China news roundup / Nachrichten 2024-03-02/03
Could China miss its GDP growth target in 2024?
"Leading up to this year's two sessions, many analysts have expected the world's second largest economy to set the goal at 5% — the same as last year.
Beating the 2023 target with a 5.2% economic growth based on official data, China's central bank has stated in a report that "looking ahead to 2024, there is a hopeful expectation for a further improvement and recovery in the country's economy."
But compared to last year, experts have argued that this year would be much more difficult for China to surpass or even meet a 5% economic target."
--- Phhh... CCP numbers are mere fantasy, anyway. So, unless there are major external effects, they will proclaim success, no matter which target they set.
"Xu Chenggang, a senior research scholar at Stanford Center on China's Economy and Institutions, told DW that official figures from the Chinese Communist Party normally failed to reflect reality.
"The actual situation is that the growth in 2022 was negative, and the growth in 2023 was less than 1%," he said, referring to data from different industries he has observed over the past few years."
--- That's probably closer to the truth.
Intrigue swirls about possible reshuffles as China’s parliament convenes
"The nearly 3,000 NPC delegates can amend the constitution, enact new legislation, approve the government budget and fill vacancies in state offices. But in reality the NPC is a rubber-stamp parliament. It has never voted down any item on the agenda, and the Communist party (CCP) holds the ultimate power over the state.
Nevertheless, it is a keenly watched political event."
--- By soothsayers, mostly.
I doubt that there will be any major surprises. But who knows... Rather wait & see.
China’s economy will probably get worse before it gets better
"consumption still suffers from deceleration due to fading “animal spirits”, a term economists use to describe the sentiment and future expectations that drive consumers' decisions"
--- They do?
"There are expectations for the Chinese government to do more to boost the economy."
--- Well, these expectations have been there for more than a year. Yawn...
These Video Doorbells Have Terrible Security. Amazon Sells Them Anyway.
"The doorbells also lack a visible ID issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that’s required by the agency’s regulations, making them illegal to distribute in the U.S.
Thousands of these video doorbells are sold each month on Amazon and other online marketplaces, including Walmart, Sears, and the globally popular marketplaces Shein and Temu. Experts say they’re just a drop in the flood of cheap, insecure electronics from Chinese manufacturers being sold in the U.S.
[...] The vulnerabilities CR found could allow a dangerous person to take control of the video doorbell on their target’s home, watching when they and their family members come and go.
[...] Anyone who can physically access one of the doorbells can take over the device—no tools or fancy hacking skills needed.
[...] He’d simply need to create an account on the Aiwit smartphone app, then go to his target’s home and hold down the doorbell button to put it into pairing mode. He could then connect the doorbell to a WiFi hotspot and take control of the device.
As the new "owner" of the device, he could now watch who comes and goes, and when.
And he can see the device’s serial number. That’s dangerous because of the company’s poor security systems.
When the stalker pairs the device to his phone, the original owner will get an email saying she no longer has access to the device. That might seem like a small technological glitch she can solve by simply re-pairing the device with her own phone, taking back control.
But once the stalker has the serial number, he can continue to remotely access still images from the video feed."
--- I said it before, I say it again: Don't buy any software or any electronics connected to the internet if it's from a Chinese company. Even if there are no deliberate backdoors or such, the safety is usually abysmal.
--- China Uncensored: "200+ Fires in Two Weeks in China?"
--- WION: India seizes dual-use items bound for Pakistan from China
MNDAA and junta agree to pull troops from frontlines and safeguard China interests
--- Safeguard China's interests. That's what all of China's foreign policy is about.
Showrooms in der City statt Autohaus am Stadtrand
"NIO verfolgt ein völlig neues Verkaufskonzept. Im Showroom finden sich nicht nur Autos. Jeder kann hier reinspazieren und einen Kaffee schlürfen, kostenlos in Co-Working-Spaces arbeiten, Meetings abhalten und dabei seine Kinder in einer Art chinesischem Smaland abgeben. Ziel ist es, eine Kunden-Community aufzubauen, die früher oder später einen NIO kauft und der Marke ein Leben lang treu bleibt.
[...] Zurück zum Showroom von NIO. Der chinesische E-Auto-Hersteller betreibt in der Frankfurter Innenstadt den größten Aufwand. Es gebe eine Zusicherung aus China, den Showroom noch mehrere Jahre zu betreiben, auch wenn die Absatzzahlen im Moment noch schlecht sind, sagt NIO-Regionalmanager Stephane Burger."
--- Geld verdienen? Unerheblich. Die KPCh (& Alliierte) sind bereit, gewaltige Summen da reinzustecken, um erstmal Marktanteile zu erobern & dann ausländische Konkurrenten zu verdrängen.
Im Augenblick klappt das aber noch nicht so richtig:
"Doch wie es aussieht, ist die Angst vor dem chinesischen Drachen etwas verfrüht. NIO verkündet zwar, fünf Automodelle erfolgreich auf dem deutschen Markt platziert zu haben. Die Zahl der Neuzulassungen im vergangenen Jahr sind aber eher bescheiden, da haben sogar Mitbewerber die Nase vorn.
Eine Recherche des Hessischen Rundfunks hat ergeben, dass der schwedisch-chinesische Hersteller Polestar im Jahr 2024 bislang 6.288 Autos neu zugelassen hat, BYD 4.139 und NIO tatsächlich nur 1.263. Im Vergleich verkaufen deutsche Hersteller immer noch viel mehr: VW hat über 70.000 E-Autos neu zugelassen, Mercedes über 36.000 und Opel kommt auf 27.765."
--- Der Untergang ist nah.
China startet neue Vermittlungsmission
Unter einem Euro Lohn pro Fahrt: So schlecht geht es Lieferboten in China
