“Ice Boy” and China’s Left-Behind Children

Every so often, breaking news brings China’s left-behind children to the forefront of public attention. Recent reports of left-behind child orphans being adopted and trained by martial arts clubs led to public debate over the fate of rural children growing up alone, as well as the shocking finding from a survey late last year in which 11.9% of left-behind children said that their parents working a…

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Ant & Rat Tribes: China Lacks Affordable Housing

When 400 migrant workers were discovered living below an upscale apartment complex in Beijing last week, it was another sign of just how high housing costs have become in China's largest cities, and the lengths that some are driven to in finding a place called home. Known as shuzu or “rat tribes” by the locals, the discovery represents an estimated 1 million people living in a warren of Cold-Wa…

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Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Sustainability | #AskTheCollective 010

In this episode, we answer questions about the point at which people will start to care about sustainability, and what are the lessons that Africa can take from China to tackle the environmental impact of international investments. As always, we hope you find these questions and answers useful, gain some new insights, and possibly help catalyze you to take your next step! If you enjoyed it,…

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5 Predictions for Chinese Markets in 2017

2017 has just begun, and one question is on everyone’s minds: what exactly will the new year bring? In particular, companies in China want to predict and adjust for major trends, and wonder what upcoming news could affect their operations. 2016 was a tumultuous year for Chinese markets. The Chinese Communist Party issued its second red alert, closed factories across the northeast, tackled risin…

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Graying Powers: Opportunities in the UK and Chinese Aging Societies

“China has faced the same problem to an even greater degree, on an even greater scale.” — Elderly woman in the U.K. Among numerous global controversies ranging from politics and economics to climate change and energy, one critical issue has fallen out of view of the public eye, until now: the impact of an imminent, graying population. According to the recently released U.K. autumn statement,…

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New Report: Manufacturing Labor in China

In this new report we provide insight into China's manufacturing labor force. For so long the work horse of the Chinese economy, the area of manufacturing has recently undergone considerable structural change. China is transitioning into its third economic cycle there is a far greater focus on the service sector and as a result the importance of manufacturing to total GDP has diminished. Furthermo…

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Elderly Economics: Offsetting the Graying of China

China’s elderly population, as discussed in our previous blog post, has far-reaching social, economic, and political implications that have and will continue to shape key areas of Chinese society. The phenomenon of population aging is not unique to China. Economic development is commonly linked to a drop in fertility rates and rise in working age. But the pace at which it aging has occurred in Chi…

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Digging for Work: Mining Unemployment in China’s Shifting Economy

After its astronomical rise to the world’s largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP) over the last 35 years, the Chinese economy is experiencing a major transition from a manufacturing-based to a service-based economy. In 2015, the tertiary sector climbed to 50.5% of total gross domestic product (GDP) while industry continued to fall to 40.5% of total GDP. While this economic trans…

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