CHINA'S MILLIONAIRE EXODUS
This year, 13,500 high net worth Chinese will leave the PRC, continuing a trend that has accelerated over the past decade. Hong Kong alone will see about 1,000 millionaires leave. China's economic slowdown and tightening political controls are driving the emigration of the rich, who are taking millions of dollars with them. "Wealth growth in China has been slowing over the past few years, which means that the recent outflows could be more damaging than usual," says Andrew Amoils of New World Wealth. Around 10,800 millionaires emigrated to Singapore in 2022, pushing up housing prices and other living costs. (Nikkei, June 13, 2023)
CHINA RECORDS FEWEST MARRIAGES IN MORE THAN THREE DECADES
Last year, China recorded its lowest number of marriages since public records became available in 1986; a decade-long decline that is contributing to falling birth rates. Some 6.83 million couples married in 2022, down around 10.5% from the 7.63 million marriage registrations in 2021. The data continues a steady decline in marriages since a 2013 peak, when more than 13 million couples tied the knot - nearly double last year's number. The average age for first marriages was 28.67 years old in 2020, up from 24.89 years old in 2010. China's population shrank in 2022 for the first time in more than 60 years, with just 6.77 births per 1000 people - the lowest level since the PRC's founding in 1949. (CNN, June 12, 2023)
CHINA IS RECRUITING CANADIANS ONLINE
"High-value" Canadians are being recruited online to spy for China, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) said in a Twitter thread. Chinese intelligence officers are targeting Canadians who have access to "confidential, privileged" information. "They identify people who are actively looking for jobs in strategic sectors or who have high-value credentials. Be careful who you connect with on LinkedIn and all other online platforms," CSIS said. Chinese intelligence agents posing as job recruiters on social media platforms offer their targets money to write reports containing sensitive information for their "clients." The warning came a week after the head of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said there were "100 plus" ongoing investigations into foreign interference. (South China Morning Post, June 22, 2023)
CHINA AND PAKISTAN SIGN $4.8 BILLION NUCLEAR POWER DEAL
The China National Nuclear Cooperation and the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission have inked a $4.8 billion deal to build a 1200-megawatt nuclear power plant in Punjab. Work on the Chashma 5 reactor will begin immediately after the signing of the MoU, said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. "Investment from China in this project to the tune of $4.8 billion sends a message loud and clear that Pakistan is a place where Chinese companies and investors continue to show their trust and faith," he said. The new project was planned to start a couple of years ago, and Sharif thanked the Chinese side for not rescheduling costs despite the delay. Beijing has already disbursed an initial $104.53 million for the project. Two years ago, China completed Pakistan's sixth nuclear power plant in Karachi. Pakistan is struggling to stave off a balance of payments crisis. (CNN, June 20, 2023)
U.S. FILES CHARGES AGAINST CHINESE FENTANYL MAKERS
For the first time, the Justice Department has charged four Chinese chemical companies and eight individuals with illegally trafficking fentanyl precursors to the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico. The companies advertised the chemicals on social media in Mexico and the U.S., and ship them in mislabeled packages using fake customs forms. Among those indicted are the Hubei Amarvel Biotech company and its executives Wang Qingzhou, Chen Yiyi, and Er Yang. Drug Enforcement Administration agents posing as buyers met with Wang and Chen to buy 210 kg of fentanyl precursors with cryptocurrency. The DEA retrieved the chemicals from a Los Angeles warehouse in May and arrested Wang and Chen in Honolulu. Yang remains at large. (Reuters, June 24, 2023)
Want these sent to your inbox?
Subscribe
