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Jörn Petring

Jörn Petring Published: December 18th, 2023

Trial against Hong Kong publisher Lai begins – the West protests

After a handful of convictions and three years in prison, things are now getting really serious for Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai. Since Monday, the 76-year-old has been in the dock for alleged violations of the National Security Law. Observers consider his conviction to be certain. Lai faces a life behind bars.He is accused of […]

Jörn Petring Published: December 13th, 2023

Pinduoduo overtakes Alibaba

Jack Ma has long relinquished control of Alibaba’s day-to-day business. Recently, however, the billionaire and founder of the Chinese online giant spoke out. Ma wrote an article on Alibaba’s intranet about the success of its young competitor Pinduoduo. The reason was the exorbitant growth shown by the company, founded in 2015.Ma praised Pinduoduo for its […]

Jörn Petring Published: December 11th, 2023

Voter turnout in Hong Kong falls to record low

Many Hong Kongers have expressed their resentment of the political situation in their city by not going to the ballot box. Only 27.5 percent of the more than four million eligible voters cast their ballots in the district elections on Sunday. Accordingly, voter turnout fell to a record low. The previous worst result was in […]

Jörn Petring Published: November 30th, 2023

The moment of truth for Evergrande

In the ongoing drama surrounding the highly indebted Chinese real estate conglomerate Evergrande, a crucial date is approaching on Monday. In Hong Kong, a decision will be made in court on whether Evergrande will be formally sent into liquidation.At the end of October, the presiding judge, Linda Chan, granted Evergrande a final five-week extension to […]

Jörn Petring Published: November 27th, 2023

Hongkongers ignore local elections

Be it on building fronts, lampposts and other available surfaces – the government’s election appeals can be seen everywhere in Hong Kong these days. It is about the upcoming district council election on December 10. It almost seems the administration is worried that the local election could be a flop.In reality, it is a relatively […]

Jörn Petring Published: November 22nd, 2023

Alibaba struggles to emerge from crisis

The tech giant founded by Jack Ma is thoroughly failing to achieve the hoped-for breakthrough. The split of the corporation into six independent entities, announced only in March, is already partially history.Last Thursday, Alibaba announced that the most crucial part of the overhaul – the separation of the 11 billion dollars-valued cloud business – will […]

Jörn Petring Published: November 21st, 2023

Wang provides stage for Israel criticism

China has scored another small diplomatic success in the Middle East. On Monday, four Arab foreign ministers and the foreign minister of Muslim Indonesia traveled to Beijing – a sign of the People’s Republic’s growing geopolitical influence. The delegation also included the secretaries-general of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.They started their […]

Jörn Petring Published: November 14th, 2023

Interest in dollar investments continues unabated

At first glance, the data indicates China’s dramatic departure from the US bond market: According to official data from the US Treasury Department, China’s holdings of US Treasuries have fallen to their lowest level in 14 years. The most recent data available shows that China’s holdings of US Treasuries totaled 805 billion US dollars (750 […]

Jörn Petring Published: November 13th, 2023

Shanghai’s tech index turns into a nightmare

The Star50 Index was actually supposed to symbolize a new China. A rising country with an economy driven by innovation and technological breakthroughs. Five years ago, China’s head of state and party leader Xi Jinping personally announced the new tech index modeled after the US Nasdaq.The index aims to “promote the high-quality development of China’s […]

Jörn Petring Published: November 9th, 2023

Tsinghua scientists celebrate chip breakthrough

A research team at Tsinghua University in Beijing has achieved a breakthrough. In the scientific journal Nature, they published a report on a new AI chip that calculates using light particles. This technology will be superior to conventional semiconductor components in numerous applications.China’s media have already pointed out that it will also outperform the current […]