In the Face of Lockdown, China’s E-Commerce Giants Deliver — Chengyi Lin

Lessons from Alibaba and JD.com.

The difference between Jack Ma and Jeff Bezos.

Harvard Business Review
In the Face of Lockdown, China’s E-Commerce Giants Deliver
Chengyi Lin, affiliate professor in strategy at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France

Also at HBR

Now is the time for major corporations to make good on their commitments.

Coronavirus Is Putting Corporate Social Responsibility to the Test
Mark R. Kramer

How AI, genomics, and automation are powering biotech breakthroughs....
Deep Nishar, Senior Managing Partner for the Americas at Softbank’s Vision Fund, tells Azeem Azhar why biotech is the next trillion-dollar market, and what breakthroughs to expect....

The Next Trillion-Dollar Market

Azim Azhaar

TASS — China's Hainan offers more than 30,000 jobs to foreign specialists

China is hiring.

TASS
China's Hainan offers more than 30,000 jobs to foreign specialists

Sputnik — China's GDP Growth to Decline to 2.3% in Baseline Scenario in 2020 - World Bank

Forget about that crash the media was forecasting.

Sputnik
China's GDP Growth to Decline to 2.3% in Baseline Scenario in 2020 - World Bank

also

Bounceback?

• China on Tuesday said the official Purchasing Manager’s Index for March was 52.0, beating expectations for an economy hit by the coronavirus outbreak.

• Analysts polled by Reuters had expected the official PMI to come in at 45 for the month of March, from a record low of 35.7 a month earlier.

CNBC
China says manufacturing activity expanded in March, defying expectations of a contraction

Huileng Tan

Behind the Headlines from China — Martin Armstrong

This is a direct communication from our staff in China. This is what I mean when I say we have boots on the ground around the world. We do not need to rely on newspapers or TV who love to spin these events. Our direct sources are confirming that life is returning to normal in China. This is not coming from any propaganda put out by the government or other accusations people love to make. I have stated plenty of times, I prefer facts – not speculation. I believe this will peak out also by April/May here in the West.

I hope he is correct, but the West is not (yet) taking the stringent measures that China took. The Chinese people are essentially collectivist culturally (we are all in this together), while Westerners, and Americans and Brits in particular, are individualistic culturally (every man for himself). Therefore, measures that are applicable in China may not be as applicable in the West. 

Armstrong Economics
Behind the Headlines from China
Martin Armstrong

also

Fort Russ
MAJOR: China Reports Zero New Domestic Virus Cases for first time

Drago Bosnic

Political Calculations — Maths on the Back of an Envelope

Fun on one hand but it finishes with an estimate of the effect of the coronavirus epidemic on the Chinese economy, so read to the end.

Political Calculations
Maths on the Back of an Envelope

China, Number One Economic Power for Half Decade, Dashes On — John V. Walsh

The numbers.

The Unz Review
China, Number One Economic Power for Half Decade, Dashes On
John V. Walsh

China to become first to realize UN goal of 'no poverty' — Harvey Dzodin

China is poised to realize a dream that a few decades ago most experts would have dismissed as wishful thinking. For centuries, China dreamed of building a "moderately prosperous society" in all respects. And this year, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, China will realize that dream despite having a population of more than 1.3 billion.

Late leader Deng Xiaoping resurrected this ancient but never-realized goal when reform and opening-up were launched. Chinese leaders who followed adopted it, adding additional details.

President Xi Jinping included it in his seminal "four-pronged comprehensive strategy" in 2014. Xi explained the notion in great detail at the 19th National Congress of the CPC in October 2017 in a speech titled, "Secure a Decisive Victory in Building a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects", mentioning the concept 18 times.

He said that building a moderately prosperous society in all respects meant promoting social fairness and justice, as well as ensuring steady access to childcare, education, employment, medical service, elderly care, housing and social assistance. He pledged to "intensify poverty alleviation, see that all our people have a greater sense of fulfillment as they contribute to and gain from development, and continue to promote well-rounded human development and common prosperity for everyone."

Now, a little more than two years later, the results are in, and China is about to eradicate absolute poverty....

This is almost certainly due in part to many of the present Chinese leaders having been assigned to poor areas during the Cultural Revolution, including President Xi Jinping. They experienced poverty close up. No living the bubble for them.

China Daily

China to become first to realize UN goal of 'no poverty'

Harvey Dzodin | China Daily

See also

Asia Times
Guangzhou, Shenzhen consolidate GDP lead over HK

KG Chan

McKinsey — Winning the race: China’s auto market shifts gears

There's a lot written lately about China's "collapsing" auto market as through the trade war were involved. The reality is that China started from zero and grew exponentially. Now that China has developed significantly, the pace of growth is falling off, as would be expected. Before long China is expected to approach the level of developed world where growth is based on population growth and replacement.

The big news is consolidation. The Chinese auto market is consolidating as smaller firms are being left behind by the giants, again as would be expected owing to economies of scale. This implies that market power is becoming more asymmetrical as competition decreases. The challenge then becomes anti-trust.

The post is a summary. The full report is available for download.

McKinsey
Winning the race: China’s auto market shifts gears

Zero Hedge — Alibaba Breaks 'Singles Day' Sales Record With $31 Billion Haul

Market strategists have repeatedly warned about the potential fallout from the collapse of retail sales in China, a trend that has already led to a recession in global auto sales, while Chinese factory output has also declined. But the economic doldrums facing the world's most populous country didn't stop Chinese consumers from posting a massive tab on Alibaba's Singles Day. In fact, according to CNBC, it was the largest haul in the 11-year history of Singles Day....

But with the trade war still raging, this year's Singles' Day is expected to have even more resonance, as investors look for clues about demand for American-made goods. But instead of giving American brands the cold shoulder, the US was the second-largest seller in terms of GMV, with jewelry and clothing brands the most popular.

WPIC CEO Jacob Cooke, whose marketing firm helps foreign brands sell in China, said there was "no evidence" of reduced demand for American brands....

Zero Hedge
Alibaba Breaks 'Singles Day' Sales Record With $31 Billion Haul
Tyler Durden

See also

Fast Company
Singles Day sales in the U.S.? They’re coming slowly but don’t get too excited

Zlati Meyer

MMT Heaven and MMT Hell for Chinese Investment and US Fiscal Spending — Michael Pettis

A reasonably accurate view of MMT applied to the Chinese economy. Michael Pettis sees little evidence that Chinese economists are aware of MMT, let alone using it to formulate policy.

As for China, money or debt can no longer be used to fund infrastructure because the resulting increases (in money or debt) will not be matched by increases in real GDP. Beijing should, however, be able to create money or debt with no ill effects if the proceeds were used to reverse income inequality by increasing the incomes of the poor and middle classes.

I rather doubt that China cannot find productive infrastructure for public investment, and I think they will continue to do so with a multiplier that is positive enough to justify the investment, especially in rural areas that lack modern infrastructure. However, the Chinese plan has been to encourage urbanization as much more efficient, and that will continue, along with mechanizing agriculture in the rural areas. The former peasants will mostly become city-dwellers, as has happened in the West. 

But the fact is that the Chinese leadership has already declared that the period of investment dominance is over. The task now is to increase the consumption/investment ratio toward levels more normal for a developed economy. This "restructuring" (they call it that) will take some time.

This will involve increasing domestic consumption (aggregate demand in GDP terms), which implies a redirection of production from the export market toward the domestic market (aggregate supply). This requires fiscal stimulus in order to augment domestic purchasing power by providing spendable funds, e.g., for welfare programs. 

China Financial Markets
MMT Heaven and MMT Hell for Chinese Investment and US Fiscal Spending

Michael Pettis | Professor of Finance at Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management

7 Decades of China’s achievements — Zamir Ahmed Awan

China is an old civilization and has been passing through various ups and downs throughout history. Which is very much rational and the natural cycle of human history. There was a time when Romans were at the peak, but today they stand nowhere, British and French colonialized half of the world, but today squeezed to a small state only. Ottoman Empire in Turkey was in control of parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe, but today is a small developing nation. Every peak has to pass through fall, it is a natural cycle in the history of nations. But China, the last 200 years have been suffering due to the colonializations, imperialism, and expansionism of Western World. Either it was opium war I or II or War of resistance, the Chinese suffered a lot. But with the establishment of the “The People’s Republic of China on the 1st of October 1949, China liberated finally. However, it did not end the Western world’s aggression against China. It was the economic blockade of China or war against communism threat, China was the victim in the early 1950s, 1960, and 1970s.

The story of the non-West today is that of decolonization, which is proceeding unevenly and challenged by Western powers for the most part. The IMF and World Bank were established to administer neoliberal policy, which entails neo-imperialism and neocolonialism under the leadership of the United States as the current imperial force in the world and, of course, wants to keep it that way. 

The Washington Consensus that was originally designed to facilitate decolonization was subsequently interpreted in terms of neoliberal policy favoring "market solutions," in which market power is held by the developed world and by the US in particular. China is still contending with this and is taking the long view.

The Vineyard of the Saker
7 Decades of China’s achievements
Prof. Engr. Zamir Ahmed Awan, Sinologist (ex-Diplomate), Academician, Researcher, Peace-activist, Non-Resident Fellow of CCG (Center for China and Globalization), Islamabad, Pakistan

Watch Costco Chaos at Its China Debut — Johanna Ramsey

Costco Wholesale Corp.’s first outlet in China opened on Tuesday and was soon overrun with customers willing to fight over discounted products and wait hours to pay for their purchases.

The American retail giant had to suspend operations in its Shanghai store in the afternoon citing “heavy traffic and customer flows”, according to a text message sent by the company to consumers holding its membership card. The message was shared on Weibo, China’s micro-blogging website.

The frenzy at Costco’s store comes at a time when the U.S. and China are locked in a tit-for-tat tariff war that shows no signs of abating and is making American firms wary of investing in the largest Asian economy.…

China's consumer society in training. Sounds like Filene's basement in the good old days.

I would be a shame if American business got shut out of this just as the Chinese domestic economy is set for growth as China shifts from export-led to domestic-led.

Fortune
Watch Costco Chaos at Its China Debut

Johanna Ramsey

China Now Has More Fortune 500 Companies Than the US — Gu Liping

China tops the U.S. in number of companies on Fortune's Global 500 list published on Monday with 129 companies listed, exceeding the U.S., which had 121 companies listed, for the first time since the debut of the list in 1990, and becoming the first country to defeat the U.S. since WWII. 

The overall turnover of the top 500 firms reached 32.7 trillion U.S. dollars, 8.9 percent higher over a year earlier. Up 14.5 percent year on year, the gross profit hit a record high at 2.15 trillion U.S. dollars with a net margin of 6.6 percent....

Despite the U.S. ban and trade tensions, Huawei rose to 61 from 72 in the past year, seeing a 22-percent year-on-year increase in sales volume at 109 billion U.S. dollars, and 27.5-percent growth of profits at nine billion U.S. dollars.

Aimed at globalization, Huawei has built its own global value chain with more than one-third of its core suppliers from the United States.

CGTN
China Now Has More Fortune 500 Companies Than the US

Gu Liping, editor

China economy reports lowest GDP growth on record for second quarter as US trade war bites — Sidney Leng

• China’s economy grew by 6.2 per cent in the second quarter of 2019, the lowest figure since records began in March 1992, but other data for June better than expected
• While this falls within Beijing’s GDP target for the year of between 6 to 6.5 per cent, it also shows the pressure the economy is under with the US trade war ongoing

More wishful thinking. The Western media give the impression that the China economy is in decline when it's still sizzling growth moderated slightly and one reporting period does not make a trend. China reported GDP growing at 6.2 per cent in the second quarter and 6.4 per cent in the first. This is in the target range of 6.0 to 6.5. So China is not exactly sweating this, let alone hurting, as the Western media imply.

In addition, it fits into the current five-year plan to switch from a predominantly export driven economy running a chronic fiscal surplus to a consumer driven economy that also supports the emergence of the renminbi as reserve currency.  (The renminbi is the Chinese currency and the yuan is the unit of account.) If the yuan is to become a reserve currency, China must provide its currency as a saving vehicle.that is also accepted in international exchange.

What is much more significant is the military pressure that the US is bringing to bear against China to the east in the South China Sea and Taiwan, as well as supporting Islamist proxy forces in China's west. In addition, the US and UK are fomenting revolution in Hong Kong. Any of these can become a flash point. The US is also actively attempting to undermine the BRI, which threatens Chinese control of the Eurasian land mass and dominance of what geo-strategist Halford Mackinder called "the world island" which is the strategically most sensitive area on earth.

Much more significant also, is the US attempt to decouple only itself from China economically but also the rest of the world, isolating China economically and reducing its global influence.

Otherwise, this is a pretty useful post in providing details on the Chinese economy.

South China Morning Post
China economy reports lowest GDP growth on record for second quarter as US trade war bites

Sidney Leng

China's Changing Relationship with the World Economy — Timothy Taylor

Backgrounder. China is much different from the USSR, and the later should not be used as a measure.

While the developed countries have largely flatlined, with GDP tracking population growth, China still has a lot of room to grow even though its population has stabilized.

Conversable Economist
China's Changing Relationship with the World Economy
Timothy Taylor | Managing editor of the Journal of Economic Perspectives, based at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota

What bond markets tell us on China’s economy — Alicia García Herrero

Chinese public companies are borrowing from the private sector, while private sector business is borrrowing abroad in foreign currencies. What are they thinking over there?

Asia Times
What bond markets tell us on China’s economy
Alicia García Herrero

What you can see from the high speed train to Beijing — Andrew Batson

But the trip would probably be more interesting for another species of traveler: the economics tourist. You might not see a lot of postcard-worthy views, but you will learn something about the structure of the Chinese economy.

Andrew Batson's Blog
What you can see from the high speed train to Beijing

Andrew Batson

Guo Shuqing — Rejuvenation of China is unstoppable

Speech by Mr Guo Shuqing, Party Secretary and Deputy Governor of the People's Bank of China, at the Tsinghua PBCSF Global Finance Forum, Beijing, 25 May 2019.

BIS
Guo Shuqing: Rejuvenation of China is unstoppable

Also

Guo Shuqing: Opening remarks - 11th Lujiazui Forum

Tyler Durden — iPhones Are Now "Embarrassing" In China As Trade War Deepens

Tim Cook's worst nightmare. But not just Apple. American products used to cool. Now, the coolness factor is disappearing.

China had already completed its export-dependent phase of the economic plan, and was already embarking on increasing consumption-share of GDP. This just hastens the transition as the government is forced to increase domestic demand through stimulus to maintain employment.

Zero Hedge
iPhones Are Now "Embarrassing" In China As Trade War Deepens
Tyler Durden

Yana Leksyutina — The Rise of China and the Creation of a China-Centric International Economic System

Beijing’s activity in world affairs has been steadily increasing since the global financial and economic crisis of 2008-2009. There is no doubt that China, which has substantially increased its economic and financial strength, has set off on a path of sustainable growth to play a key role in global economic governance; it is improving its leadership potential on the world stage and gradually building a China-centric system of international rules, norms and institutions. Processing its “rise”, China has already moved beyond the stage of incorporation into the international order, where it had functioned in a playing field which had been established by Western countries, and started reformatting the existing international system in accordance with its own interests and development needs. At the same time, it appears that Beijing has no clear and future-oriented strategy to become a global leader (a so-called “Grand strategy”). The increase of China’s role in world processes was to some extent a surprise to the Chinese themselves, and to some extent an objective process, the cumulative result of individual measures taken by China, designed to solve the specific tasks of China’s economic development....

Valdai Analytics
The Rise of China and the Creation of a China-Centric International Economic System

Yana Leksyutina