Consumer spending in China might be in the doldrums, but a remarkable exception is the movie industry, says business analyst Ben Cavender in the Wall Street Journal. Visiting film theaters has become an affordable time out for friends and families of more tight-fisted consumers, he says. The planned expansion of the number of theaters to 5,000 per year shows the industry’s optimism. Also: domestic movies are doing better than the previously popular foreign competitors.Read More →

Despite the hope of the international financial community, China is not heading for structural reforms, says leading economist Arthur Kroeber, author of  China’s Economy: What Everyone Needs to Know®, to CNBC. Pushing up demand is not high on the agenda for China’s leadership, he says, and they do not want to push up debts levels to new heights.Read More →

China’s new energy industry is key in creating wealth, says Rupert Hoogewerf at the Hurun website, reporting on the  the Global Unicorn Index 2024. “In the latest Hurun China Top 500, new energy has risen to fifth place, with 36 companies making the cut.  This was significantly up on just five years ago, when there were a mere 14 new energy companies, making the industry not even a Top 10,” says Rupert Hoogewerf.Read More →

Business analyst Shaun Rein, author of The Split: Finding the Opportunities in China’s Economy in the New World Order, explains why China’s mini-bazooka will not help its economy in the long run. People need a serious fiscal stimulus, so they are confident about the economy again, he argues in a talk with David Lin. “People have to feel safe again before they are going to spend the money they made again,” he adds.Read More →

Financial analyst Shaun Rein expects the stock markets to rally for another two to three weeks, as Chinese investors return from their holidays and try to gain on the A-shares bump, he tells CNBC. The economy is still a mess, and export is having some problems, but in the short term stock markets will do fine, he says.Read More →

Journalist Zhang Lijia, author of “Socialism Is Great!”: A Worker’s Memoir of the New China,  is thoroughly impressed by the movie Black Dog, which won an award at Cannes. In her review, she writes, “This Cannes Un Certain Regard winner stands as a richly deserved accolade—a poignant narrative beautifully told. “Read More →

Some e-commerce firms in China have profited from a rally of their stocks, triggered off by a major financial stimulus, but that might not help the economy to really improve, says financial analyst Shaun Rein at CNBC. It’s a rally of exuberance, he adds, and might only triple down into the economy in six to nine months. The real problem is for example companies cannot fire their staff very easily, and make their lives hard, hoping they will leave by themselves, he says.Read More →