China news roundup / Nachrichten 2024-03-01

2 months ago

China’s factories send mixed signals about the economy, pressing Beijing to do more

"fueling calls for Beijing to do more to boost growth"

--- Groundhog day?

"The National Bureau of Statistics reported Friday that the official Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) of activity at mainly large, state-owned manufacturers dropped to 49.1 last month, down from 49.2 in January. It was the fifth consecutive month the index has shown a reading below 50, indicating contraction in the sector.
But the Caixin manufacturing PMI — which focuses on smaller, private companies — rose to 50.9 in February, up from 50.8 in January, according to S&P Global, which compiled the survey"

--- Virtually no change. Still recession (IMO).

"“The fact that the significant divergence between the two manufacturing PMIs has lasted for four months in a row may be a sign of structural shifts in the economy,” Goldman Sachs analysts said on Friday.
The divergence in the output and new order sub-indexes is likely related to differences in geographic and sector coverage, as the Caixin PMI covers more southern regions, they said. Southern China is home to key export hubs in Guangdong and Zheijang."

--- Zhejiang is not southern, but eastern. Anyway, east & south coast are indeed export hubs. If (!) there really is such a divergence, that doesn't bode well for inland China. It would mean that they are falling even further behind.

"total new orders growing more slowly than output, prices remaining subdued, and employment continuing to contract"

--- Smells like recession.

US says falling trade with China could be positive

""Last year's decline in U.S.-China trade does appear to be a sign that both economies are moving away from each other"
"But if you look at the increased imports from Southeast Asia into the United States, it appears that a good part of that increase is coming from Chinese companies that have either moved production or are simply moving their products through third countries in order to circumvent tariffs or other restrictions.""

--- Similar to Mexico's numbers. Which, btw, makes it rather more dubious that it's exactly Chinese export regions which would have a positive development.

China Should Be Held to Account for Its Companies’ Labor Abuses Abroad

"Of course the employers shoulder much of the blame for these abuses, but it would be a mistake to believe they are the only ones responsible. Host countries also have a large part to play in minimizing the extent of labor violations."

--- Well, if you let Chinese companies import their workers from China, the bribes were probably so substantial that you let them do whatever they want, anyway.

"Chinese companies – particularly SOEs – are, in multiple ways, intimately connected with the CCP. These entities have the expressed need to follow the Chinese government’s “leadership” and protect China’s policy and economic interests. It is, in fact, more appropriate to understand Chinese SOEs as extended branches of the Chinese government"

--- Yep.

"labor rights abuses are common in Chinese-run companies overseas, overshadowing the “China Image” that PBW tries to create. Long hours, wage withholding, poor living and working conditions, and poor health and safety protection and forced labor are endemic to Chinese companies. Passport confiscation is a common practice to strip workers of the freedom to leave and select new employers. Physical segregation is devised to ensure Chinese workers are isolated from local workers and local communities. Chinese living quarters are usually enclosed compounds with strict entrance and exit controls, and Chinese workers often report facing repercussions for speaking to the outside world about their mistreatment.
All of these conditions are occurring even though Chinese management is supposed to abide by Chinese labor laws."

--- To be fair, working conditions in China are not much better.

Ukrainian YouTuber Finds Her AI Clone Selling Russian Goods on Chinese Internet

"Speaking Mandarin and promoting love for China, countless videos of foreign-looking women made with artificial intelligence started popping up on Chinese social media platforms around the Lunar New Year earlier this month.
The avatars in the videos are created with online images that are stolen, reproduced and repurposed so that even the women in real life recognize themselves in the videos."

--- A sign of things to come. This will only get worse in the coming years. It's probably only a matter of time until Western social media will be flooded by AI-generated CCP propaganda.

--- China Uncensored features the usual weekend news variety:

--- DW News: "Is China's 40-year experiment with the West over?"

--- DW Documentary: "Ecuador - A country fights exploitation by China"

Chinas Industrieproduktion sinkt fünften Monat in Folge

"Die Produktion im verarbeitenden Gewerbe in China ist im Februar den fünften Monat in Folge zurückgegangen. Der sogenannte Einkaufsmanagerindex (PMI), den die nationale Statistikbehörde am Freitag veröffentlichte, lag bei 49,1 Punkten. Ein Wert unter 50 bedeutet einen Rückgang der Produktionsaktivität. Seit März 2023 lag der Index nur einen Monat - im vergangenen September - im positiven Bereich."

--- Steigende Arbeitslosigkeit, fallende Preise, fallende Produktion, aber - hey! - alles ist OK. Von Rezession keine Spur. Ganz bestimmt.