Episode 34: Inside Chinese New Year (substack.com)
As we move from the year of the tiger to the year of the rabbit, we are joined by friend of the show Professor Jinghan Zeng of Lancaster University to explain a bit more about CNY. We delve into the cultural realities of celebrating it, and hear what the event was like for him growing up in China.
After pandemic, Chinese young people decide to "live a little" (gingerriver.com)
On Thursday, China's state council held a press conference on epidemic control and prevention during the upcoming spring festival holiday. At the conference, an official from the National Health Commission said that multiple provinces had passed COVID infection peaks, and the number of patients in fever clinics and emergency clinics, as well as the number of severe cases, are steadily dropping. The current wave of infections is reaching an end, especially in big cities.
"Patient escort" -- a new occupation in China (gingerriver.com)
Patients, especially those from rural regions who are not familiar with procedures in big hospitals and the elderly who don't understand hospitals' intelligent systems well, easily get petrified in front of procedures. For example, they get lost when facing preliminary consultations with doctors, tests in different departments on different floors, and medical jargons from doctors' mouths ...
This is where "patient escorts" came in. They generally make a living by offering services that patients need in exchange for some fees. Their services include collecting medical test results at different departments, fetching prescriptions, and taking notes when the doctor communicates with the patient.
Top searches on Douyin: Spring Festival return rush, China's movie market recovery (gingerriver.com)
For the past week, people across China have been celebrating the Chinese new year, a festival of family reunion and happiness. This year, the year of Rabbit is particularly meaningful because China has relaxed its COVID measures, and many have recovered from the virus. People who haven't returned home for the last three years rushed to book tickets. People who haven't enjoyed vacation trips due to the pandemic flooded historical sites, beaches, and natural parks ... And even those who chose to stay in the city for the festival go to the cinema as they did before the pandemic.
Clayton, Christopher and Coppola, Antonio and Dos Santos, Amanda and Maggiori, Matteo and Schreger, Jesse, China in Tax Havens (January 2023). NBER Working Paper No. w30865, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4334944 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4334944
We document the rise of China in offshore capital markets. Chinese firms use global tax havens to access foreign capital both in equity and bond markets. In the last twenty years, China's presence went from raising a negligible amount of capital in these markets to accounting for more than half of equity issuance and around a fifth of global corporate bonds outstanding in tax havens. Using rich micro data, we show that a range of Chinese firms, including both tech giants and SOEs, use these offshore centers. We conclude by discussing the macroeconomic and financial stability implications of these patterns.
On January 24, the seventh Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) is held in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. Upon the invitation of President Alberto Fernández of Argentina, the rotating president of CELAC, President Xi Jinping delivered a video address at the summit.
President Xi Jinping noted that Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries are important members of the developing world. They also take an active part in global governance and make important contributions to it. CELAC has grown to be an indispensable driving force behind global South-South cooperation. CELAC has played an important role in safeguarding regional peace, promoting common development and advancing regional integration.
President Xi Jinping stressed that China always supports the regional integration process of Latin America and the Caribbean. We highly value our relations with CELAC, and take CELAC as our key partner in enhancing solidarity among developing countries and furthering South-South cooperation. That is why China has been working with LAC countries to steadily strengthen the China-CELAC Forum and take the China-LAC relationship into a new era characterized by equality, mutual benefit, innovation, openness and benefits for the people. More and more countries in the region have engaged in high-quality Belt and Road cooperation with China, supported and participated in the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative, and are working with China in building a China-LAC community with a shared future.
Second ABCF-ZISU Youth Forum
The second Forum organized jointly by the ABCF and Zhejiang International Studies University (ZISU) will be hosted online by the ABCF on Friday March 3 at 8pm Barbados time (Saturday March 4 8am in Hangzhou). The topic for discussion is “Perspectives from Caribbean youth on climate change and sustainable development”. The moderators for this forum will be Joshua Johnson and Alex Atwell, and Ivanna Odle will make a presentation to kick off the discussion. Look out for further details in the coming weeks.
Consider joining the ABCF
If you share our conviction of the importance of a deeper understanding of China and building ties of friendship with the Chinese, please consider becoming an active member of the ABCF. The annual membership fee is BDS$100, which goes entirely to the maintenance of our website and supporting the association’s ongoing work. Information on membership may be found on the ABCF website at this link.
This compilation is put together by DeLisle Worrell, President of the ABCF. Previous updates may be found at ABCF-BB.com.
The ABCF mission is to build a deeper understanding between the Chinese people and Barbadians and Caribbean people from all walks of life. The association’s focus is on personal experiences, people-to-people contact, cultural exchanges and exchanges of ideas, and the facilitation of travel, business and study. From the outset we aim to learn from and build on the experiences of the Caribbean and China, and to develop mutual understandings and support that will be to the benefit of both sides.
