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Hong Kong CNN —A protest broke out in central China’s Wuhan on Wednesday as elderly residents showed their discontent with a local government reform to public health insurance that came into effect earlier this month. In some footage, the crowd can be heard singing the unofficial protest anthem “The Internationale.”Police and government officials have yet to comment on the situation publicly. The protest was at least the second one in a week in Wuhan, which is home to more than 11 million people. Videos circulating on social media last week show a large crowd of elderly people protesting the same issue. While the government did not directly comment on last week’s protest, Wuhan health authorities subsequently issued a statement acknowledging the reform, saying it would “reduce medical benefits in the short term” but “benefit those in sickness and the elderly population” for years to come.

☆ Equatorial Guinea quarantines 200 after unknown hemorrhagic fever deaths
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Amindeh Blaise Atabong | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] People wait to cross the border into Equatorial Guinea by car and by foot in Kye-Ossi, Cameroon, May 23, 2015. Authorities have restricted movement around the two villages that are directly linked, he said, and contact tracing was ongoing. Equatorial Guinea's neighbour Cameroon on Friday restricted movement along its border after the "unexplained deaths", its Health Minister Malachie Manaouda said in a statement. Equatorial Guinea said on Wednesday that it had registered the "unusual epidemiological situation" over the past weeks in Kie-Ntem province's Nsok Nsomo district that caused nine deaths in two adjacent communities over a short period. A Cameroon district health official near the border area said around 20 deaths had been recorded on Wednesday in villages in Kie-Ntem province, which borders Cameroon's Olamze district.

SINGAPORE, Jan 31, (Reuters) - Like many rich Chinese, graduate student Zayn Zhang thinks Singapore could be ideal to park his family's wealth. His family might establish a Singapore family office to manage its wealth in the future, he added. Well-known Singapore family offices include those set up by James Dyson of vacuum cleaner fame, hedge fund manager Ray Dalio and Zhang Yong, founder of China's Haidilao hotpot restaurant chain. Though fresher statistics are not available, those involved in the industry said interest in family offices picked up in 2022 and is expected to continue unabated this year. While some are setting up family offices, others are setting up business headquarters in Singapore or investing in funds domiciled in Singapore, she said.

☆ Hedge funds that punted early on China recovery reaped the rewards
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Summer Zhen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The hedge funds that used that as a buying opportunity profited, with tourism and consumption stocks quickly rebounding after Beijing adopted a more targeted COVID-19 policies and reduced quarantines following widespread anti-lockdown protests. The MSCI China index rose by 36% over November and December, even as a surge in case numbers cast doubt over the economic recovery in the short term. The strategy, managed by chief investment officer Peng She, made a 20% net return in 2022. For 2023, hedge fund managers said they were even more bullish about China, expecting traditional valuation metrics to return to focus after a year driven by macro events. Reporting by Summer Zhen; Editing by Vidya Ranganathan and Jamie FreedOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Airfares from China are now 160% higher than before the pandemic, data from travel firm ForwardKeys shows, due to limited supply. Since Jan. 4, Air China (601111.SS), Hainan Airlines (600221.SS) and China Southern Airlines (600029.SS) have filed schedules with the U.S. Department of Transportation proposing to increase flights to as much as daily on some routes. Foreign carriers seeking to add flights to China require approvals from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, which did not respond to a request for comment. However, other flights were paused as it assessed market demand and government regulations. Many Western airlines parked large planes when international traffic plunged and production of new twin-aisle jets has been limited.

The removal of inbound quarantine prompted a surge in demand for plane tickets in countries like Singapore which have large communities of overseas Chinese. “China remained closed off after Singapore reopened, so to go back, people needed to do PCR tests, undergo quarantine, and prices of flight tickets skyrocketed. Chu said she had missed her parents, her 83-year-old father and 78-year-old mother, and worried about their failing health. Her biggest wish was to spend as much time with them as possible when she goes back this time. “I haven’t seen them for three years, and they both got COVID, and are quite old.

☆ Rent the Runway is now selling secondhand luxury clothes on Amazon from 35 designers including Tory Burch and Kate Spade.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Bethany Biron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Rent the Runway is now selling secondhand luxury goods on Amazon. Rent the Runway CEO Jenn Hyman said the collaboration will foster "incredible brand awareness." As part of a collaboration with Amazon Fashion, the rental company is offering lightly worn styles from more than 35 brands, including Diane Von Furstenberg, Tory Burch, and Kate Spade. The partnership also will feature items from the RTR Design Collective, clothes from emerging designers sold exclusively for Rent the Runway, the company announced on Thursday. The Amazon collaboration will join existing resale retail partnerships Rent the Runway currently has with Saks Off Fifth and ThredUp.

[1/5] Passengers push their luggage through the international arrivals hall at Beijing Capital International Airport after China lifted the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) quarantine requirement for inbound travellers in Beijing, China January 8, 2023. China's management of COVID was technically downgraded to "Category B" on Sunday, although many curbs have been dropped for weeks. Officially, China has reported just 5,272 COVID-related deaths as of Jan.8, one of the lowest rates of death from the infection in the world. State broadcaster CCTV reported on Sunday that direct flights from South Korea to China were close to sold out. South Korea like many other countries now requires travellers from China, Macau and Hong Kong to provide negative COVID test results before departure.

☆ Travelers rush to take advantage of China reopening
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

After years of separation from his wife in mainland China, Hong Kong resident Cheung Seng-bun made sure to be among the first in line following the reopening Sunday of border crossing points. Those crossing between Hong Kong and mainland China, however, are still required to show a negative COVID-19 test taken within the last 48 hours — a measure China has protested when imposed by other countries. Hong Kong media reports said around 300,000 travel bookings from the city to mainland China have already been made, with a daily quota of 60,000. "I've been under isolated quarantine for six times in different cities (in mainland China)," said Ivan Tang, a Hong Kong business traveler. Meanwhile, more foreign governments are imposing testing requirements on travelers from China — most recently Germany, Sweden and Portugal.

☆ China suspends social media accounts of Covid policy critics
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

China has suspended or closed the social media accounts of more than 1,000 critics of the government's policies on the COVID-19 outbreak, as the country moves to further open up. The popular Sina Weibo social media platform said it had addressed 12,854 violations including attacks on experts, scholars and medical workers and issued temporary or permanent bans on 1,120 accounts. Nonetheless, China is forging ahead with a plan to end mandatory quarantines for people arriving from abroad beginning on Sunday. On Sunday, the National Health Commission reported 10,681 new domestic cases, bringing the country's total number of confirmed cases to 482,057. China has said the testing requirements being imposed by foreign governments — most recently Germany and Sweden — aren't science-based and has threatened unspecified countermeasures.

☆ UBS: Here's how to invest in China in 2023 as the dramatic end to zero-COVID policies upends markets and boosts the domestic economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Marley Jay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

In 2022, experts said that the global economy would get a boost after China lifted its strict zero-COVID restrictions. He added that later in the year the tide could turn, and he expects China's economy to grow 5% by the end of 2023. "China's reopening is also a positive for Asian IG and HY bonds, in particular Chinese property developers," he said. That's had a significant effect on the global economy because China has been the largest single source of global economic growth for many years. That means the fate of China's economy this year will have a major effect on the performance of the global economy.

To capture this moment of adaptation, we contacted 200 New York Times readers who had sent us photographs of their pandemic lives at the end of 2020 and asked them to share a new photo reflecting what normal means two years later. Nearly the same share, 42 percent, said the pandemic had changed their lives in lasting and significant ways. Just 12 percent said the pandemic never changed much: “I didn’t give up anything,” one respondent said. What is one thing about your life that the pandemic has changed in a lasting way? Together, the photos collected below capture a kind of then-and-now of pandemic times, when many are still figuring out what comes next.

☆ Here’s what could tip the global economy into recession in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Not everyone agrees the global economy is heading for a recession. Excluding the global financial crisis and the worst stage of the pandemic, that would be the weakest year for the world economy since 2001. Whether a global recession materializes may come down to three factors: what central banks do next, the consequences of China’s nascent reopening and energy prices. What a global recession meansWhether the world falls into recession or not, the next 12 months are likely to be difficult. Even if a global recession is averted, many countries could still endure downturns accompanied by painful rises in unemployment, though economists don’t agree on how severe and long they might last.

☆ Taiwan to test arrivals from China for COVID from Jan 1
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TAIPEI, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Taiwan will test arrivals from China for COVID-19 from Jan. 1 in response to a surge in cases there, the government said on Wednesday, joining other countries in stepping up controls on people coming from China. The government will conduct virus sequencing for those who arrive from China and test positive to track new variants of the coronavirus, it said in a statement. Those who test positive will be able to isolate at home, it said. Many of those Taiwanese who live in China traditionally return to Taiwan for the Lunar New Year holiday, which falls next month. Reporting by Yimou Lee; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Tom Hogue and Emelia Sithole-MatariseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China to Open Borders Despite Surge in Covid-19 Cases
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Jonathan Cheng | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

BEIJING—Fever clinics and hospital emergency rooms in China’s capital were overflowing with patients on Monday as Chinese health authorities announced plans to downgrade treatment of Covid-19, a move that clears the way for the country to open its borders to international arrivals without quarantines. Meanwhile, Chinese leader Xi Jinping called on local officials to make any effort to save lives, his first public comments on the pandemic since China abruptly abandoned its stringent zero-Covid strategy in early December.

☆ A China ‘spending boom?’ Your guide to emerging market investing in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Fred Imbert | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

"We're going to have a spending boom in China, at least in the first half of the year," said Mehran Nakhjavani, emerging market strategist at MRB Partners. How to play emerging markets in 2023 Regardless, there are several ways for investors to get exposure to emerging markets. Perhaps the easiest way is by investing in the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM). Another vehicle through which to play emerging markets is the First Trust Emerging Markets Small Cap AlphaDex ETF (FEMS) . The fund is the best-performing emerging markets ETF this year, according to Morningstar, with a year-to-date return of just over 1%.

The country will also scrap all other restrictive Covid measures for travelers, including quarantines for positive patients and contact tracing. China downgraded Covid management to a less-strict “Class B disease,” in the same category as less-severe diseases, such as Dengue fever. The existing quarantine policy for international arrivals to China was first launched in 2020 and modified over the course of the past several years. Since the world’s second largest economy drastically eased its Covid restrictions, there has been no clear data on the extent of the virus’ spread on the national level. China’s current focus is to prepare sufficient medical resources, according to the NHC statement.

☆ China will drop COVID restrictions and quarantines for visitors starting in January
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Visitors to China will no longer be subject to strict COVID restrictions starting January 8. China is ending quarantine requirements for visitors, and will begin managing COVID as a Class B disease. Now, visitors will also no longer have to abide by previous COVID restrictions. China had clung to tight restrictions longer than many areas, battering the economy and angering citizens. As of December 19, there were 116,634 confirmed cases in China, according to the World Health Organization, with 28,493 new cases in the prior 24 hours.

☆ Travel abroad is poised 'for a big comeback' in 2023 as Americans eye trips to Asia, Europe
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Jackyenjoyphotography | Moment | Getty ImagesAmericans are poised to travel overseas in a big way in 2023. Why travel abroad is poised 'for a big comeback'D3sign | Moment | Getty ImagesThirty-one percent of Americans are more interested in international than domestic travel, according to a recent poll by tourism market research firm Destination Analysts. It cited international travel among the top three trends for 2023, saying it's poised "for a big comeback." Karl Hendon | Moment | Getty Imageswatch nowWhere travel is ramping up mostHo Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Global demand for travel has played out similarly, with most interest directed at Europe and Asia, according to Expedia data.

☆ Elon Musk was challenged about his pronoun comments by a Tesla investor who has a trans child
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Tesla investor challenged Musk on his jokes about pronouns in a Twitter Space on Thursday. In a Twitter Space for Tesla investors where Musk was a speaker, a participant asked him about his recent language but got a cagey response. Musk said he did not, but added: "It does bother me that people will use pronouns to just be super judgmental. The investor pushed back on Musk's comments and said it felt like he was "punching down to a really marginalized group" with his comments about pronouns. In 2020, he tweeted: "I absolutely support trans, but all these pronouns are an esthetic [sic] nightmare."

☆ China’s Workers Are Calling In Sick With Covid After Beijing’s U-Turn
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Selina Cheng | Dan Strumpf | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

HONG KONG—China’s factories are confronting a new reality after the nation’s sharp U-turn from its zero-Covid policy: Their workers are often out sick or working alongside colleagues who have come down with the virus. Beijing began lifting many of its harshest Covid-19 restrictions earlier this month, including strict quarantines and mandatory testing requirements that have angered large parts of its population and disrupted the economy.

☆ China steps up support for private sector to boost Covid-hit economy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Hong Kong CNN —Beijing has vowed to go all out next year to save its Covid-hit economy by boosting consumption and loosening control over private industry, including the struggling tech and property sectors. Covid infections are surging in China after leaders unexpectedly eased its restrictive Covid policy earlier this month. Stabilizing economic growth is the top priority for 2023, according to an official readout following the conclusion of the Central Economic Work Conference (CEWC), a key annual meeting of top leaders, which ended Friday. “We need to encourage and support the private sector economy and private enterprise in terms of policy and public opinion,” the statement said. A shopping mall is decorated with rabbit stickers to welcome the Lunar New Year, the Year of the Rabbit, on December 10, 2022 in Beijing, China.

☆ Concession awards mark a reset for Macao casinos
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Contessa Brewer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

With mandatory quarantines lifted, ferry and airline service resuming, and licenses renewed, casinos hope 2023 marks a new beginning for the world's preeminent gambling destination, Macao. The Macao government awarded six companies new 10-year concessions to operate their integrated casino resorts. This month, Macao has seen an increase in tourism from mainland China from visitors trying to get an mRNA Covid vaccine. A rise in Covid infections around China caused November gaming revenue in Macao to fall 23% from October and plummet 99% from November 2019 pre-pandemic levels, according to government data. Fitch estimates Singapore will achieve 80% of its pre-pandemic gaming revenue in 2022, and 95% in 2023.

Since the early days of the invasion, Mr. Putin has conceded, privately, that the war has not gone as planned. “I think he is sincerely willing” to compromise with Russia, Mr. Putin said of Mr. Zelensky in 2019. To join in Mr. Putin’s war, he has recruited prisoners, trashed the Russian military and competed with it for weapons. To join in Mr. Putin’s war, he has recruited prisoners, trashed the Russian military and competed with it for weapons. “I think this war is Putin’s grave.” Yevgeny Nuzhin, 55, a Russian prisoner of war held by Ukraine, in October.

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.

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