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[1/7] Farmer Wang Zhanling sits next to his wife in their house in Quansheng village, Heilongjiang Province, China, February 8, 2023. The state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences sees the pension system running out of money by 2035. "If the pension system does not change, this is unsustainable," said Xiujian Peng, senior research fellow in the Centre of Policy Studies at Victoria University in Australia. The province has the lowest birth rate in China, with just over 100,000 births in 2021 and 460,000 deaths. Many experts, including Macquarie's chief China economist Larry Hu, suggest implementing a unified national pension system, backstopped by the more resourceful central government rather than cash-strapped local administrations.

☆ China's CCP warns Elon Musk against sharing Wuhan lab leak report
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Rohan Goswami | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A Chinese state-run newspaper issued a warning to Tesla CEO Elon Musk after he shared reporting on the Department of Energy's 'low confidence' assessment that the global Covid pandemic originated in a Wuhan laboratory. CNBC's Eunice Yoon reported Tuesday morning on the warning from the social media pages of the Global Times, the English-language subsidiary of the CCP-controlled People's Daily. The Global Times warned Musk that he could be "breaking the pot of China" after the Tesla and Twitter chief executive responded to Tweets that asserted that the Covid pandemic originated in a Wuhan research laboratory. The governing Communist Party has been highly sensitive to the matter, especially as it courts outside investment after months of zero-Covid lockdowns prompted nationwide protests, CNBC's Eunice Yoon reported. CNBC's Eunice Yoon contributed to this report

☆ Another Turn in the Covid Lab-Leak Story
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Journal scoop Sunday that the U.S. Department of Energy has concluded that the Covid-19 virus leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China, doesn’t mean the case is definitive. But it is more evidence that the media and public-health groupthink about Covid was mistaken and destructive. The salient detail is that DOE’s judgment is based on “new” but still secret intelligence. Yet DOE’s new judgment is nonetheless made with “low confidence.” The FBI has concluded that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was the “likely” origin of the virus, but other U.S. intelligence agencies either don’t believe they have enough evidence or believe it had a natural origin.

☆ Three Years Late, the Lancet Recognizes Natural Immunity
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Allysia Finley | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Lancet medical journal this month published a review of 65 studies that concluded prior infection with Covid—i.e., natural immunity—is at least as protective as two doses of mRNA vaccines. “Immunity acquired from a Covid infection is as protective as vaccination against severe illness and death, study finds,” NBC reported on Feb. 16. The study found that prior infection offered 78.6% protection against reinfection from the original Wuhan, Alpha or Delta variants at 40 weeks, which slipped to 36.1% against Omicron. Protection against severe illness remained around 90% across all variants after 40 weeks. These results exceed what other studies have found for two and even three mRNA doses.

WASHINGTON/BEIJING, Feb 27 (Reuters) - China must be more honest about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. ambassador to China said on Monday, after reports that the U.S. Energy Department concluded the pandemic likely arose from a Chinese laboratory leak. The Wall Street Journal first reported on Sunday that the U.S. Energy Department had concluded the pandemic likely arose from a Chinese laboratory leak, an assessment Beijing denies. The department made its judgment with "low confidence" in a classified intelligence report recently provided to the White House and key members of Congress, the Journal said, citing people who had read the intelligence report. President Joe Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said on Sunday there were a "variety of views in the intelligence community" on the pandemic's origins. "Certain parties should stop rehashing the 'lab leak' narrative, stop smearing China and stop politicizing the origins-tracing issue," foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.

☆ US must push China to be honest about COVID origins, US envoy says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns on Monday said Washington must push Beijing to be more honest about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. Burns' comments come after the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that the U.S. Energy Department had concluded the pandemic likely arose from a Chinese laboratory leak, an assessment Beijing denies. The Energy Department did not respond to a request for comment. Four other U.S. agencies, along with a national intelligence panel, still judge that COVID-19 was likely the result of natural transmission, while two are undecided, the Wall Street Journal reported. "Certain parties should stop rehashing the 'lab leak' narrative, stop smearing China and stop politicizing the origins-tracing issue," foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.

☆ Lab Leak Most Likely Origin of Covid-19 Pandemic, U.S. Agency Now Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Michael R. Gordon | Warren P. Strobel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A campus of the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China, in 2020. WASHINGTON—The U.S. Energy Department has concluded that the Covid pandemic most likely arose from a laboratory leak, according to a classified intelligence report recently provided to the White House and key members of Congress. The shift by the Energy Department, which previously was undecided on how the virus emerged, is noted in an update to a 2021 document by Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines’s office.

☆ A Lab Leak in China Most Likely Origin of Covid Pandemic, Energy Department Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Michael R. Gordon | Warren P. Strobel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ A newly reported classified US government missive on the lab leak theory shows we still don't know where COVID-19 came from
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Katie Balevic | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A memo suggested that the Energy Department has 'low confidence' the coronavirus came from a lab leak, per WSJ. Intelligence officials remain split on whether the virus occurred naturally or came from a lab. However, agencies have found that both theories about a natural occurrence and a lab leak remain possibilities, per the New York Times. Sullivan said there are a "variety of views in the intelligence community," but that several agencies have said they "just don't have enough information to be sure." But, right now, there is not a definitive answer that has emerged from the intelligence community on this question," Sullivan said.

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, on Sunday called for "extensive public hearings" if the U.S. intelligence community conclusively determines that Covid-19 leaked from a Chinese laboratory. The committee is "reviewing the classified information provided," the spokesperson said. "There is a variety of views in the intelligence community. Some elements of the intelligence community have reached conclusions on one side, some on the other. "But right now, there is not a definitive answer that has emerged from the intelligence community on this question."

☆ China's COVID-19 epidemic has 'basically' ended, but not completely over
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Tingshu WangBEIJING, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Health authorities in China said on Thursday the country's COVID-19 epidemic has "basically" ended, but it is not completely over as it found seven imported cases of the highly-transmissible XBB.1.5 variant since Jan. 8. Officials, speaking at a news event with several departments attending, said China's "major decisive victory" over COVID has set an example for populous nations in prevention and control. Health officials and experts were also monitoring the XBB.1.5 sub-variant of Omicron for months. Officials said on Thursday one local case of the variant was linked with an imported case on Feb. 3. Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Writing by Bernard Orr; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Emelia Sithole-MatariseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Inflation in Beijing: Chinese capital gives cash handout to low-income households to offset rising food prices
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Hong Kong CNN —Beijing will give out a $6 monthly cash subsidy to low-income residents to cushion the impact of rising food prices, a move that has unexpectedly angered many online who say the amount is far too low. The demonstrations were the latest outburst of public discontent since mass protests against Covid curbs gripped the country late last year. “In January, food prices in Beijing rose by 6.6%, meeting the conditions for starting the price-linked subsidy program,” the state-run Beijing Daily newspaper quoted an official from the commission as saying in a Friday report. Although the headline figure remains relatively low compared to other countries, food prices jumped 6.2%, with pork and fruit prices rising the most. In Beijing, food prices outpaced the national level.

☆ China’s Angry Pensioners Are Symptomatic of Deeper Problems
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Jacky Wong | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

China doesn’t have a robust social safety net—individuals pay a relatively high proportion of medical fees out of pocket. Recent protests by retirees in China over reduced healthcare benefits epitomize a thicket of interrelated problems entangling the country: an aging population, strained local government finances, an inadequate social safety net and heavy debt. The immediate trigger for the flare-up was revisions pushed through by some local governments, including the city of Wuhan, which will cut reimbursements for medical care. Some money from individual accounts contributed under a compulsory savings plan will be pooled with a public insurance fund. The move would use some of the surplus in these so-called personal accounts to meet increasing public medical needs—but elderly protesters feel like the government has taken away their savings.

☆ China declares 'decisive victory' over COVID-19
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Jennifer LorenziniBEIJING, Feb 17 (Reuters) - China's top leaders declared a "decisive victory" over COVID-19, claiming the world's lowest fatality rate, although experts have questioned Beijing's data as the coronovirus tore across the country after largely being kept at bay for three years. China abruptly ended its zero-COVID policy in early December, with 80% of its 1.4 billion population becoming infected, a prominent government scientist said last month. Though there were widespread reports of packed hospital wards and mortuaries, China recorded only about 80,000 COVID deaths in hospitals in the two months after dropping its curbs. "With continuous efforts to optimise COVID-19 prevention and control measures since November 2022, China's COVID-19 response has made a smooth transition in a relatively short time," China's Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) said in a meeting on Thursday. The meeting stressed that China will increase the vaccination rate for the elderly, and strengthen the supply and production of medical goods.

☆ Explainer: What we know about China's medical reform protests
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Laurie Chen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

WHAT ARE THE MEDICAL INSURANCE REFORMS? Beginning Feb. 1, personal medical insurance benefits for Wuhan retirees were slashed from about 5% of the average basic pension to 2.5%, or 83 yuan ($12) per month, according to the Wuhan Healthcare Security Administration. In an essay published Thursday that did not refer to the protests, Finance Minister Liu Kun vowed to "deepen the reform of medical insurance payment methods". Following initial protests in Wuhan last week, the hashtag "Major adjustment in Wuhan medical reform" was viewed over 100 million times before being blocked. Since January, similar insurance reforms have been rolled out in provinces and regions including Jiangxi, Gansu，Shanxi, Qinghai, Sichuan and Guangxi.

☆ China has U-turned on almost all major policies it put in place in the last 3 years — and it's not surprising, given the state of its economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

But the country reversed some major policies in response to the abysmal GDP growth. China's GDP grew by 3% in 2022 — the worst since the chaotic Cultural Revolution ended. Most recently, after three years of pandemic lockdowns and isolation, China abruptly reversed course and abolished its zero-COVID policy — leaving the world guessing why. China's GDP grew only 3.0% in 2022 — the worst in nearly half a century since the chaotic Cultural Revolution ended. China's GDP growth is vital because it is the world's second-largest economy after the US, so it's a driving force for global investment and trade.

BEIJING, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Hundreds of retirees took to the streets in the Chinese cities of Wuhan and Dalian on Wednesday to protest cuts to medical benefits, according to residents and social media posts, following widespread demonstrations last year over COVID curbs. Reuters could not immediately verify images from Dalian and some others from Wuhan widely shared on social media. The retirees were protesting local reforms including a recent cut to the monthly personal medical benefit allowance for retirees, from 260 yuan ($38) per month to 83 yuan, according to Wuhan residents. In China's health benefit system, some money goes to a personal medical allowance and other funds are pooled. Wednesday's protests in Wuhan and in Dalian in China's northeast attracted a heavy security presence, according to videos and pictures on social media.

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.

☆ China's economic recovery is off to a slow start
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Hector Retamal | Afp | Getty ImagesBEIJING — China's economic recovery is off to a modest start. Migrant workers have mostly returned to work after China's biggest holiday of the year, and children went back to school this week. It also remains to be seen how demand from China's growth picks up as businesses resume work and travel after the Lunar New Year holiday. Robin Xing, chief China economist at Morgan Stanley, pointed out that in-person meetings are particularly important for doing business in China, and that such interactions weren't easily feasible last year. Ting Lu chief China economist, Nomura

China’s official count 0 2.5 million 83,150 deaths Model based on Shanghai outbreak 1.6 million deaths LOW ESTIMATE HIGH ESTIMATE Estimate using travel patterns 970,000 deaths Estimate using recent testing data 1.5 million deaths Estimate based on U.S. death rates 1.1 million deaths China’s official count 0 2.5 million 83,150 deaths Model based on Shanghai outbreak 1.6 million deaths LOW EST. But China’s official Covid death toll for the entire pandemic remains strikingly low: 83,150 people as of Feb. 9. Four separate academic teams have converged on broadly similar estimates: China’s Covid wave may have killed between a million and 1.5 million people. Why official data underrepresents China’s outbreak83,150 deaths China’s official count on Feb. 9 0 2.5M 83,150 deaths China’s official count on Feb. 9 0 2.5 millionChina has a narrow definition of what counts as a Covid-19 death. But the work was unwavering in its ultimate conclusion: Ending the “zero Covid” policy was likely to overwhelm the health care system, producing an estimated 1.6 million deaths.

☆ House GOP asks Fauci and dozens of health officials to testify in investigation into Covid origins
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

House Republicans have asked former White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony to testify before Congress as they launch a new investigation into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic. "If there are oversight hearings I absolutely will cooperate fully and testify before the Congress," Fauci told reporters during his final briefing at the White House. He stepped down from his posts at the White House and at the helm of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in December. EcoHealth Alliance provided funding, which originated at NIH, to the Wuhan Institute of Virology to study coronaviruses. About $600,000 of that money went directly to the Wuhan Institute of Virology to study the threat posed by bat coronaviruses.

☆ Livestream shopping took China by storm. Now Amazon, TikTok and YouTube are betting the QVC-style pitches will take off in the U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Katie Tarasov | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Livestream shopping took China by storm over the past three years. In the U.S., TikTok, Amazon, Walmart , Shopify and YouTube are all getting in on the game. On Amazon Live, influencers pitch products live from the intimacy of their own homes. Tiana Young MorrisTiana Young Morris first went viral in 2020 for videos in which she tried on wigs and then reviewed them. Amazon continued its live-shopping investments with the launch of Amazon Live in India in September.

☆ We Still Don’t Know the Truth About Covid
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Jamie Metzl | Matt Pottinger | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

More than three years after the start of the global pandemic there has yet to be a comprehensive forensic investigation into its origins. With more than a million Americans dead from Covid-19, and an estimated 15 million dead worldwide, that’s inexcusable. Congress should hold hearings to establish a bipartisan Covid-19 commission along the lines of the 9/11 commission. Some believe the novel coronavirus probably escaped from a laboratory in Wuhan. Others maintain the virus first jumped to people from caged animals at a Wuhan seafood market.

☆ Here's why the US economy won't fall into a recession this year or next, according to a key market signal
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

In that case, it may be wise to heed a key bond market signal that's saying we'll avoid a recession after all. But if you look at the bond market, there's a clear answer that seems to be forming: The US economy won't enter a downturn this year or next. That's because the spread between corporate bonds and Treasury yields is steadily narrowing, according to DataTrek Research. The spread between corporate bond yields and US Treasuries helps measure the risk appetite of bond traders. Strategists warned that markets have yet to price in an earnings recession, which could pose a major headwind in 2023.

☆ Factbox: Chinese chipmakers caught in U.S.-China tech spat
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Josh Horwitz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

TSMC is the world's most valuable chipmaker and counts Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O) among major clients. Its government-backing and ambition to make high-end chips caught the attention of the United States which put the firm on its Entity List in 2020. To date, most of SMIC's sales are made using the outdated 45 nanometer process node and above. Since late 2020, this specialisation in older chips has proven a boon due to a global shortage of lower-end chips. It produces DRAM at the 19 nanometer node and is moving into the 17 nanometer node - process nodes behind the industry leading-edge.

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