China’s second biggest ecommerce platform, JD.com, is lowering compensation for top managers and creating an enormous benefits package for regular staff in an apparent bid to align itself with government policies. But the move will only add uncertainty to the prospects for tech firms in China, and around the world.
New Oriental Education ($EDU), the largest Chinese tutor on the block, recently posted a year-end summary: Revenues in 2021 decreased by 80%; 60,000 employees were dismissed; and the company lost 20 billion yuan ($3 billion) through such expenses as tuition refunds and severance pay.
Coal, real estate, gaming and social media all look to be on their way out in China. Who are the new economic winners in Xi Jinping’s common prosperity era?
Tencent has off-loaded $3 billion worth of shares in the Singapore-based gaming and ecommerce firm Sea, in a move to align its portfolio to match the priorities of Beijing’s “common prosperity” and sustainability push.
We all read the headlines, but what really happened in China in 2021? And what’s on deck for 2022? This is our annual guide to the China issues we all need to know about.
At the heart of vocational education reform is also a grand experiment in social engineering.
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In China, tech companies are facing particular pressure to showcase social responsibility. Xi Jinping acknowledged that the “new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is giving a strong impetus to economic development.” However, he also pointed out that its negative effects on employment and income distribution need to be “effectively addressed and resolved.”
From ironworker to China’s richest man, Xu Jiayin personified the freewheeling, dealmaking China of former decades. But now he and his debt-ridden business empire must reckon with cooling growth, and a Chinese leader on a mission to root out decadence from society.
Did Xi Jinping launch a war on wealth earlier this month when he complained of some people’s “excessively high incomes” and demanded measures to reduce inequality? “No,” say various experts with official ties, who say the government is not planning to rob the rich.