Young Chinese 'almost forget' aspirations amid demographic tumult
Ilaria Maria Sala is a Hong Kong-based freelance journalist and writer, focusing on societal changes, cities, heritage and cultural developments. Cheung Hok Hang is a freelance journalist with a focus on art markets and cultural developments.
Zhao Laoshi, or Teacher Zhao, runs a small breakfast canteen in Shenzhen, selling cheong fun steamed rice rolls, a popular southern-Chinese snack, often eaten with warm soy milk. His tiny, 15-square-meter shop would seem much like any other if it were not for a piano placed in the back. The deal is this: Play a song on the piano and get a free cheong fun.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Japan Today
an hour ago
- Japan Today
US, China to launch new talks on tariff truce extension, easing path for Trump-Xi meeting
FILE PHOTO: The American and Chinese flags are photographed on the negotiating table, during a bilateral meeting between the United States and China, in Geneva, Switzerland, May 10, 2025. KEYSTONE/EDA/Martial Trezzini/Handout via REUTERS/ File Photo By David Lawder Top U.S. and Chinese economic officials will resume talks in Stockholm on Monday to try to tackle longstanding economic disputes at the centre of a trade war between the world's top two economies, aiming to extend a truce by three months and keeping sharply higher tariffs at bay. China is facing an August 12 deadline to reach a durable tariff agreement with President Donald Trump's administration, after Beijing and Washington reached preliminary deals in May and June to end weeks of escalating tit-for-tat tariffs and a cut-off of rare earth minerals. Without an agreement, global supply chains could face renewed turmoil from U.S. duties snapping back to triple-digit levels that would amount to a bilateral trade embargo. The Stockholm talks come hot on the heels of Trump's biggest trade deal yet with the European Union on Sunday for a 15% tariff on most EU goods exports to the U.S., including autos. The bloc will also buy $750 billion worth of American energy and make $600 billion worth of U.S. investments in coming years. No similar breakthrough is expected in the U.S.-China talks but trade analysts said that another 90-day extension of a tariff and export control truce struck in mid-May was likely. An extension of that length would prevent further escalation and facilitate planning for a potential meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in late October or early November. A U.S. Treasury spokesperson declined comment on a South China Morning Post report quoting unnamed sources as saying the two sides would refrain from introducing new tariffs or other steps that could escalate the trade war for another 90 days. Trump's administration is poised to impose new sectoral tariffs that will impact China within weeks, including on semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, ship-to-shore cranes and other products. "We're very close to a deal with China. We really sort of made a deal with China, but we'll see how that goes," Trump told reporters on Sunday before European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen struck their tariff deal. The Financial Times reported on Monday that the U.S. had paused curbs on tech exports to China to avoid disrupting trade talks with Beijing and support Trump's efforts to secure a meeting with Xi this year. The industry and security bureau of the Commerce Department, which oversees export controls, had been told to avoid tough moves on China, the newspaper said, citing current and former officials. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The White House and the department did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment outside business hours. DEEPER ISSUES Previous U.S.-China trade talks in Geneva and London in May and June focused on bringing U.S. and Chinese retaliatory tariffs down from triple-digit levels and restoring the flow of rare earth minerals halted by China and Nvidia's H20 AI chips and other goods halted by the United States. So far, the talks have not delved into broader economic issues. They include U.S. complaints that China's state-led, export-driven model is flooding world markets with cheap goods, and Beijing's complaints that U.S. national security export controls on tech goods seek to stunt Chinese growth. "Geneva and London were really just about trying to get the relationship back on track so that they could, at some point, actually negotiate about the issues which animate the disagreement between the countries in the first place," said Scott Kennedy, a China economics expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "I'd be surprised if there is an early harvest on some of these things but an extension of the ceasefire for another 90 days seems to be the most likely outcome," Kennedy said. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has already flagged a deadline extension and has said he wants China to rebalance its economy away from exports to more domestic consumption -- a decades-long goal for U.S. policymakers. Analysts say the U.S.-China negotiations are far more complex than those with other Asian countries and will require more time. China's grip on the global market for rare earth minerals and magnets, used in everything from military hardware to car windshield wiper motors, has proved to be an effective leverage point on U.S. industries. TRUMP-XI MEETING? In the background of the talks is speculation about a possible meeting between Trump and Xi in late October. Trump has said he will decide soon on a landmark trip to China, and a new flare-up of tariffs and export controls would likely derail planning. Sun Chenghao, a fellow at Tsinghua University's Center for International Security and Strategy in Beijing, said that a Trump-Xi summit would be an opportunity for the U.S. to lower the 20% tariffs on Chinese goods related to fentanyl. In exchange, he said the Chinese side could make good on its 2020 pledge to increase purchases of U.S. farm products and other goods. "The future prospect of the heads of state summit is very beneficial to the negotiations because everyone wants to reach an agreement or pave the way in advance," Sun said. Still, China will likely request a reduction of multi-layered U.S. tariffs totaling 55% on most goods and further easing of U.S. high-tech export controls, analysts said. Beijing has argued that such purchases would help reduce the U.S. trade deficit with China, which reached $295.5 billion in 2024. © (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025.
Nikkei Asia
2 hours ago
- Nikkei Asia
Australia's teen social media ban could face Google challenge
YouTube, which is owned by Google, has hit back at a recommendation it should be included in Australia's social media ban that comes into effect in December. (Source photo by Reuters) SHAUN TURTON SYDNEY -- Tech giant Google has written to Australia's minister for communications and flagged potential legal action should the government include YouTube in its social media ban for teens. The Google-owned service was initially excluded from Australia's social media ban, which comes into effect in December. But in June, Australia's online safety regulator wrote to Communications Minister Anika Wells, saying YouTube was a source of harmful content and should be included.
Japan Times
3 hours ago
- Japan Times
CK Hutchison to invite China investor to join port deal
CK Hutchison said it may invite a "major strategic investor' from China to join a group seeking to buy its global ports, as the Hong Kong-based company works toward a solution that pleases all in the geopolitically sensitive deal. The unnamed investor would join as a significant member of the consortium, the company said in a stock exchange filing Monday, hours after the expiry of a 145-day exclusive talks window with the group backed by American asset manager BlackRock. "Changes to the membership of the consortium and the structure of the transaction will be needed for the transaction to be capable of being approved by all relevant authorities,' CK Hutchison said, adding that it "intends to allow such time as is required for such discussions.' State-owned China Cosco Shipping was negotiating a powerful role for itself as a condition to join the consortium, it was reported last week. Shares of Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing's firm oscillated between gains and losses after the announcement. The stock was up 0.4% as of 10:58 a.m. in in Hong Kong on Monday. Cosco Shipping Holdings, the listed unit of China Cosco, was down 3.11%. Monday's confirmation about a Chinese investor will likely help remove the obstacles that have been holding back the deal. Beijing has so far viewed the sale of CK Hutchison's 43 ports as a threat to its interests because it includes transfer of two ports along the strategically important Panama Canal to the group backed by BlackRock — which China considers a proxy for American influence. Chinese authorities separately warned the parties involved not to bypass antitrust reviews, so as to prevent them from rushing into a deal. CK Hutchison reiterated its position Monday that it "will not proceed with any transaction that does not have the approval of all relevant authorities.' CK Hutchison's shares, which shot up 37% in the days following the sale announcement on March 4, saw political pressure wipe out all the gains in the space of a month. The stock started rallying again last month as investors flocked back after China Cosco came into play. While it may initially sound like positive news, restricting the group to a few potentially strategic buyers means limited competition in the price discovery process for the asset, according to Ke Yan, head of research at DZT Research in Singapore. "Hence, the deal may not fetch the best price that the company hopes for,' he said. The Cheung Kong Center building (center), which houses the headquarters of CK Hutchison and CK Asset Holdings, in Hong Kong on July 4 | Bloomberg Investors have in recent weeks flocked back to CK Hutchison amid optimism that the 96-year-old Li will seal the deal of his lifetime. If it goes through, the sale will net the group more than $19 billion in cash. The renewed optimism is largely due to China Cosco's interest in playing a role in the buying consortium, alongside BlackRock and Italian billionaire Gianluigi Aponte's Terminal Investment. "Ongoing negotiations and the reported inclusion of Cosco Shipping in the consortium have likely eased concerns over Chinese regulatory hurdles, strengthening investor confidence in the deal's viability,' according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Denise Wong. Initially hailed as a smart move by Li to exit a business caught up in global trade tensions, the deal quickly drew the ire of Beijing. It didn't help that President Donald Trump billed the transaction as the return of Panama Canal back to American influence. Challenges remain even as Cosco enters the discussions, David Blennerhassett, an analyst at Quiddity Advisors, wrote on financial analysis platform SmartKarma. That could reverse the current rhetoric and upset Trump, who has a handful of issues already on his plate, he said. CK Hutchison's share price could also be under pressure should talks on the sale drag on, he added. Even with an extended timeline, revised terms or a partial agreement, uncertainty around the deal's value and timing would increase, said Bloomberg Intelligence's Wong. The delay may also fuel concerns about regulatory and policy challenges, she said. Investors will be watching out for more answers to questions surrounding the deal, including what role the Chinese side will play in the consortium, said Gary Ng, a senior economist at Natixis. The controversial deal has also weighed on Li and his family's other businesses. Younger son Richard's talks to expand his insurance business into mainland China have stalled after the ports deal upset Beijing, it was reported earlier this month. That followed another report in March that China told its state-owned firms to hold off on any new collaboration with businesses linked to the Li family. The original structure of the buyer consortium was designed to give the Aponte family-controlled Terminal Investment ownership of all the ports except the two in Panama, whose control will go to BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners unit.
