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☆ Is the bride 25 or younger? Couples get cash reward to promote earlier marriage in China
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( Cheng Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A newly-wed couple pose with their marriage certificates at the marriage registration center during '520 I Love You' Day on May 20, 2023 in Chengdu, Sichuan Province of China. Local Chinese officials trying to encourage earlier marriages are offering an incentive that all newlywed couples can appreciate: cash. The reward, which is restricted to couples marrying for the first time, is meant to promote "age-appropriate marriage and childbearing," the notice said. They include abolishing the "one-child policy" that reigned from the late 1970s until 2016, which was designed to limit the number of births to prevent China's population from growing too quickly. The China Population and Development Research Center, a government-backed institution, said the number of children per woman in China was the lowest among countries with populations over 100 million.

Persons: Couples Organizations: Development Research Center, Ministry of Civil Affairs, Young, Social, Twitter Locations: Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China, Local, Changshan county, Zhejiang, Weibo

☆ China had almost 2 million excess deaths after the end of ‘zero-Covid,’ U.S. study finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-26 | by ( Jennifer Jett | Cheng Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

There were almost 2 million excess deaths in the two months after China lifted its "zero-Covid" restrictions, a U.S. study found, contradicting official figures from Beijing that have been criticized as too low. Researchers estimate there were 1.87 million excess deaths from all causes among people 30 years and older from December 2022 to January, according to the study from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle published Thursday. "Our study of excess deaths related to the lifting of the zero-Covid policy in China sets an empirically derived benchmark estimate," the researchers wrote. The way the study estimates data is not "scientifically rigorous," but it is nonetheless an "objective" and "beneficial" attempt, Jin added. Jin said the actual data could be a few percentage points lower or higher than the study estimates.

Persons: Fred, Jan, Zhanwei Du, Lauren Ancel Meyers, Jin Dong, Jin Organizations: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, University of Hong, University of Texas, Baidu Locations: China, U.S, Beijing, Seattle, Tibet, University of Hong Kong, Austin

Although international travel may not return immediately to pre-pandemic levels, companies, industries and countries that rely on Chinese tourists will get a boost in 2023, according to analysts. Elsewhere in the world, Cambodia, Mauritius, Malaysia, Taiwan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, South Korea and Philippines are also likely to benefit from the return of Chinese tourists, according to research by Capital Economics. Saxon said he expected China’s outbound international travel to fully recover by the year end. “Generally, individuals are pragmatic and countries will welcome Chinese tourists due to their spending power,” he said, adding that countries may remove restrictions quickly when the Covid situation improves in China. “It will take time for international tourism to get going, but it will come rushing back, when it happens.”

Nanjing, a historic city in eastern China, vowed to ensure daily supplies of fever medicines. The rapid spread of the virus across China has left many pharmacies sold out of medication to treat COVID-19. A major Chinese pharmaceutical company said this week that it expects the shortage of fever medicines to ease soon as manufacturers ramp up production. The Haikou-based drug manufacturer said there was a “short-term” shortage of its fever and cold medicines mostly due to hoarding. Tech giant Tencent announced this week that it had rolled out a program via its social messaging app Wechat allowing people to share surplus fever medicines.

Now, as the country rapidly relaxes restrictions, millions of people have been told to keep going to work — even if they’re infected. For three years, its stringent approach has kept Covid cases and deaths relatively low in the country. Covid control workers walk by a closed shop near a community with residents under health monitoring for Covid on December 4 in Beijing. Top leaders at the Central Economic Work Conference, a key annual meeting that ended Friday, said in a statement that stabilizing economic growth was the top priority for 2023. Officials nationwide had worked frantically to contain Covid cases ahead of the highly sensitive twice-a-decade leadership reshuffle, which saw Chinese leader Xi Jinping emerge more powerful than ever into his third term.

Instead, authorities will shift the focus of work from preventing infection to health protection and preventing severe disease, it said. The abrupt U-turn is especially stunning in Chongqing, one of China’s largest cities, with 32 million residents and annual GDP of $400 billion. Jerry Cheng, who works at a state-owned construction company in the city and is currently Covid positive, voiced concerns about the announcement. Cheng’s anxiety was reflected on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, on Monday as Chongqing residents reacted to the announcement. More than a million residents were told not to leave the city unless absolutely necessary, and several rounds of daily mass testing were rolled out.

Hong Kong CNN —James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” has premiered in China, 13 years after the original film took the country by storm. A poster of film 'Avatar: The Way of Water' is seen at a cinema on December 11, 2022 in Beijing, China. I immersed myself in the plot and enjoyed an unprecedented audio-visual feast.”Shot in the armThe “Way of Water” is expected to buoy China’s pandemic-depressed box office. By mid-December, China’s box office reached only 28.8 billion yuan ($4.1 billion), down nearly 40% from last year. The “Way of Water” accounted for 80% of screenings scheduled for Friday, the Maoyan data showed.

But for a place that until earlier this month assiduously tracked every case, there is now no clear data on the extent of the virus’ spread. Customers queue at a pharmacy in Beijing, China, on Tuesday, December 13. Authorities on Wednesday morning reported 2,249 symptomatic Covid cases nationally for the previous day, 20% of which were detected in the capital. A closed Covid testing booth in Beijing, China, on Tuesday, December 13. Chinese state media has since warned people the preserved fruit is not a Covid remedy nor a substitute for medicine.

“The world changed overnight, and that’s really amazing,” said Echo Ding, 30, a manager at a tech company in Beijing. They said it’s good, so then it’s good … that’s what I feel right now. In Beijing, authorities on Wednesday said a health code showing a negative Covid-19 test would still be required for dining in at restaurants or entering some entertainment venues – in conflict with the national guidelines. Now, with the new rules she knew she could largely go out freely, but instead she stayed at home to “wait and see.”“We are still waiting and watching. It is not the case that people all rushed out once the seal is off,” she said.

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