Cover Story: Where Best to Invest in China’s Low-Interest-Rate Era

Shrinking population: The number of people in China declined for the third straight year in 2024. The National Bureau of Statistics announced Friday that the country’s population shrank by just shy of 1% to 1.408 billion. The figure shows that the country is not just getting old, but aging at a faster pace. A total of 22% of the population was now over 60 years old last year, up from 21.1% in 2023. This has broad implications for China’s economy, not least of which is the strain on the country’s pension system. In a bit of good news, the number of newborn babies rose to 9.54 million, up from 9.02 million in 2023.

Xi-Trump talks: Chinese President Xi Jinping held a phone call with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Friday to congratulate him on his reelection and expressing hope for a strong start to U.S.-China relations during Trump’s second term. Xi emphasized the shared aspirations of both nations to improve the lives of their people, highlighting the broad common interests and cooperation potential between the two countries. He stressed the importance of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and the responsible management of differences, particularly for sensitive issues such as Taiwan and trade. Xi called for stronger dialogue, a focus on mutual benefit and efforts to ensure the sustainable development of bilateral ties. Trump, in turn, praised their relationship, expressing a desire to maintain dialogue and meet soon.

Turkey tariff protest: China has formally requested a World Trade Organization panel to address Turkey’s 40% import tariffs on Chinese electric, fuel and hybrid vehicles, citing violations of WTO rules and escalating trade tensions. This followed Turkey’s imposition in 2023 and 2024 of similar tariffs, with the stated aim of protecting its domestic car industry and encouraging Chinese automakers to invest locally. Analysts noted that Turkey’s domestic brand Togg still struggles with high production costs and limited competitiveness, which is driving its protectionist measures.

Inauguration invite: Vice President Han Zheng will be President Xi Jinping’s special representative to the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump on Monday. During the campaign, Trump promised aggressive trade policies toward China. Leading up to the inauguration, his expected foreign policy team featured individuals who have taken a hardline stance on China. In Friday’s announcement about Han, a foreign ministry spokesperson said that China stands “ready to work with the new U.S. government to enhance dialogue and communication, properly manage differences, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, jointly pursue a stable, healthy and sustainable China-U.S. relationship.”

Taiwan travel: Residents of two coastal regions on the Chinese mainland will soon be able to resume taking group tours to Taiwan. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced Friday that residents of Fujian province and Shanghai will be allowed to travel to the island in tour groups, without saying when the change will take effect. The central government suspended group tours to Taiwan in 2020 due to the pandemic. That was a year after it halted individual travel to the island, citing poor cross-Strait relations. Last year, Beijing reopened travel for Fujian residents to two island chains under Taiwan’s jurisdiction.