Month: January 2025

OVER THE past decade, as Chinese governance has become more politicised and a fear of punishment has taken hold, local officials have changed the way they do things. Many are holding more meetings and issuing more documents—but much of this is just show, according to Hanyu Zhao, a scholar who tracks the bureaucracy. The burden of looking busy is often passed down to lower-level cadres, some of whom, at least, are getting creative. In one example highlighted by Ms Zhao, a group of them were required to hold two (unnecessary)…

ANAESTHETICS THAT don’t put patients to sleep. Laxatives that fail to clear bowels. Blood-pressure medication with little effect. These are some of the problems that doctors have encountered in China’s public hospitals. They have been speaking out in recent weeks, questioning the quality of the country’s drugs and urging reform of the government’s procurement programme. The public has chimed in, too. “Medicine that doesn’t work, no matter how cheap, is useless,” wrote one user of Weibo, a social-media platform. The Economist

EVEN AS AMERICA’S relationship with China enters a new, less predictable era, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping see the value in talking. On January 17th the leaders had a “very good” phone call, wrote Mr Trump on social media. Chinese diplomats said the two agreed to “keep in regular touch on major issues” and committed to work together for “world peace”. The Economist

CHINA’S STATE media were not impressed by Donald Trump’s first days back in charge of the country’s great geopolitical rival. Xinhua, the official news service, grumbled that Mr Trump’s policies have become more “unilateral and hegemonic”. It cited a Cuban researcher who said the president’s abrupt reversal of his predecessor’s policies weakened America’s “national credibility and international trustworthiness”. A scholar from Mexico, quoted in the same article, complained of America’s rising expansionism. The Economist

China’s announcement on January 17th that its economy had grown by an estimated 5% in 2024, right on target, was greeted with widespread disbelief on the country’s social media. “It feels unreal—everything around me seems so bleak,” wrote one netizen. “The folks at the statistics bureau worked hard,” said another. On Weibo, a microblogging platform, more than 240 comments were posted below state television’s summary of the GDP news. Only a handful remained visible, suggesting that most had failed to meet the account’s strict censorship standards. Amid high youth unemployment…

YOUNG PEOPLE have always come to Ms Xia with questions about their relationships. Now they often ask the astrologer about their finances and job prospects, too. “People feel a sense of powerlessness,” says the 27-year-old from Changsha. She won’t give them definite answers about their future. But for 200 yuan ($27) per session, she will read their star signs and let them know when their luck might turn. The Economist

LIKE LORD VOLDEMORT from Harry Potter, “Made in China 2025” is an initiative which induces so much fear and loathing abroad that Chinese officials dare not speak its name. The plan, introduced a decade ago, called for pouring money and resources into dozens of industries. The goal was to turn China into a green and innovative “manufacturing power”, one that relied less on labour and Western supply chains, and more on automation and new home-grown technologies. This was Xi Jinping’s vision for the Chinese economy. The Economist

LAWYERS TEND not to inspire much sympathy, but spare a thought for the foreigners drafting briefs in China. For decades they have confronted a politicised legal system and navigated a difficult regulatory environment. Now they are facing new pressures. China’s sluggish economy and geopolitical tensions have been bad for business, such that many big-name foreign firms are leaving the country. The Economist

ON DECEMBER 19th relatives of Xing Yanjun gathered in Beijing to mourn the businessman’s death eight months earlier, allegedly by hanging himself while in police custody. At the event a document was read out. It was a statement by the police that Xing’s case had been closed “in the absence of criminal facts”. The outrage his death has caused, however, will take far longer to dissipate. The Economist