Chart: China Gold and Silver Jewellery Demand Slows

Source : Bloomberg

Humour

The Chinese Youth Unemployment Phenomenon

Robin Wigglesworth wrote . . . . . . . . .

The odd sight of Chinese youth unemployment climbing to record highs despite a post-Covid boomlet is baffling a lot of people. That’s understandable, because the employment divergence is pretty stark.

The unemployment rate of Chinese people between the ages of 16 and 24 rose to 20.4 per cent in April, topping the previous peak from last summer, when the country was still in full lockdown. But the overall jobless rate fell to 5.2 per cent.

Here are the main takeaway points of a new Goldman Sachs report examining the causes of the discrepancy:

— We think both cyclical and structural factors have contributed to the elevated youth unemployment rate in China. On the cyclical front, the correlation between unemployment rate and services sector output gap is much stronger for the 16-24 age group compared with the 25-59 year-olds. NBS’s labor survey shows that services industries such as hotel and catering, education, and information technology sectors tend to hire more young workers. Services sector slackening before reopening therefore contributed to the high youth unemployment rate. The improvement in service sector activity growth in Q1 should lower youth unemployment rate in Q2 by 3pp based on our estimate. While the improvement in service activity growth implies rising demand for young workers, this increase in demand could be more than offset by strong supply seasonality. As we enter the graduation season, youth unemployment rate could rise by 3-4pp and peak in summertime (usually in July or August) before starting to decline from end of Q3, if we look at the seasonal pattern in 2018 and 2019 (prior to Covid).

— Structural imbalance is another reason behind the high youth unemployment rate. Despite the fact that a rising share of unemployed persons aged 16-24 years old have higher education, there appears to be misalignment of academic disciplines with business requirements. For example, the number of graduates from vocational schools who majored in education and sports rose by more than 20% in 2021 vs 2018, but hiring demand of education industry weakened meaningfully during the same period. Regulation changes over the past few years likely contributed to the weakening of labor demand in sectors such as Information Technology, Education and Property, which tend to hire more young workers. Skillset mismatches can only be dealt with gradually and might be a factor that contributes to high youth unemployment rate in the next few years.

— We might see youth unemployment continuing its upward trend in the next few months on the back of strong supply seasonality despite government policies to create more jobs for graduates. Promoting further recovery of the services sector while exploring ways to reduce misalignment between discipline and business requirements seems key to reduce the youth unemployment rate over the medium term.

Goldman also stresses that Chinese youth unemployment is not massively out of line with what you see in European countries like Italy and Spain, or other countries at a similar stage of development.

But it’s twice the US level. And obviously, that level of joblessness among younger people is more politically sensitive in countries like China, where there aren’t any viable electoral outlets for discontent. So it might be a phenomenon worth watching.

Source : FT

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16-24-year-olds contributed to more than 20% of urban unemployment

According to NBS survey, hiring demand weakened materially in 2022

Read also at Goldman Sachs

Why has youth unemployment risen so much in China? . . . . .

Mapped: The Growth in House Prices by Country

See large image . . . . . .

Source : Visual Capitalist

LONGi (隆基) Announces New Conversion Efficiency of 33.5% for its Silicon-Perovskite Tandem Solar Cells at Intersolar Europe 2023

S.R.C. Roy wrote . . . . . . . . .

The Intersolar Europe 2023, one of the world’s leading exhibition for the solar industry, kicked off in Munich, Germany on June 14, 2023. At the exhibition site, LONGi announced the new conversion efficiency of 33.5% for silicon-perovskite tandem solar cells based on commercial CZ silicon wafers.

According to the European Solar Test Installation (ESTI), LONGi has achieved conversion efficiency of 33.5% for silicon-perovskite tandem solar cells, an increase of 1.7% from the previous 31.8% published on the 16th International Photovoltaic Power Generation and Smart Energy Conference & Exhibition (SNEC) in Shanghai. Currently this is the 2nd highest efficiency record in the world and there is a possibility of continuous improvement in the future.

LONGi R&D team is one of the earliest in China to carry out research on tandem solar cells. In the face of mass production development, the LONGi R&D team has achieved successive breakthroughs in key technologies. These include perovskite thin-film crystal growth on textured silicon substrates, effective bulk passivation and light management, and these advancements have led to rapid improvements in the efficiency of silicon-based tandem cells.

“Improving cell conversion efficiency and reducing the cost of electricity remain the perpetual theme driving the development of the photovoltaic industry.” Says Li Zhenguo, President of LONGi during the speech. From April 2021, LONGi has broken the world record for solar cell efficiency 14 times, and currently holds the title of achieving the highest conversion efficiency for silicon solar cells at 26.81%. Since listing in 2012, LONGi has invested over 20 billion yuan in R&D and has obtained 2,132 patents of various types.

“The photovoltaic power generation is “born from light” and the light from the sun is just fair to everyone. As a global inclusive energy source, photovoltaic is sending light and well-being to various countries and regions around the world. Over the past decade, because the cost of electricity has dropped by more than 90%, photovoltaic has become the most economical energy type in most countries in the world.” Li Zhenguo emphasized.

At this year’s Intersolar Europe, LONGi brought its world-record-holding conceptual product 2681 to the audiences. This conceptual product named 2681 weighs 31.8 kg and has a size of 2278 mm × 1134 mm. Its ultra-high efficiency is based on the advanced technology of 26.81% crystalline silicon solar cell efficiency achieved last year, and its ultra-high performance comes from high cell development. It also has other features like voltage and symmetrical cell structure, and power generation of over 600 W.

According to the company, the LONGi R&D team managed to transform laboratory data into a conceptual product within a mere six-month timeframe. The development of the conceptual product brings it one step closer to achieving mass production.

Every technological breakthrough of LONGi is not solely based on the advancement of laboratory data but is driven by the goal of industrialization. LONGi swiftly incorporates advanced and cutting-edge technologies from around the world into mass production, thereby facilitating the technological advancement of the entire industry.

Source : Solar Quarter

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Read also

KAUST Sets World Record With 33.2% Efficiency Perovskite/Silicon Tandem Solar Cell . . . . .

U.S. Attempts ‘Divide and Conquer’ Strategy Against BRICS

Pepe Escobar wrote . . . . . . . . .

Something extraordinary, at least on the surface, happened on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore earlier this month – a somewhat pompous affair self-described as “Asia’s premier defense summit”.
Intel heads of 24 nations met in de facto semi-secrecy, because in the end the event was duly leaked (Western spin qualified it as an “informal” meeting).

Among the 24, the real deal comprised the US and all the other Five Eyes, plus representatives of two BRICS members, China and India. All the others were not identified with certainty or preferred to remain anonymous – presumably due to their “hanger on” status.

Crucially, key BRICS member Russia was not represented.

Reuters swore the information about the not-so-secret gathering came from five different – unnamed – sources. A Southeast Asian diplomat independently confirmed the presence of the Five Eyes, China, India and Singapore – and that was it. The de facto sponsor of the meeting was Singapore’s Ministry of Defense.

Things gets curioser and curioser when we examine the leak a bit closer. So many sources basically corroborating each other point to a concerted spin – practically on an official level. If this was meant to be really secret, as in the past, that would have been the case, with every involved lip conveniently sealed. So why leak it?

Washington’s Divide and Conquer Strategy

Such spy vs. spy meetings, historically, take ages to prepare, especially one involving 24 nations and featuring superpower rivals US and China. That implies countless qualified sherpas redacting documents; very complicated logistics; an ultra-secure environment; and an extremely detailed script covering every intervention.

All of that must have been discussed in excruciating detail for months, side by side with putting together the larger agenda for the Shangri-La Dialogue: and all the while there were no leaks.

And then what was leaked, after the meeting, was just that it happened. With only selected participating players fully identified. There’s absolutely nothing on substance.

It beggars belief that the Five Eyes would openly discuss Western security fears and/or procedures openly with the Chinese, not to mention the other minor hangers-on. After all the Beijing leadership is fully aware the US-UK is engaged in full hybrid war against China, with the Five Eyes and containment mechanisms such as Quad and AUKUS in tow.
The main reason for the leak is a dead giveaway when we see what US Think Tankland is spinning: the US was talking security with China and India behind Russia’s back. Translation: the US is trying to undermine the BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) from the inside.

This is purely wishful thinking – because no one knows anything about the substance of the discussions. The meat of the matter was not leaked on purpose.

The dead giveaway about the leak being engineered to undermine the BRICS – at least in the Western public sphere – would have to come from the usual suspects themselves: US think tanks, inserted in what the indispensable Ray McGovern, a former CIA analyst, christened as MICIMATT (Military-Industrial-Congressional-Intelligence-Media-Academia-Think Tank complex).

The chairman of the Eurasia Group laid it all out in detail: US foreign policy needs essentially to deploy the whole arsenal of Hybrid War techniques to seduce, coerce or subdue 6 so-called “swing states” in the geopolitical arena: Brazil, India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkiye.

It’s no accident three of these are BRICS members (Brazil, India, South Africa) and the other three (Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye) are prime candidates to the inevitable expansion, BRICS+, already being discussed and about to get started during the upcoming BRICS summit in August in South Africa.

The American tactics remain predictable: classic Divide and Rule; attempts to undermine BRICS from the inside via P.R. operations and a vast 5th brigade; and if all goes wrong, attempts at color revolution and regime change.

Recently, the tactics miserably failed against both Turkiye and Saudi Arabia, and are also failing in terms of provoking mischief within the key RICs trio (Russia-India-China).

Growing Signs of US Desperation

The leak was, once again, shadow play: an extra layer of fog of war – and related to an ongoing war. It’s quite intriguing the “secret” gambit took place right before the green light from the usual suspects for Kiev to bomb the Kakhovskaya dam, and the de facto start of the spun-to-death Ukrainian “counter offensive.”

To have DNI head Avril Haines and her Beijing counterpart Chen Wixin discussing this on the same table is as far-fetched as it comes.

A more realistic scenario would have China and India on the same table discussing their intractable border issues. But they don’t need to go to Singapore to do that; they do it in the framework of the SCO, of which both are members, with Russia playing a mediator role.

US Think Tankland/MICIMATT spinning, predictably masquerading as political analysis, never reaches beyond the level of guesswork: they assume that China was discussing security with the superpower that really matters – the US – while ditching their comprehensive strategic partnership with Russia.

Nonsense strikes again: top security issues concerning both are discussed at the highest level, for instance during the recent visit to Moscow by China’s Minister of Defense Li Shangfu, complete with a personal encounter with Putin.

Even without any input on the substance of the meeting, it’s fair to consider all about the leak that points to Ukraine.
The American intel narrative would go something like this: we need an exit strategy, badly, immediately. So let’s get Chinese intel to convince the Russians to freeze the battlefield as it stands – a ceasefire of sorts. Then we can re-weaponize Kiev and have another go at it later on.

Anyone following Russia-China high-level interaction these past few months knows this is – once again – nonsense. Beijing may have its 12-point plan for peace – which Moscow respects. But facts on the ground, imposed by US/NATO hubris, have engineered a major game-changer.

And then there’s the really fundamental question: when and how Russia will decide to cross the Dnepr. Only after that Moscow will be willing to discuss any possible “peace”, and only under its own terms.

At the same time, both Moscow and Beijing are fully aware that the proxy US/NATO war in Ukraine against Russia is a rehearsal inbuilt in the ongoing Chronicle of a War Announced: the real one, up next, against China, with Taiwan as pretext.

To believe that Chinese intel would willingly bend to the whims of the Five Eyes because they feel China is in a precarious geopolitical position does not even qualify as laughable. And yet that’s also inbuilt in US Think Thankland spin.

It’s as laughable as the Beltway narrative, imposed 24/7, of “China threatening war over Taiwan” when it’s the Hegemon that is using Taiwan as a remixed Ukraine, forcing Beijing to lose its Taoist patience.

So in the end what really stands out in this spy vs. spy saga? Not much. Except yet another whiff of Hegemon desperation.

Source : Sputnik International