Instant noodles are a simple indicator of the condition of the Chinese economy. When the economy is doing well, the Chinese do not have to save and sales of cheap noodles are falling. But now they are selling well. Times are uncertain and people are worried. All the more so because many people lost money because of coronavirus.
“Of course, as a village man, I feel financial pressure. We are fed what we grow and sell. Peasants have pensions of around 100 yuan (350 crowns) a month, that’s nothing, “complains pensioner Liu Kche-ün, who earns a third less from street sales this year than last year.
Purchasability is an important indicator because the government relies on domestic consumption as the engine of the economy. It is no longer an export. At a time of customs and trade wars, Beijing needs a stable middle class willing to spend.
–
The spell of the economy for the next five years is the so-called dual circulation. “The purpose is to strengthen the links between domestic production, distribution and consumption. This is the first circuit of dual circulation. The second is the integration of foreign countries. Not only imports and exports, but mainly investments, “explains Andy Mok, an analyst at the Beijing Center for China and Globalization.
Chips from a frozen fish factory
Technological self-sufficiency is a priority. America cut off China from sensitive components, dealing a blow to major companies such as Huawei. Therefore, under the promise of government subsidies, thousands of companies are throwing themselves into the production of chips. However, often without experience and from completely different industries, such as car parts or frozen fish.
The state media call it the “big semiconductor leap forward” following the example of Mao Zedong’s strategy in the 1950s. At the time, China wanted to outperform Western industrialized nations by producing steel in backyard furnaces. But the great leap forward only led to famine, which killed tens of millions of Chinese.
– .
