China
China’s youth face dismal job prospects
Xu Ke, 21, comes from a long line of university lecturers.
Yet his peers and people a few years older than him are all struggling with a major crisis in their lives: growing competition for a dwindling number of jobs as youth unemployment tops 20%, driven by a huge downturn in manufacturing and foreign investment.
“There aren’t many jobs, and the competition for the jobs there are is too strong,” said Xu, who is currently studying at a university in Minnesota. “Everyone is willing to do any job.”
“With everyone willing to do anything, wages are [kept] low, and benefits are poor,” Xu told Radio Free Asia in a recent interview.
Before the pandemic, most of his peers would once have expected to study for a teaching or liberal arts degree, before going on to land jobs as elementary and secondary school teachers.
But those days are long gone, Xu said, adding that the 20.4% unemployment rate among people aged 16-24 reported by the National Bureau of Statistics for April was likely only the tip of the iceberg.
“I would guess that the proportion of young people who can’t find a job at all is likely to be between 40 and 50%,” he said.
“After all, not everyone [with parents who work in the government] system can even get into senior high school, and not everyone in senior high school can get into college,” he said. He cited a government quota introduced in 2021 requiring 50% of junior high school students to take up places in technical and vocational schools, rather than senior high school.
Before the policy was introduced, around 60% of junior high-schoolers would have gone on to senior high, where they would then be eligible to take the grueling “Gaokao” university entrance exam.
Shut out
Some of Xu’s friends have now effectively been barred from a university education, and from the white collar jobs that education prepares them for.
Shut out of the system that raised them, they are forced to look for blue-collar jobs instead.
“Wages [in blue-collar jobs] are very low, and there is a lot of strenuous physical labor,” he said. “Some people can’t do it, or they can’t find [even blue-collar] jobs, so they basically spend their time waiting to get old.”
For 30-year-old Shan Wentao, it’s a familiar scenario.
Born into a working-class family in the eastern province of Anhui, Shan says even his peers can’t find work in the current economic environment, with dwindling opportunities in manufacturing and sharp falls in foreign investment.
“I tried to get a shift on a construction site, but there are more people [available to work] in the industry now, and the wages are getting lower and lower, while the work is pretty backbreaking,” he said.
One of Shan’s friends did land some construction work, but only lasted a few months due to health problems and non-payment of wages.
Yet for young working class people, “lying flat” – essentially doing nothing while living at home – is less of an option than it is for their counterparts with higher-level qualifications, as many are already married, and can’t live back home with mom and dad.
“There’s nothing to be done about it,” he said. “I get the impression they don’t want to do these jobs, but what else can they do?”
‘Revitalizing the rural economy’
A woman who gave only the surname Chen said she has a 17-year-old relative who is despondent about life after she graduates from vocational school.
“She says the teaching in the technical school is so bad that she isn’t learning anything, and that she’ll earn very little after she graduates,” Chen said. “She says it’s easier just to lie flat.”
“She doesn’t want to do manual work, because it’s too tiring, but her family doesn’t have the resources to send her to study overseas,” she said. “She is desperate, and confused about the future.”
National Bureau of Statistics spokesperson Fu Linghui told a news conference on May 16 that “the relevant departments are proactively introducing policies to provide targeted assistance” to help young people into work.
But media reports pointed to a rising number of college graduates in recent years, coupled with residual unemployment from previous years.
President Xi Jinping has called on young people to be less picky about the jobs they’ll accept, as well as lauding those who return to rural areas to “revitalize the rural economy.”
But his exhortations have fallen on deaf ears as the middle class cash out of the Chinese economy and join the “run” movement, seeking a new life overseas, often via political asylum in the United States.
“During the Mao era, the Chinese government promoted the relocation of educated urban youths to the countryside, through a combination of heavy political propaganda and various kinds of political pressure,” U.S.-based economist He Qinglian wrote in a recent commentary for RFA Mandarin.
But while more than 12 million have done so in recent years, the numbers don’t amount to much when taken alongside the hundreds of millions of rural residents who continue to move into China’s cities to find work.
“Of course the Chinese government knows very well that it won’t be able to get rural youths who have experienced the simplicity of urban life to pick up their hoes and bend themselves double over the land again,” He wrote, citing the rise of “Taobao villages” as people run online shops from rural locations.
She cited government balance-of-payments data as showing a 43% decline in foreign direct investment in China in 2022, compared with the previous year.
“Foreign-invested companies are gradually withdrawing from the Chinese market, which is a big blow to employment rates,” she said, adding that youth unemployment rates would be higher still if the government didn’t remove people returning to rural hometowns from the figures.
Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.
Read the rest of this article here >>> China’s youth face dismal job prospects
China
China Implements New Policies to Boost Foreign Investment in Science and Technology Companies
China’s Ministry of Commerce announced new policy measures on April 19, 2023, to encourage foreign investment in the technology sector. The measures include facilitating bond issuance, improving the investment environment, and simplifying procedures for foreign institutions to access the Chinese market.
On April 19, 2023, China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) along with nine other departments announced a new set of policy measures (hereinafter, “new measures”) aimed at encouraging foreign investment in its technology sector.
Among the new measures, China intends to facilitate the issuance of RMB bonds by eligible overseas institutions and encourage both domestic and foreign-invested tech companies to raise funds through bond issuance.
In this article, we offer an overview of the new measures and their broader significance in fostering international investment and driving innovation-driven growth, underscoring China’s efforts to instill confidence among foreign investors.
The new measures contain a total of sixteen points aimed at facilitating foreign investment in China’s technology sector and improving the overall investment environment.
Divided into four main chapters, the new measures address key aspects including:
Firstly, China aims to expedite the approval process for QFII and RQFII, ensuring efficient access to the Chinese market. Moreover, the government promises to simplify procedures, facilitating operational activities and fund management for foreign institutions.
This article is republished from China Briefing. Read the rest of the original article.
China Briefing is written and produced by Dezan Shira & Associates. The practice assists foreign investors into China and has done since 1992 through offices in Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Qingdao, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong. Please contact the firm for assistance in China at china@dezshira.com.
China
Q1 2024 Brief on Transfer Pricing in Asia
Indonesia’s Ministry of Finance released Regulation No. 172 of 2023 on transfer pricing, consolidating various guidelines. The Directorate General of Taxes focuses on compliance, expanded arm’s length principle, and substance checks. Singapore’s Budget 2024 addresses economic challenges, operational costs, and sustainability, implementing global tax reforms like the Income Inclusion Rule and Domestic Top-up Tax.
Indonesia’s Ministry of Finance (MoF) has released Regulation No. 172 of 2023 (“PMK-172”), which prevails as a unified transfer pricing guideline. PMK-172 consolidates various transfer pricing matters that were previously covered under separate regulations, including the application of the arm’s length principle, transfer pricing documentation requirements, transfer pricing adjustments, Mutual Agreement Procedure (“MAP”), and Advance Pricing Agreements (“APA”).
The Indonesian Directorate General of Taxes (DGT) has continued to focus on compliance with the ex-ante principle, the expanded scope of transactions subject to the arm’s length principle, and the reinforcement of substance checks as part of the preliminary stage, indicating the DGT’s expectation of meticulous and well-supported transfer pricing analyses conducted by taxpayers.
In conclusion, PMK-172 reflects the Indonesian government’s commitment to addressing some of the most controversial transfer pricing issues and promoting clarity and certainty. While it brings new opportunities, it also presents challenges. Taxpayers are strongly advised to evaluate the implications of these new guidelines on their businesses in Indonesia to navigate this transformative regulatory landscape successfully.
In a significant move to bolster economic resilience and sustainability, Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Mr. Lawrence Wong, unveiled the ambitious Singapore Budget 2024 on February 16, 2024. Amidst global economic fluctuations and a pressing climate crisis, the Budget strategically addresses the dual challenges of rising operational costs and the imperative for sustainable development, marking a pivotal step towards fortifying Singapore’s position as a competitive and green economy.
In anticipation of global tax reforms, Singapore’s proactive steps to implement the Income Inclusion Rule (IIR) and Domestic Top-up Tax (DTT) under the BEPS 2.0 framework demonstrate a forward-looking approach to ensure tax compliance and fairness. These measures reaffirm Singapore’s commitment to international tax standards while safeguarding its economic interests.
Transfer pricing highlights from the Singapore Budget 2024 include:
This article is republished from China Briefing. Read the rest of the original article.
China Briefing is written and produced by Dezan Shira & Associates. The practice assists foreign investors into China and has done since 1992 through offices in Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Qingdao, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong. Please contact the firm for assistance in China at china@dezshira.com.
China
New Report from Dezan Shira & Associates: China Takes the Lead in Emerging Asia Manufacturing Index 2024
China has been the world’s largest manufacturer for 14 years, producing one-third of global manufacturing output. In the Emerging Asia Manufacturing Index 2024, China ranks highest among eight emerging countries in the region. Challenges for these countries include global demand disparities affecting industrial output and export orders.
Known as the “World’s Factory”, China has held the title of the world’s largest manufacturer for 14 consecutive years, starting from 2010. Its factories churn out approximately one-third of the global manufacturing output, a testament to its industrial might and capacity.
China’s dominant role as the world’s sole manufacturing power is reaffirmed in Dezan Shira & Associates’ Emerging Asia Manufacturing Index 2024 report (“EAMI 2024”), in which China secures the top spot among eight emerging countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The other seven economies are India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and Bangladesh.
The EAMI 2024 aims to assess the potential of these eight economies, navigate the risks, and pinpoint specific factors affecting the manufacturing landscape.
In this article, we delve into the key findings of the EAMI 2024 report and navigate China’s advantages and disadvantages in the manufacturing sector, placing them within the Asia-Pacific comparative context.
Emerging Asia countries face various challenges, especially in the current phase of increased volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA). One notable challenge is the impact of global demand disparities on the manufacturing sector, affecting industrial output and export orders.
This article is republished from China Briefing. Read the rest of the original article.
China Briefing is written and produced by Dezan Shira & Associates. The practice assists foreign investors into China and has done since 1992 through offices in Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Qingdao, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong. Please contact the firm for assistance in China at china@dezshira.com.
- China Implements New Policies to Boost Foreign Investment in Science and Technology Companies
- Q1 2024 Brief on Transfer Pricing in Asia
- New Report from Dezan Shira & Associates: China Takes the Lead in Emerging Asia Manufacturing Index 2024
- Is journalist Vicky Xu preparing to return to China?
- Guide for Foreign Residents: Obtaining a Certificate of No Criminal Record in China
- China Unveils Plan to Upgrade Industrial Equipment
