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☆ 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.

☆ Elon Musk's Crackdown at Twitter Offers Hope to Fellow Tech Founders
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

But there's one group, almost unnoticed in the midst of the online firestorm, that has been cheering Musk on from the sidelines: other tech executives. To some founders, Musk is simply a monstrous version of the executive they wish they could be. Musk is getting rid of perks like free meals in the Twitter cafeteria — and other tech executives are taking note. Musk's slash-and-burn approach gives tech executives cover for making unpopular decisions. But now, as tech companies cut back to prepare for a recession, the "rough waters out there" have forced his staff to "reevaluate" their demands.

☆ New Covid model predicts over 1 million deaths in China through 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

According to the group's projections, cases in China would peak around April 1, when deaths would reach 322,000. About a third of China's population will have been infected by then, IHME Director Christopher Murray said. China's national health authority has not reported any official Covid deaths since the lifting of Covid restrictions. China's zero-Covid policy may have been effective at keeping earlier variants of the virus at bay, but the high transmissibility of Omicron variants made it impossible to sustain, he said. Based on China's population of 1.41 billion, and without measures such as a mass vaccination booster campaign, that amounts to 964,400 deaths.

☆ Manufacturing orders from China down 40% in unrelenting demand collapse
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Lori Ann Larocco | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

U.S. manufacturing orders in China are down 40 percent, according to the latest CNBC Supply Chain Heat Map data. HLS expects most carriers to extend their West Coast rates until December 14, holding at $1,300-$1,400 per forty-foot equivalent containers (FEU). The 2M Alliance of Maersk and MSC has suspended almost half of its U.S. West Coast services for December. is also impacting Vietnam, which has been booming as a manufacturing hub as more trade moved away from China. Canceled ocean sailings bound for Vietnam are up 50% for December.

☆ Cristiano Ronaldo denies he swore at Portugal coach over substitution
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Ronaldo, Portugal’s captain, said the comments he made as he left the field in the 65th minute were in fact aimed at a South Korean player. “What happened was before my substitution, the South Korea player told me to get off quickly. The 37-year-old is seeking to equal the Portuguese record of most World Cup goals held by Eusebio, who racked up nine in 1966 in England, the only World Cup tournament he played in. Fu Tian/China News Service/Getty ImagesSantos, asked by reporters about the substitution incident, also said a South Korean player had been aggressive in his comments towards the five-time Ballon d’Or winner. We wanted to go through with a win, we wanted to go through playing good football to keep boosting our confidence,” Santos said.

☆ Hong Kong's Hang Seng had its best month since 1998, but remains in bear market territory
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Jihye Lee | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Strategists at Goldman Sachs said from February 2021 to October 2022, the Hang Seng index saw a "systemic correction," which the firm defines as a fall of 40% or more. Next key levelsAnalysts at Weiss Multi-Strategy Advisers said, "November may, in hindsight, be viewed as a key turning point for Chinese equities," noting the Hang Seng China Enterprise index and the property sector saw significant gains. After its November gains, the Hang Seng index hovered around 18,600 – a level of resistance according to market watchers. "With the 18,600 level of resistance being overcome for the Hang Seng Index, that could seem to place the key psychological 20,000 level on watch," IG market strategist Yeap Jun Rong said in a Thursday note. The HSI last fell below the 20,000 level in August, and analysts expect to see a continued rebound in the equity market on further signs that the nation will shift away from zero-Covid.

☆ Noom sells psychology-driven weight loss — but former employees say they were unprepared for and overwhelmed by users' eating disorders, depression, and trauma
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +31 min

Before joining Noom, users fill out a questionnaire asking about what diet programs or mental health apps they've used in the past. Very overly optimistic and happy, doesn't acknowledge what I'm really saying," one Noom user wrote on Reddit. Some of the coaches Insider interviewed said they were interacting with Noom users within two weeks of starting. Emotional bandwidthRachel Clair was hired as a Noom coach in 2018, at a time when the coaching staff grew from 60 to about 200. Annette Riedl/picture alliance via Getty ImagesIn October, 500 more Noom coaches were abruptly called into a virtual meeting and laid off.

☆ China's 'social credit' system ranks citizens and punishes them with throttled internet speeds and flight bans if the Communist Party deems them untrustworthy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Katie Canales | Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Since China doesn't have a central social credit system, many local government agencies have been experimenting with what the system could look like. But the plan is for the social credit system to eventually be mandatory and unified across the nation, with each person given their own unique code used to measure their social credit score in real-time, per Wired. In fact, a national social credit system is currently being proposed. Companies will also be at risk if China passes on its Establishment of the Social Credit System law. Citizens with good social credit can also get discounts on energy bills, rent things without deposits, and get better interest rates at banks.

☆ Ray Dalio says none of China's new leadership team appear to be 'extremists'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, received an award from the China General Chamber of Commerce-USA in February 2022. China News Service | China News Service | Getty ImagesBEIJING — American billionaire Ray Dalio said while he's far less familiar with China's new leadership team than prior officials, he expects worries about their future policies are overdone. Here are the highlights:China's leadership reshuffle"I want to emphasize that none of the new people appear to be extremists," Dalio said. Dalio said the leadership changes mean most of the people he knew who were "reformist-globalists" are being replaced. This week, Xi and U.S. President Joe Biden met in person for the first time since Biden took office.

That plan quickly falls through — and Twitter decides to adopt a poison-pill strategy to fend off a hostile takeover from Musk. At this point, shares in Musk's automotive company, Tesla, began to decline; by mid-November, they will have lost close to half their value. “Musk’s conduct simply confirms that he wants to escape the binding contract he freely signed, and to damage Twitter in the process,” Twitter says. In the meantime, Musk and Twitter jockey for position ahead of the October trial — with Judge Kathaleen McCormick increasingly siding with Twitter in key pre-trial motions. Within 48 hours, the site was flooded with users who bought blue checkmarks only to turn around and impersonate official accounts, including Musk's.

☆ Starbucks is opening an upmarket 3-floor store in the Empire State Building selling cocktails and offering coffee-making workshops
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Starbucks Reserve store will sell hot drinks, cocktails, and food — some of which will be exclusive to the store. The store, set to open on November 16, will be in the Starbucks Reserve format. A Starbucks Reserve store in Shenzhen, China. A barista makes coffee at a Starbucks Reserve coffee store in Shanghai, China. The nearby New York Reserve Roastery, just a five-minute walk away, has a similar menu but at higher prices.

☆ What Kroger, Walmart, Target learned from China's Alibaba about grocery's future
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( Rebecca Fannin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Kroger has adopted an omnichannel strategy, integration of offline or in-store sales with online orders and logistics. They looked at the New Retail model born in China for complete integration of offline and online channels," he said. But the action was jumpstarted when Amazon bought Whole Foods Market in 2017 and began introducing several advanced technologies to streamline in-store shopping, a shift that also spread to large retailers Walmart and Target. Kroger digital sales gained by 8 percent in the second quarter of 2022, while in-store and online combined gained 5.8 percent from a year earlier. He pointed out that "half of Kroger's app stores are bringing in incremental business and half are cannibalizing in-store sales."

☆ China's new J-20 is nothing 'to lose a lot of sleep over,' but the US's stealth advantage isn't safe, US commanders say
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

China's air force has rapidly grown in size and capability, adding advanced jets like the J-20. The J-20 isn't "anything to lose a lot of sleep over," the head of US Pacific Air Forces said this week. But US Air Force leaders do say the US needs to work to stay head of the progress China is making. "We can take a look at it today and say we're not going to lose a lot of sleep. I'll lose sleep if we don't continue to modernize our Air Force to ensure that we stay ahead of where they are."

☆ Inflation is a global problem. Here’s how central banks are addressing it
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

In Turkey and Argentina, annual inflation rates are forecast to clock in at a whopping 80%. At least 75 have lifted their benchmark interest rates in the past year, increasing the price of credit across the world. In July, it instituted its second consecutive 0.75 percentage point interest rate increase, taking its benchmark rate to a range of 2.25% to 2.5%. The country is struggling with rampant inflation rate that rose to a 20-year high of nearly 80% in August. The country’s annual inflation rate slowed to 7% in August, below analyst forecasts of 7.3% and down from 7.6% in July.

☆ Zhou Jihong: She apologized for verbally abusing an Olympic judge, but questions over the conduct of China's 'Iron Lady' of diving remain
▼ + stars: | 2022-05-11 | by ( George Ramsay | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

That was after Zhou, who has been dubbed the “Iron Lady” of Chinese diving, allegedly launched a verbal tirade at Wright at the 10m platform event’s conclusion for underscoring Chinese divers. In a diving event, judges on the panel award each dive a score ranging from zero to 10. Lintao Zhang/Getty ImagesAccording to Latimer, Zhou has “substantial input” when it comes to deciding which judges are chosen to officiate at competitions. From FINAAllegations against Zhou, Latimer says, have been slow to emerge due to her influential status within the sport. The “Iron Lady” of Chinese diving, Zhou became the country’s first ever Olympic gold medalist in the sport in 1984.

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