China’s Electrified Future, Covid-19 and More, Week 6 Update

China is providing the world a roadmap to an electrified future – The China Project

Clean and affordable private transportation is the element missing from so many urban plans for more climate-friendly living. With its rail system, public transportation, and abundance of electric two-wheelers, China is offering the developing world a model for transitioning into clean energy.

Falling: China's COVID-19 cases

CGTN, February 10, 202
China's COVID-19 cases fell to their lowest level on February 6 since December 9, 2022, official data showed on Wednesday. 
Based on PCR test results, the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases in China reached a peak (6.94 million) on December 22, 2022, then fluctuated and fell to a two month low on February 6, 2023 (9,000), the Chinese Center for Disease Control (China CDC) said.
Latest data: 

• Among those taking rapid antigen tests, reported positive cases also fell to new lows on February 6 to 784 after peaking on December 22, 2022
• According to the CDC data, the major virus strains circulating in the country are still BA.5.2 and BF.7 and their sub-variant strains
• It appears that BF.7 and its sub-variants take predominance in Beijing, Tianjin and Inner Mongolia, while BA.5.2 and its sub-variants take more advantage in other provinces
• No new variant emerged in Beijing's latest COVID-19 outbreak: study

China invites EU to lift sanctions simultaneously (pekingnology.com)

On February 8, 2023, Ambassador Fu Cong, Head of the Chinese Mission to the EU, spoke at the “Sixty-Minute Briefing” organized by the European Policy Center (EPC) and, ON THE RECORD, invited the EU to lift sanctions simultaneously so as to find a way for the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) between China and the EU.

The European side has put CAI on hold in the aftermath of simultaneous sanctions, where Beijing announced sanctions on European entities and individuals, including Members of the European Parliament (MEPs).

The private sector’s share of China’s largest listed companies continued to decline to 43 percent in the second half of 2022 | PIIE

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The private sector's share of aggregate market value dropped 1.7 percentage points in the second half of 2022, to 42.8 percent at year-end.
• The private sector's share of China's largest firms has been falling since mid-2021 but remains higher than it was throughout the 2010s.
• Whether China increases government regulation of the economy is unclear, but the data suggest that although private sector growth has slowed, leading private companies remain dynamic and valuable.

China invites EU to lift sanctions simultaneously (pekingnology.com)

On February 8, 2023, Ambassador Fu Cong, Head of the Chinese Mission to the EU, spoke at the “Sixty-Minute Briefing” organized by the European Policy Center (EPC) and, ON THE RECORD, invited the EU to lift sanctions simultaneously so as to find a way for the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) between China and the EU.

The European side has put CAI on hold in the aftermath of simultaneous sanctions, where Beijing announced sanctions on European entities and individuals, including Members of the European Parliament (MEPs).

Top dogs, rat race, leapfrogging -- A look behind provincial GDP figures in China (gingerriver.com)

China's optimization on its COVID response has set free the vigor, resilience, and yearning for economic growth long suppressed by stringent pandemic measures. Eager to kickstart production and dislodge the hanging gloom over consumer confidence, city and provincial administrations are now launching every means of stimulation, whether it targets consumption, foreign trade, or foreign investments.

Reviving China’s economy through reform, opening-up: Views from Prof. Zheng Yongnian (gingerriver.com)

Zheng Yongnian, the Presidential Chair Professor and the Founding Director of the Advanced Institute of Global and Contemporary China Studies (GCCS), the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-SZ), regards development as the principal cure for most of the problems China has faced. That is why the country must not lose sight of the big picture by dwelling on fragmentary impediments and devising stopgap solutions to the present little problems. Problems will be sorted out in the process of development, Zheng points out, and that makes "development" the rightful focus of China's blueprints.

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This compilation is put together by DeLisle Worrell, President of the ABCF. Previous updates may be found at ABCF-BB.com.