31/05/2020
BEIJING, May 31 (Xinhua) — The U.S. government has been slammed at home and abroad after announcing on Friday “terminating” its relationship with the World Health Organization (WHO).
U.S. health experts and lawmakers have expressed concern over the decision announced by President Donald Trump amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
Patrice Harris, president of the American Medical Association, described Trump’s move as a “senseless” action with “significant, harmful repercussions.”
“COVID-19 affects us all and does not respect borders; defeating it requires the entire world working together,” Harris was quoted by CNN as saying, urging Trump to reverse the course.
Lawrence Gostin, a professor of global health law and director of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University, described the move as “foolish and arrogant” in his Twitter account.
“Trump’s action is an enormous disruption and distraction during an unprecedented health crisis,” said Gostin, also the director of the WHO collaborating center on national and global health law. “The President has made us less safe.”
Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia said that “the United States cannot eliminate this virus on its own and to withdraw from the World Health Organization — the world’s leading public health body — is nothing short of reckless,” according to a CNN report.
Even within the Republican party, some Republicans also expressed their disagreement. Senate Health Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander reportedly said he disagreed with Trump’s decision, because, without U.S. funding, clinical trials to develop a COVID-19 vaccine might be hampered.
In addition, the European Union (EU) has urged the United States to reconsider its termination of ties with the WHO, warning that Trump’s move would erode global efforts to curb the spread of the virus.
“The WHO needs to continue being able to lead the international response to pandemics, current and future. For this, the participation and support of all is required and very much needed. In the face of this global threat, now is the time for enhanced cooperation and common solutions. Actions that weaken international results must be avoided,” Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, and Josep Borrell, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said in the statement on Saturday.
“In this context, we urge the U.S. to reconsider its announced decision,” the statement said.
German Health Minister Jens Spahn tweeted that Trump’s move was “a disappointing backlash for International Health.”
“The EU must take a leading role and engage more financially,” Spahn said, noting that this would be one of Germany’s priorities when it becomes the bloc’s rotating presidency on July 1.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesperson said earlier that Britain “has no plans to stop funding the WHO, which has an important role to play in leading the global health response.”
“Coronavirus is a global challenge and it is essential that countries work together to tackle this shared threat,” the spokesperson was quoted by The Guardian as saying.
Irish Minister for Health Simon Harris on Friday described Trump’s move as an “awful decision.”
“A global pandemic requires the world working together … We should unite in our fight against it (COVID-19) & not fight each other,” Harris tweeted.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told TASS news agency that Washington “dealt a blow” to the international framework for cooperation in healthcare at the moment when the world needed to join forces.
Source: Xinhua
Posted in "awful decision.", "dealt a blow", "eliminate", "foolish and arrogant", "senseless" action, "terminating", abroad, American Medical Association, announcing, at home, Beijing, blast, Boris Johnson's spokesperson, Britain, British Prime Minister, clinical trials, CNN, cooperation, COVID-19 outbreak, COVID-19 vaccine, Democratic Senator, disagreement, disappointing backlash, disruption, distraction, enormous, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, European Commission, European Union (EU), expressed, faces, Georgetown University, German Health Minister, Germany's, global health law, hampered, health crisis, healthcare, international framework, International Health, Irish Minister for Health, lawmakers, leading public health body, O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, on its own, President Donald Trump, priorities, reckless, reconsider, relationship, Republican Party, Republicans, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Senate Health Committee, significant, harmful repercussions, slammed, termination, The Guardian, ties, to join forces, to withdraw, tweeted, Twitter, U.S. funding, U.S. government, U.S. health experts, Uncategorized, United States, unprecedented, Washington, WHO, World, World Health Organization, World Health Organization (WHO) |
Leave a Comment »
11/05/2020
- Sales in April hit 2.07 million units in the world’s biggest car market, up 4.4 per cent from a year earlier, according to the country’s largest industry association
- The number of new energy vehicles (NEVs) sold fell for a tenth straight month to
The global industry has been hit hard by the health crisis, but there is growing optimism of improvement in business in China as the country has largely contained the outbreak and started easing lockdown measures. Photo: AFP
China’s monthly car sales rose for the first time in almost two years in April, industry data showed, as more customers visited showrooms after the economy began to open up and authorities loosened coronavirus-related travel restrictions.
Sales in April hit 2.07 million units in the world’s biggest car market, up 4.4 per cent from a year earlier, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the country’s largest industry association.
This follows a 43 per cent drop in March and a sharper 79 per cent plunge in February
as the pandemic pummelled demand. Monthly sales in China last rose in June 2018.
The number of new energy vehicles (NEVs) sold fell for a tenth straight month to 72,000 units, the data showed. NEVs include battery-powered electric, plug-in hybrid and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles.
The global industry has been hit hard by the health crisis, but there is growing optimism of
improvement in business in China as the country has largely contained the outbreak and started easing lockdown measures.
Volkswagen reported positive China sales in April, while General Motors’ China ventures saw double-digit year-on-year growth last month.
Source: SCMP
Posted in 2018, almost, April, authorities, car, China, China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, coronavirus, coronavirus-related, customers, demand, eased, economy, February, first, gain, General Motors, global industry, health crisis, hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, June, largest industry association, lockdown, Mark, new energy vehicles (NEVs), outbreak, pandemic, Plug-in hybrid, pummelled, restrictions, Sales, showrooms, travel restrictions, two years, Uncategorized, Volkswagen, world’s biggest car market |
Leave a Comment »
04/05/2020
BEIJING (Reuters) – Tang Yue, a 27-year-old teacher from the city of Guilin in southwest China, steam-presses a blue dress and takes dozens of photographs before picking one to clinch her 200th online sale.
For a growing number of Chinese like Tang, hit by job losses, furloughs and salary cuts, the consumer economy has begun to spin in reverse. They are no longer buying – they are selling.
Instead of emerging from the coronavirus epidemic and returning to the shopping habits that helped drive the world’s second-largest economy, many young people are offloading possessions and embracing a new-found ethic for hard times: less is more.
With Tang’s monthly salary of about 7,000 yuan ($988), the self-described shopaholic said she has bought everything from Chanel lipsticks to Apple’s (AAPL.O) latest iPad in the past three years.
But the adrenaline rush that comes with binge-shopping is gone, said Tang, whose wages have been slashed with the suspension of all the classes on tourism management she usually teaches.
“The coronavirus outbreak was a wake-up call,” she said. “When I saw the collapse of so many industries, I realised I had no financial buffer should something unfortunate happen to me.”
There is no guarantee that the nascent minimalist trend will continue once the coronavirus crisis is fully over, but if it does, it could seriously damage China’s consumer sector and hurt thousands of businesses from big retailers to street-corner restaurants, gyms and beauty salons.
To be sure, there are signs that pent-up demand will drive a rush of spending as authorities reopen malls, leisure venues and tourist spots. In South Korea, the first major economy outside of China to be hit by the virus, people thronged malls this weekend to go “revenge shopping” to make up for time lost in lockdown.,
There are some signs that a similar trend will take hold in China, where some upscale malls are starting to get busy, although luxury firm Kering SA (PRTP.PA) – which owns Gucci, Balenciaga and other fashion brands – has said it is hard to predict how or when sales in China might come back.
A recent McKinsey & Co survey showed that between 20% and 30% of respondents in China said they would continue to be cautious, either consuming slightly less or, in a few cases, a lot less.
“The lockdown provided consumers with a lot of time and reasons to reflect and consider what is important to them,” said Mark Tanner, managing director at Shanghai-based research and marketing consultancy China Skinny.
“With much more of their days spent in their homes, consumers also have more time and reasons to sort through things they don’t feel they need – so they’re not living around clutter that is common in many apartments.”
#DITCHYOURSTUFF
Tang made a spreadsheet to keep track of her nearly 200 cosmetic products and hundreds of pieces of clothing. She then marked a few essentials in red that she wanted to keep. In the past two months, she has sold items worth nearly 5,000 yuan on second-hand marketplaces online.
Bargain-hunting online has become a new habit for some Chinese as the stigma that once hung over second-hand goods has begun to fade.
Idle Fish, China’s biggest online site for used goods, hit a record daily transaction volume in March, its parent company Alibaba (BABA.N) told Reuters.
Government researchers predict that transactions for used goods in China may top 1 trillion yuan ($141 billion) this year.
Posts with the hashtag #ditchyourstuff have trended on Chinese social media in recent weeks, garnering more than 140 million views.
Jiang Zhuoyue, 31, who works as an accountant at a traditional Chinese medicine company in Beijing – one of the few industries that may benefit from the health crisis – has also decided to turn to a simpler life.
“I used to shop too much and could be easily lured by discounts,” said Jiang. “One time Sephora offered 20% off for all goods, I then bought a lot of cosmetics because I feel I’m losing money if I don’t.”
Jiang, the mother of a 9-month-old baby, said she recently sold nearly 50 pieces of used clothing as the lockdown gave her the opportunity to clear things out. “It also offered me a chance to rethink what’s essential to me, and the importance of doing financial planning,” she said.
Eleven Li, a 23-year-old flight attendant, said she used to spend her money on all manner of celebrity-endorsed facial masks, snacks, concert tickets and social media activity, but now has no way to fund her spending.
“I just found a new job late last year, then COVID-19 came along, and I haven’t been able to fly once since I joined, and I’ve gotten no salary at all,” said Li, who said she was trying to sell her Kindle.
Some are even selling their pets, as they consider leaving big cities like Beijing and Shanghai where the high cost of living is finally catching up with them.
NO RETURN TO OLD WAYS?
As the coronavirus comes under control in China, the government is gradually releasing cities from lockdown, easing transport restrictions and encouraging consumers to venture back into malls and restaurants by giving out billions-worth of cash vouchers, worth between 10 yuan and 100 yuan.
But many people say they are still worried about job security and potential wage cuts because of the struggling economy. Nationwide retail sales have plunged every month so far this year.
Xu Chi, a Shanghai-based senior strategic analyst with Zhongtai Securities, said some Chinese consumers may prove the ‘21 Day Habit Theory,’ a popular scientific proposition that it only takes that long to establish new habits.
“We believe people’s spending patterns follow the well-known theory, which means most people in China, having been cooped-up at home for more than a month and not having binge-shopped, may break the habit and not return to their old ways,” Xu said.
Jiang said she was determined not to return to her free-spending ways and planned to cook more at home.
“I’ll turn to cheaper goods for some luxury brands,” she said. “I’ll choose Huawei’s smartphone, because (Apple’s) iPhone has too much brand premium.”
Tang, who has recently used 100 yuan of shopping coupons to stock up on food, is going to hold the purse strings even tighter.
“I’ve set my monthly budget at 1,000 yuan,” she said. “Including one – and just one – bottle of bubble tea.”
Source: Reuters
Posted in #ditchyourstuff, 1,000 yuan, 200th, accountant, adrenaline, Alibaba (BABA.N), apartments, Apple’s, Apple’s (AAPL.O), authorities, ‘21 Day Habit Theory,’, “revenge shopping”, Balenciaga, Bargain-hunting, beauty salons, Beijing, big cities, big retailers, biggest online site, binge-shopping, blue dress, bottle, bought, brand premium, bubble tea, businesses, buying, cash vouchers, cautious, celebrity-endorsed, Chanel, China, China Skinny, China's, China’s, Chinese, Chinese social media, City, classes, collapse, Company, concert tickets, Consumer economy, consumer sector, coronavirus crisis, coronavirus epidemic, coronavirus outbreak, cosmetic products, cost of living, COVID-19, daily, damage, Dozens, drive, economy, embracing, emerging, essentials, establish, ethic, every month, everything, facial masks, fashion brands, financial buffe, Flight attendant, Food, furloughs, garnering, Government, growing, guarantee, Guilin, gyms, hard times, hashtag, health crisis, helped, high, hit by, how or when, Huawei's, hurt, Idle Fish, industries, iPad, IPhone, job losses, Job security, Kering SA (PRTP.PA), Kindle, leisure venues, less is more, lipsticks, lockdown, luxury firm, Major, make up, malls, March, McKinsey & Co, minimalist, monthly budget, monthly salary, nascent, nationwide, new-found, number, offloading, online sale, outside, owns, parent company, pent-up demand, People, pets, photographs, picking, pieces of clothing, plunged, popular, possessions, posts, predict, proposition, prove, purse strings, realised, recent, record, red, reopen, research and marketing consultancy, researchers, respondents, restaurants, retail sales, returning, Reuters, reverse, rush, salary cuts, scientific, second-hand goods, second-hand marketplaces, self-described, selling, senior, Shanghai, Shanghai-based, shopaholic, shopping coupons, shopping habits, slashed, smartphone, snacks, so far, social media activity, South Korea, Southwest China, spenders, spending, spreadsheet, sputters, steam-presses, stigma, strategic analyst, street-corner, survey, suspension, teacher, teaches, this year, Thousands, thronged, time lost, to clinch, to spin, tourism management, tourist spots, Traditional Chinese medicine, transaction, trend, trended, trillion yuan, Uncategorized, unfortunate, used goods, views, Virus, volume, wage cuts, wages, weekend, weeks, world’s second-largest economy, young, yuan |
Leave a Comment »
25/04/2020
- But trade with partner countries might not be as badly affected as with countries elsewhere in the world, observers say
- China’s trade with belt and road countries rose by 3.2 per cent in the January-March period, but second-quarter results will depend on how well they manage to contain the pathogen, academic says
China’s investment in foreign infrastructure as part of its Belt and Road Initiative has been curtailed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Photo: Xinhua
The
coronavirus pandemic is set to cause a slump in Chinese investment in its signature
and a dip in trade with partner countries that could take a year to overcome, analysts say.
But the impact of the health crisis on China’s economic relations with nations involved in the ambitious infrastructure development programme might not be as great as on those that are not.
China’s total foreign trade in the first quarter of 2020 fell by 6.4 per cent year on year, according to official figures from Beijing.
Trade with the United States, Europe and Japan all dropped in the period, by 18.3, 10.4 and 8.1 per cent, respectively, the commerce ministry said.
By comparison, China’s trade with belt and road countries increased by 3.2 per cent in the first quarter, although the growth figure was lower than the 10.8 per cent reported for the whole of 2019.
China’s trade with 56 belt and road countries – located across Africa, Asia,
Europe and South America – accounts for about 30 per cent of its total annual volume, according to the commerce ministry.
Despite the first-quarter growth, Tong Jiadong, a professor of international trade at Nankai University in Tianjin, said he expected China’s trade with belt and road countries to fall by between 2 and 5 per cent this year.
His predictions are less gloomy than the 13 to 32 per cent contraction in global trade forecast for this year by the
World Trade Organisation.
“A drop in [China’s total] first-quarter trade was inevitable but it slowly started to recover as it resumed production, especially with Southeast Asian, Eastern European and Arab countries,” Tong said.
“The second quarter will really depend on how the epidemic is contained in belt and road countries.”
Nick Marro, Hong Kong-based head of global trade at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said he expected China’s total overseas direct investment to fall by about 30 per cent this year, which would be bad news for the belt and road plan.
“This will derive from a combination of growing domestic stress in China, enhanced regulatory scrutiny over Chinese investment in major international markets, and weakened global economic prospects that will naturally depress investment demand,” he said.
The development of the Chinese built and operated special economic zone in the Cambodian town of Sihanoukville is reported to have slowed, while infrastructure projects in Bangladesh, including the Payra coal-fired power plant, have been put on hold.
The development of the Chinese built and operated special economic zone in the Cambodian town of Sihanoukville is reported to have slowed. Photo: AFP
Marro said the reduction of capital and labour from China might complicate other projects for key belt and road partner, like Pakistan, which is home to infrastructure projects worth tens of billions of US dollars, and funded and built in large part by China.
“Pakistan looks concerning, particularly in terms of how we’ve assessed its sovereign and currency risk,” Marro said.
“Public debt is high compared to other emerging markets, while the coronavirus will push the budget deficit to expand to 10 per cent of GDP [gross domestic product] this year.”
Last week, Pakistan asked China for a 10-year extension to the repayment period on US$30 billion worth of loans used to fund the development of infrastructure projects, according to a report by local newspaper Dawn.
China’s overseas investment has been falling steadily from its peak in 2016, mostly as a result of Beijing’s curbs on capital outflows.
Last year, the direct investment by Chinese companies and organisations other than banks in belt and road countries fell 3.8 per cent from 2018 to US$15 billion, with most of the money going to South and Southeast Asian countries, including Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia and Pakistan.
Tong said the pandemic had made Chinese investors nervous about putting their money in countries where disease control measures were becoming increasingly stringent, but added that the pause in activity would give all parties time to regroup.
“Investment in the second quarter will decline and allow time for the questions to be answered,” he said.
“Past experience along the belt and road has taught many lessons to both China and its partners, and forced them to think calmly about their own interests. The epidemic provides both parties with a good time for this.”
Dr Frans-Paul van der Putten, a senior research fellow at Clingendael Institute in the Netherlands, said China’s post-pandemic strategy for the
belt and road in Europe
might include a shift away from investing in high-profile infrastructure projects like ports and airports.
Investors might instead cooperate with transport and logistics providers rather than invest directly, he said.
“Even though in the coming years the amount of money China loans and invests abroad may be lower than in the peak years around 2015-16, I expect it to maintain the belt and road plan as its overall strategic framework for its foreign economic relations,” he said.
Source: SCMP
Posted in 10-year, 2018, 2019, 2020, 30, academic, according, accounts, across, activity, africa, airports, allow, ambitious, analysts, annual volume, answered, Arab countries, Asia, bad news, Bangladesh, because, Beijing, Belt and Road Initiative, belt and road plan, billion, billions, budget deficit, Cambodian, capital, capital outflows, cause, China, China’s, Chinese, Clingendael Institute, combination, Commerce Ministry, compared, comparison, complicate, contained, contraction, cooperate, coronavirus, Coronavirus pandemic, countries, curbs, Currency, curtailed, Dawn, decline, demand, depend, depress, derive, development, dip, direct investment, disease control measures, domestic stress, dropped, Eastern European, economic prospects, economic relations, Economist Intelligence Unit, elsewhere, Emerging markets, enhanced, epidemic, especially, Europe, extension, fall, falling, Fell, figure, first-quarter, forecast, foreign, foreign trade, GDP [gross domestic product], global trade, gloomy, great, growth, health crisis, high, impact, increased, increasingly, Indonesia, inevitable, Infrastructure, infrastructure projects, international markets, International trade, Investment, investors, involved, January, Japan, Labour, last week, loans, local newspaper, located, logistics, lower, Major, manage, March, might not, nations, naturally, nervous, Netherlands, observers, official figures, on hold, other, overall strategic framework, overcome, overseas, Pakistan, pandemic, parties, partner, pathogen, pause, Payra coal-fired power plant,, per cent, Period, ports, predictions, production, professor, programme, providers, Public debt, put, questions, recover, reduction, regroup, regulatory scrutiny, repayment, reported, results, resumed, Risk, second-quarter, signature, Singapore, slowed, slower, slump, South, South America, Southeast Asian, sovereign, special economic zone, stringent, take, this year, Tianjin, time, Total, town, Trade, Transport, Uncategorized, United States, US dollars, US$30, Vietnam, weakened, while, World, world trade organisation, worth, year, year-on-year |
Leave a Comment »
CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon 