, who is of Minangkabau descent, notes that many have left for bigger cities, where they do not closely follow the community’s traditions.

An example of this is Afrianto Sikumbang, a 53-year-old businessman who was born to Minangkabau parents in West Sumatra province but now lives in the capital, Jakarta. Although he married a Minangkabau woman, he says they “don’t really apply” the tribe’s values in their daily life.

Sonya Anggraini, 35, who also works in the capital, has got used to city life, but remains proud of her ancestral roots and hopes that Minangkabau culture will persist for years to come.

“I am a member of my mother’s family, not of my father’s,” she says. ■

Source: SCMP

Posted in Andalas University, ‘Kingdoms of women’, “walking marriages”, Buddhism, capital, Centre for North East Studies and Policy Research, centuries, China, Christian missionaries, Culture, culture and traditional ways of life, DISGUISE, distribution of assets, educational opportunities, Faculty of Social and Political Science, families, farming, female-centric, Food, freeways, gardens, Garo, Garo Mothers Union NGO, grandmother, herding, hierarchy, Himalayas, Hinduism, Household, houses, hunting, India, Indonesia, islam, Jamia Millia Islamia, Karen tribe, Khasi, London School of Economics and Political Science, Lugu Lake, mainstream, Matriarchal, matrilineal communities, Minang, Minangkabau, modernity, money, Mosuo tribe, new airport, New Delhi, North Eastern Hill University, patriarchal, planes, rice fields, serious threat, sexual freedom, societies, Technology, Thailand’s, The Kingdom of Women: Life, Love and Death in China’s Hidden Mountains, threatens, Tourism, tourists, travel playground,, Uncategorized, West Sumatra, Yunnan Province | Leave a Comment »

05/03/2020

Direct shipping route links China’s Tianjin port with northern Europe

TIANJIN, March 4 (Xinhua) — German shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd AG launched a direct freight route Wednesday linking north China’s Tianjin port with northern Europe, according to the company’s local branch.

The route is expected to further increase the shipment exported from Tianjin to European ports and European goods will also arrive in Tianjin through the direct route, said Tian Liqiang, with Hapag-Lloyd’s Tianjin branch.

The port of Tianjin, a major link in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, saw its container throughput rise 8.1 percent year on year in 2019, according to the Tianjin Port Group Co. Ltd.

Headquartered in Hamburg, Hapag-Lloyd AG is a leading global liner shipping company that reaches 600 ports worldwide.

Source: Xinhua

Posted in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, China's, Direct, Europe, European goods, European ports, freight route, German, global liner shipping company, Hamburg, Hapag-Lloyd AG, Headquartered, launched, links, northern, Port, shipping giant, shipping route, throughput, Tianjin, Tianjin Port Group Co. Ltd., Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

04/03/2020

Xinhua Headlines: Guitars, roads and red tours: former revolutionary base casts off poverty

Zunyi, a former revolutionary base of the Communist Party of China in southwest China’s Guizhou Province, has cast off poverty.

Thanks to burgeoning industries, improving infrastructure and distinctive cultural tours, more than eight million people in Zunyi are living better lives.

By Xinhua writers Zhong Qun, Wang Li, Li Jingya and Liu Zhiqiang

GUIYANG, March 3 (Xinhua) — Riding on the fast development of industries, improving infrastructure and distinctive cultural tours, a former revolutionary site of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has formally cast off poverty in China’s southwestern mountains.

On Tuesday, the government of Guizhou Province announced that Zheng’an County in the province has shaken off poverty. The county is under the jurisdiction of the city of Zunyi, where the CPC conducted its early revolutionary activities. The announcement means that more than 8 million people in the entire city of Zunyi have officially bid farewell to poverty.

A view of Huamao Village of Fengxiang Township in Zunyi City, southwest China’s Guizhou Province, Feb. 28, 2020. (Xinhua/Tao Liang)

Over the years, Zunyi has taken a variety of measures in answer to China’s campaign to eradicate absolute poverty in 2020.

Major industries such as guitar-making and tea plantations powered Zunyi’s economic growth, while roads, water projects and the revolution-themed tourism also put the city, once mired in grinding poverty, on a fast track toward modernization.

GUITARS STRIKE A CHORD IN REVOLUTIONARY HEARTLAND

When Zheng Chuanjiu decided to build a guitar-making factory in Zunyi’s Zheng’an County in 2013, he was a little nervous.

“There were no raw materials, and transportation was bad,” said Zheng, 42. “But the county had advantages in land and labor and there was government support.”

Zheng, a native of the county, had found success in the guitar industry in Guangzhou, capital of south China’s Guangdong Province. He and his brother established the Guangzhou Shenqu Musical Instruments, a Guangzhou-based guitar-making company, after years of hard work in the southern metropolis.

“The county government of my hometown wanted to develop the guitar-making industry after they found many local migrant workers were working in the industry in Guangzhou,” Zheng said. “They established an industrial park and we were the first to join.”

An employee works at the workshop of Guangzhou Shenqu Musical Instruments, a Guangzhou-based guitar-making company, in Zheng’an County of Zunyi City, southwest China’s Guizhou Province, March 28, 2017. (Xinhua/Tao Liang)

The government put forward a variety of preferential policies in rents, financing and taxes, to support guitar-making companies like Zheng’s and allow the sector to prosper.

Today, Zheng’s company in the county has grown into one with an annual production value of more than 30 million U.S. dollars. One of the country’s top five guitar makers, it employs more than 500 local farmers and more than 100 poverty-stricken residents.

Zheng’s company is part of a bigger picture. The company’s success has led many to jump on the bandwagon. After years of growth, the county is now home to 64 companies specializing in guitar-related fields, churning out about 7 million guitars a year to more than 30 countries and regions across the world and employing more than 15,000 locals.

The guitar industry forms part of the government’s efforts to develop local industries. Thanks to geological advantages, the county also saw the emergence of tea gardens and traditional Chinese medicine plantations. All these sectors drove local economic growth.

A group of children trying tea-picking at Hetaoba Village in Meitan County of Zunyi City, southwest China’s Guizhou Province, April 1, 2018. (Xinhua/Yang Wenbin)

BETTER INFRASTRUCTURE, BETTER LIVES

Given the mountainous landscape in Guizhou, authorities in Zunyi knew the importance of improving infrastructure projects if they wanted to bring the local economy to the next level. So they started building new roads to facilitate transportation.

Last year, Guizhou built 8,116 km of roadways. The Guizhou provincial government spent 29.34 billion yuan (4.2 billion U.S. dollars) building the roadways, including 7,386 km in rural areas, according to the provincial highway bureau. The province also upgraded many old roadways.

The construction site of Tuanjie Grand Bridge of Renhuai-Zunyi Highway, which has resumed construction amid strict prevention measures against the novel coronavirus, in southwest China’s Guizhou Province, Feb. 27, 2020. (Xinhua/Tao Liang)

In the county of Zheng’an, for example, several major highways not only enhanced logistics to bring specialties out of town but also allowed outside investment to flow to the county tucked in the lush green mountains.

“Thanks to improved transportation conditions, our guitars can easily reach many areas in the country and around the world,” said Zheng Chuanjiu.

In Huanglian Village, rural family inns have mushroomed, as more visitors come as more roads were built. Many tourists come to enjoy the countryside scenes during the holidays.

In addition, water projects also began, bringing safe drinking water to local households.

“We used to depend on the weather for water,” said Zunyi resident Zeng Fanyun. “Now we have clean water from the taps.”

For areas deemed inhabitable, authorities moved people out.

Statistics show that Guizhou relocated 1.88 million people from inhospitable areas in 2019.

RED TOURS, GOLDEN OPPORTUNITIES

As many cities in China scramble to modernize and adopt the latest technology to power growth, Zunyi seems to have found a new way to develop itself by looking to the past.

In January 1935, an enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee took place in Zunyi during the Long March.

The meeting focused on rectifying the left-leaning errors in military and organizational affairs and established the correct leadership of the new Central Committee, as represented by Mao Zedong.

The Zunyi Meeting is regarded as a crucial turning point of the Long March, leading to the ultimate success of the Chinese revolution.

Since then, Zunyi has become a sacred place for generations of CPC members, and the footprints of the Red Army are forever imprinted on the city’s culture and spirit.

Today, local authorities are promoting “red tours” in the locality, aiming to bolster the tourism sector as part of economic growth.

Tourists are seen at the Memorial of Zunyi Meeting in Zunyi, southwest China’s Guizhou Province, Oct. 16, 2018. (Xinhua/Tao Liang)

Yang Zhirong started a family homestay in the county of Tongzi in Zunyi. The homestay is called “The Red Army Road Inn,” because it is close to the command center of a famous battle during the 1930s.

“During the summer holidays, there are barely enough rooms to accommodate all the tourists,” Yang said. “Because the Red Army used to walk near here, the visitors feel they could sense history by staying here.”

Last year, Zunyi received more than 46 million visitors for red tours, generating a revenue of about 35.5 billion yuan, up 24.1 percent year on year, according to official figures.

The red tours also prompted sales of local cultural products, such as handmade soap, wallets and fragrances, all featuring Red Army themes. Forums, hiking and even marathons feature red themes as well in Zunyi.

“Zunyi serves as a good example of the CPC’s ability and responsibility to help people live prosperous lives,” said Zheng Dongsheng, a professor with the Party School of the Guizhou Provincial Committee of the CPC. “Zunyi’s success to cast off poverty highlights the Long March spirit in the modern era.”

Source: Xinhua

Posted in "The Red Army Road Inn,", 1930s, burgeoning, casts off, Communist Party of China, cultural tours, distinctive, famous battle, footprints, former, forums, fragrances, green mountains, Guangzhou Shenqu Musical Instruments, Guitars, Guizhou Province, handmade soap, hiking, Huanglian Village, improving infrastructure, industries, Long March, Mao Zedong, marathons, Party School of the Guizhou Provincial Committee of the CPC, plantations, Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, poverty, provincial highway bureau, red tours, roads, tea gardens, the Red Army, Tongzi, Traditional Chinese medicine, transportation, Uncategorized, wallets, Zheng'an | Leave a Comment »

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