Putin's war is driving American, European and Chinese chip production into a dangerous bottleneck: Ukraine supplies about half of the world's neon. Even in China, the second-largest producer of neon, prices have risen 900 percent since the start of the war. Putin is now able to negotiate with the West: cutting-edge chips in exchange for neon.
By Frank Sieren
Faced with a challenging demographic trajectory and a fast-aging population, reforming China’s pension system is of crucial importance for China’s government. In parallel to improving the coverage and level of the public pension system in times of tightening fiscal budgets, China also aims to develop an active and sizeable private pension market. The government attempts to catalyze this through tax exemption and policy support to encourage financial product innovation. A functioning three-pillar pension mix is sought to boost consumption in the long term and also offers opportunities for foreign companies to participate in the “sliver-hair” economy.
By
Can and should the EU become more involved in resolving tensions with China? A coordinated European approach is all the more important today, as trade is becoming increasingly political. At the same time, actions such as the creation of the Taiwan Office in Lithuania need to be better coordinated. Otherwise, the EU will be forced to collectively represent policies that are dictated by individual member states.
By Redaktion Table
