Updated 14 December, 2019
Major events or changes, 2019
- Nothing significant comes to mind; apart from the drive around Belt and Road Initiative: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belt_and_Road_Initiative
Major events or changes, 2016
- Divorce is up significantly
- DIY construction, now illegal still causing many deaths due to collapse
- Muslims who are ethnic Chinese (the Hui) seem to have better deal than Uighurs; probably because of historic ability to flex.
- Chinese are largely optimistic about future unlike most other nationalities
Major changes in 2015
- Aging population could shrink workforce by 10%
- Road rage tops 17m in 2015
- Fossils found in caves rewrites ‘out of Africa’ story]
- China slaps one-year ban on ivory hunting trophies
- Fewer candidates for government employment, possibility to reduced opportunity for graft
- Fewer candidates for party membership, possibly due to party aim for quality over quantity
- Transparency International Corruption Index
- Social reform:
- China abandons one-child policy
- 13m Guangdong migrants may gain permanent residence status by 2010
- Medical insurance to increase major illnesses
- Increase in retirement age
- 1m couples apply for second child
- Evidence of increased birthrate
- Internal strife continues:
- Xinjiang :
- Continuing unrest and police reaction
- 6 shot dead
- Turkley accused of aiding dissidents / terrorists
- Tibet :
- Han officials to learn Tibetan language
- Other
- Fake Apple factory shut down
- Potatoes promoted over rice due to less use of water in growing
- Smoking ban in Beijing
- China’s drug abuse quantified and is one of world’s highest
- Plan to double number of doctors
- Xinjiang :
Major changes 2014
- Corruption: despite efforts by government to curb corruption (or possibly because of it, as the index is one of perception and not an objective measure) Transparency International Corruption Index shows China got worse in 2013/14
- Social reform:
- Four regions remove restrictions on migrant workers (hukou)
- Opening up of one-child policy, but employers discriminate women of child bearing age
- Softened one-child policy not making any impact on births
- Better educated parents resulting in better balance between baby boys and girls
- Increasing cover of serious illnesses
- Building unified pension system
- 540 mln Chinese have social security cards
- Spends billions on rural education
- Prisoners’ organs will not be harvested in future
- Tobacco tax to curb smoking and improve health
- Internal strife continues:
- Xinjiang :
- Continued violence; including assassination of pro-Chinese Imam
- More violence in Xinjiang: Unquiet on the western front
- Several more acts of terrorism
- University being funded
- Tibet :
- Railway to be extended from Tibet to Pakistan
- Xinjiang :
- China to launch nationwide safety overhaul
- Continued poor safety record – China energy safety probe exposes 20,000 potential risks
- Increased push to urbanization
- Animal rights on increase
- China’s first ‘ivory crush’ signals it may join global push to protect African elephants
- PLA to admit shorter, fatter recruits
- At 97m and growing, China has most outbound tourists
Major changes 2013
- A new Chinese Dream
- Social reform:
- David Beckham Chinese football ambassador role
- Internal strife continues:
- Xinjiang :
- http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/30/us-china-xinjiang-idUSBRE9BT02V20131230
- http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/16/us-china-xinjiang-idUSBRE9BF02R2013121http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-24976925
- http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/27/world/asia/china-xinjiang-violence/
- http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/29/world/asia/beijing-restricts-coverage-after-car-explodes-at-forbidden-city.html?_r=0
- Tibet :
- http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/07/us-china-tibet-idUSBRE9160CT20130207
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-25195006
- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/tibet/10117850/Dalai-Lama-doubts-effect-of-Tibetan-self-immolations.html
- http://www.thetibetpost.com/en/news/tibet/3676–china-detains-popular-writer-and-his-colleague-over-unrest-in-tibet
- Xinjiang :
- Labour force peaking
- Continued poor safety record, examples:
- Fire ripped through a poultry plant in Dehui City in northeast China’s Jilin Province:
- Explosion on section of Sinopec’s underground pipeline in the eastern city of Qingdao in Shandong Province:
- Mining disasters
- Airline crash
- Used cars outpaces new cars
- Increased push to urbanization
- Badly behaving Chinese tourists abroad
- Outbound Chinese tourists reached 37.92 million in the first five months
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