Chart: China SMIC Shares Underperform Taiwan TSMC Most Since 2005

Source : Bloomberg

Study Finds Multivitamins Won’t Help You Live Longer

Ernie Mundell wrote . . . . . . . . .

A full third of American adults take multivitamins, despite prior studies suggesting they do little to boost health.

Now, a study involving almost 400,000 people finds zero benefit from multivitamin use in helping folks live longer.

Among people “without a history of major chronic diseases, we did not find evidence to support improved longevity among healthy adults who regularly take multivitamins,” concluded a team led by Erikka Loftfield. She’s with the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics at the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI).

Her team published its findings in the journal JAMA Network Open.

In the study, Loftfield’s group analyzed data from three prospective studies (meaning people were followed over time) with an average 27 years of follow-up.

Over 390,000 healthy adults were enrolled in the studies, and they averaged about 61 years of age upon study entry. Researchers gathered data on the participants’ multivitamin use.

Over the nearly three decades of follow-up, almost 165,000 of the participants died. About 50,000 deaths were attributed to cancer, about 35,000 deaths were caused by heart disease and 9,275 deaths were linked to strokes.

However, Loftfield’s group detected no association between multivitamin use and a person’s odds of dying within the study period.

In fact, “we found that daily multivitamin use vs nonuse was associated with 4% higher mortality [death] risk,” the researchers noted.

People’s race, ethnicity, education or dietary quality didn’t alter the results.

The NCI team noted that the new findings come on the heels of “several studies that reported no benefit of multivitamin use for reducing risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer or mortality.”

In 2020, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an influential, independent panel of health experts, found “insufficient” evidence to determine whether or not multivitamins could prevent heart disease or cancer.

The message to the public on multivitamins might slowly be getting through: “In the U.S., multivitamin use declined by 6% from 1999 to 2011,” Loftfield’s group noted.

However, use “remains popular, with nearly 1 in 3 adults reporting recent use,” they added.

While the study showed no effect of multivitamins on people’s odds for an early death, the team stressed that “we cannot preclude the possibility that daily multivitamin use may be associated with other health outcomes related to aging.”

Source: HealthDay

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Chart: The 10 Most Popular Country Destinations for a Holiday

Source : Statista

Where Is China’s Economy Headed?

Spencer Feingold wrote . . . . . . . . .

Earlier this year, China announced an ambitious goal of reaching 5% economic growth in 2024. Today, nearly seven months into the year, economists and government officials say they are optimistic that China can reach its goal.

“We have the confidence and capability to achieve the growth target,” Chinese Premier Li Qiang said at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions (AMNC), a gathering of top global voices from government, business, civil society and academia held in Dalian, People’s Republic of China.

“China’s large market is open,” Li stated. “The rapid growth of new industries and new drivers has buttressed the sound and sustained development of the Chinese economy.”

Peng Sen, the President of the China Society of Economic Reform, added at the summit that he is “fully confident” that China can achieve its 5% goal.

New avenues of growth

Following the government’s open and reform economic policies in the 1970s and 1980s, China’s rate of economic growth has been unparalleled. Economic output per person, for instance, has increased by roughly 3,000% in recent decades, leading many analysts to refer to China’s economic growth as a “miracle.”

Economic growth in China, however, has slowed in recent years. Growth is projected to decelerate to 3.3% by 2029, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“Even a so-called slowed down growth of China is actually incredibly relevant for the global economy,” noted Aparna Bharadwaj, Managing Director and Partner at Boston Consulting Group.

Experts maintain that new avenues of growth will be required for China to retain steady growth. This includes expansion in new and transforming industries like artificial intelligence, digital financial services and green technologies like electric vehicles.

Jin Keyu, a Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science, noted that “trillions of dollars of investment is needed” for the global green transition, adding that “China is going to play a very essential role” in the transformation.

Already, China’s expanding clean energy sector accounted for an estimated 40% of the country’s economic expansion in 2023. Meanwhile, private sector spending on research and development has doubled in the past five years.

The World Economic Forum’s Chief Economists Outlook: May 2024, a survey of top economists around the world, also found that analysts broadly expect further growth in China.

Of the economists surveyed in the report, nearly 75% said they expect moderate growth in China. The figure marked an increase from the 69% who expected moderate growth the previous edition of the report conducted in January.

High-quality growth

In 2017, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that China would transition its economy away from a period of high-speed growth to a stage of high-quality growth.

Today, experts maintain that a focus on high-quality growth remains vital to ensuring medium- and long-term economic growth. At AMNC24, participants noted that high-quality growth should largely be rooted in advanced technologies.

“We need high-quality growth in order to stimulate our development and our growth,” Peng said. “This depends on the transition, the revolutionary transformation, on the technological front, and as for the traditional sectors, they need upgrade and they need a deep transformation.”

Industries associated with high-quality growth include sectors like generative AI systems, semiconductors and renewables energies, experts say. Maintaining efficient supply chains and access to global markets is essential to high-quality growth, too.

“The really important point to note is that this is all part of a global supply chain,” Jin added. “China might be leading the way in EVs, batteries and solar panels, but they are all embedded in a global supply chain. And it’s going to involve everybody.”

Geopolitical headwinds

Analysts note that despite China’s positive economic outlook for 2024, obstacles and hindrance to growth do persist. Notably, this includes geopolitical tensions and global economic fragmentation.

“Geopolitics, of course, is intrinsically a zero sum game,” said Eswar Prasad, a Professor at Cornell University. “But now even the economic relationship is seen as a zero or even negative sum game.”

Last year, the IMF estimated that economic fragmentation and increased international trade restrictions could cost the global economy $7.4 trillion and cut global economic output by as much as 7%.

Experts note that in particular, tensions between the United States and China pose a significant threat to economic development worldwide — especially for developing economies.

“Business leaders in the Global South would like to do business across geopolitical boundaries,” Bharadwaj stated, adding that restricting economic access to large economies can significantly hinder economic opportunities.

Jin added that to ensure sustained economic growth, we need to “make sure we keep China open for business and make sure we keep the world open for China.”

Source : World Economic Forum

Mapped: The 10 Hottest and Coldest Countries in the World

Source : Visual Capitalist

China’s Big Chip Fund to Exceed $47.5 Billion Goal, Adviser Says

China’s main national chip fund should wind up raising more than the $47.5 billion originally disclosed, a senior adviser to Beijing said, reflecting the government’s resolve to close a technology gap with the US.

More state-backed firms are likely to join investors such as Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. in contributing capital, Li Ke, a member of the committee that advises the fund, told Bloomberg News. That reflects the government’s resolve to create a self-sufficient domestic semiconductor industry, said Li, who is also deputy general manager of CCID Consulting Co., an agency backed by a research arm of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Chinese government agencies have stepped up efforts since 2023 to overcome US sanctions and propel local players from Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. to Huawei Technologies Co. Key to that thrust is the National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund — known colloquially as the Big Fund — which funnels state capital into important chip projects and companies.

The Big Fund’s third vehicle was set up just last month and will operate under a 10-year timeframe, longer than the five years the first two were accorded, Li said. That means, in effect, there could be a “Big Fund 3.5,” he added.

“The technology gap still exists, that’s why we needed the third phase. There’s still work to do since the issue of chokepoints hasn’t been resolved,” Li said in an interview on the sidelines of the World Semiconductor Conference in Nanjing. “The third fund remains open and more capital could be injected during its 10-year window.”

Source : BNN Bloomberg