Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 181

Guo Wengui: How a Chinese tycoon built a pro-Trump money machine

An exiled Chinese billionaire has now been found guilty of multiple charges, including fraud and money laundering. Here's a look into how Guo Wengui, who built up a real estate empire in China, went on to run a billion dollar scam in the US.In early June 2020, at the tail end of the city's first Covid lockdown, a fleet of small planes baffled New Yorkers. They circled overhead towing banners that

Tech stocks fall after report that Biden administration plans to crack down on China chipmakers

Tech shares fell Wednesday as investors shed the behemoths that fueled Wall Street’s monster stock rally this year. The Nasdaq Composite index tumbled 2.7% and the S&P 500 lost 1.3%. The Dow rose 0.5%. Shares of tech heavyweight Nvidia (NVDA) slumped 6.2% and rival chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) dropped by 7.8%.The selloff comes after a Tuesday report from Bloomberg&

A spate of stabbings has sparked online debate about China’s economic woes

The fatal stabbing of two people by a man at a residential compound in southern China has ignited an online debate that has amplified during a summer scarred by a spree of similar crimes across the country. Two days after those June 28 killings in the Guangxi region, national attention shifted to another stabbing incident, thousands of miles away – which was then followed by two others, also

Torbjørn Færøvik: Når Kina spionerer - i partilaget

Nærmer du deg Xiyuangaten 100 i Beijing, får du øye på en grå bygning hvor alvorstemte kinesere går inn og ut til alle døgnets tider. Bygningen er hovedkvarteret til Ministeriet for offentlig sikkerhet (MSS), en stor organisasjon med mer enn hundre tusen ansatte. Rundt ti tusen personer antas å ha sin arbeidsplass i denne bygningen og i et tilhørende bygningskompleks nær Den himmelske freds plass

China’s Third Plenum: What to Watch for Foreign Investors

The third plenum is, as the name implies, the third plenum of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which has been in session since the 20th National Congress held in October 2022. Plenums are usually held in the fall each year, but the expected plenum in October 2023 did not materialize and has been postponed until now.During the third plenum, the Central Committee will approve a draft document

Don’t Be Fooled by China’s Third Plenum

In the so-called Third Plenum to be held on July 15-18, China’s senior leadership will have an opportunity to establish the broad outlines of a policy framework that could reshape the country’s course for the next several years. Don’t count on it. There is good reason to think that China watchers in the West have unrealistic expectations of what is to come.Such was the case in late 2013 when the

China Is Holding a Major Meeting on the Economy That You Can’t Watch

Xi Jinping, China’s leader, and 370 or so other Communist Party officials are meeting in Beijing this week, away from the public eye, to review a plan intended to shake the world’s second-biggest economy out of its malaise.Mr. Xi will sit in the front of a conference hall, most likely in the Jingxi Hotel, a 60-year-old institution with Soviet-style architecture. The party loyalists arrayed before

Explainer: What is China's 'third plenum'?

China's ruling Communist Party commenced its so-called third plenum on Monday, a major meeting held roughly once every five years to map out the general direction of the country's long-term social and economic policies. Its Central Committee convened the plenary session, or plenum, the third since its members were elected during the party's last congress in 2022, to deliberate on a key policy

Xi tackles slow growth as economy 'hits the brakes'

China's economy stumbled in the second quarter, official data shows, just as the country's top leaders gathered for a key meeting to address its sluggish growth. It grew 4.7% in the three months to June, falling short of expectations after a stronger start in the first three months of 2024. The government's annual growth target is around 5%. "China’s economy hit the brakes in the June quarter,"

In China, AI Enters a New Arena: The Civil Service Exam

As applications for China’s civil service examinations surge to record highs, education companies are rushing to develop artificial intelligence products that can help candidates pass the notoriously competitive tests. Civil service jobs, with their iron-clad job security, have become increasingly attractive to Chinese workers in recent years.Last year, an unprecedented 2.6 million people applied