In this month’s edition: Chinese health expert explains China zero-covid policy, Xi’ great power diplomacy, China’s demographic trap and the Chinese immigrant experience in Germany.

Chinese immigrants in Germany: 我们为什么要留在德国？赚大钱？享受生活？学姐和黑黑心得分享

How do Chinese people end up in Germany and decide to stay there? Most Chinese people I know in Germany come as students. After they finish their studies, they typically go on job hunt as long as their visa allows them. Some return to China, some settle down and start families. As a rule they’re highly qualified immigrants. These two Chinese YouTubers living in Germany explain why they decided to stay.

BBC interview with Chinese health expert Liang Wannian:

Will China’s zero-covid policy last forever? BBC interviews Liang Wannian who advises the Chinese government on dealing with the pandemic. The reporter asks the right questions, for example what 动态清理 means and how it works, if this approach may have negative side effects. If I understand Liang Wannian correctly, he says so much as that the pandemic has positive effects on the economy, people’s health and mental state. An Orwellian statement? He goes on to explain that any problems that arise on the ground are not due to bad policy making, but rather “management” issues.

BBC report on Xi’s “great power diplomacy”

And up comes the next BBC news item in Chinese that looks into China’s “great power diplomacy” and its increasingly assertive behavior on the world stage. Rather difficult stuff and the traditional characters don’t make it easier, at least for me.

China’s low birth rate

Why do we keep talking about China’s low birth rate? Well, if China’s wants to be the number one nation in the world, they need more children. Li Can provides some background on the problem and delves deeper into the reasons why young people in present-day China “fail to produce” more children. He mentions that there’s kind of urgency and even crisis awareness surrounding this topic and the Chinese government is implementing new policies to raise the birth rate. Will it be enough to reverse the current trend?

China’s demographic situation be in twenty years

王志安 is a popular Chinese journalist and former TV-host who was banned from all major platforms in China in 2019. In one of the most popular videos from his channel 王志安 gives his take on China’s demographic development and its impact on Chinese society. He states that all industries that currently exist due to cheap labor like the express delivery and takeaway industry will disappear in the future. Housing prices will fall in most areas due to a declining population. He predicts a development similar to Japan. Sounds like it’s time to invest in retirement homes.

The Chinese React To New 3-Child Policy | Street Interview

That reminded me of this Asian Boss video from about a year ago. Young people in Shanghai share their thoughts about the new 3-child policy that aims at raising the birth rate. Their reactions are very telling, many of them bluntly speak out that they thought the new policy was a joke, that they have no clue how to actually raise two children, let alone three. I’m not sure if more details about this new policy have been shared in the meantime, information about financial support for women (and men) during parental leave and child benefits for example. Because that might truly change something for the better. I’m also not sure how representative the Shanghai situation (maybe the most expensive city in China) is for the rest of China, especially the second- and third-tier cities and the rural areas.

That’s it for October, folks. Thanks for dropping by, keep warm and hope to see you back next month with more Chinese content!