This year, over eleven million university graduates have flooded the Chinese job market. Not all of them are finding the jobs they had hoped for and many are left unemployed, reflecting the high youth unemployment rate. However, young people in China are not just concerned about job difficulties. Many of them find the idea of emigrating appealing and they are questioning societal certainties.
Fabian Peltsch has collected transcripts from conversations with young individuals from China, providing us with personal insights into their thoughts and concerns about the current mood in the People’s Republic.
The open-source chatbot ChatGPT is officially blocked in China, which has triggered a race for the leading Chinese OpenAI. Currently, Baidu’s Ernie is in the lead. However, the competition is catching up, as reported by Frank Sieren. The AI start-up Beijing Zhipu Huazhang Technology Co., also known as “Knowledge Atlas”, has recently raised investments of 2.5 billion yuan (equivalent to 342 million US dollars). The largest investors in Zhipu include China’s gaming and WeChat giant Tencent and the Alibaba subsidiary Ant Group Co. Ernie is facing serious competition.
Queque, 26 years old, civil servant, living in Chongqing
After two years of COVID-19 isolation, it became clear that China’s economy would experience a downturn. This year, the government stopped publishing the unemployment figures for young people. Finding well-paid work that doesn’t completely exhaust you has become almost impossible. Due to the competence of the authorities and the economic cycle, I personally believe that the economic downturn will persist for a long time.
For people in the lower and middle classes, this means they will continue to struggle to find good jobs. We Chinese have grown up in an environment where exams play a significant role. I believe this has prepared us to adapt to new situations. Changes in social conditions can be painful, but adapting to them means survival. It’s embarrassing to admit that we are dissatisfied with society while feeling powerless to change it.
I currently work for a state-owned enterprise with a very market-oriented management style. I have to be at the office by 9 a.m. Aside from the one-hour lunch break, I take short breaks in between and usually finish around 5:30 p.m. But I’m often quite busy and work on weekends as well. Sometimes, I feel guilty because I might not work as much as others in my environment. In China, there are plenty of people who can do your job just as well if you don’t want to do it.
In non-state-owned companies, you can be let go for various reasons, and simply getting older is enough. China’s labor laws don’t provide perfect protection in such cases. State-owned companies in China usually don’t fire employees quickly unless they make a significant mistake.
In China, women can retire at 55 and men at 60. But I’m afraid I’ll be completely exhausted by the age of 50. I’ve heard of a study that claims each year of work costs you two years of life once you’ve passed 50.
It’s astonishing: Chinese society seems to believe in nothing. Some people live for their families, others don’t know why they live, but everyone’s life seems to revolve around money. I hope things slow down a bit, and we can take a moment to see the beauty of life and understand that there’s more to the world than just money. Sometimes, it seems like everyone is blinded by something that fuels strong animosity among people. Something that makes us lose sight of the good and the beautiful. When it comes to social justice and class issues, I feel that all of East Asia is in a state of oppression. And that sparks resistance within me.
I’ve thought about emigrating before, but I was raised by a single parent, and my heart is deeply connected to my mother. So I want to stay with her and take care of her. There are many reasons to leave China, but this one reason is enough for me to stay. Chinese family bonds are strong, but they can also be a burden.
Qiqi, 31 years old, skateboarder from Beijing
These days, it’s relatively easy to get a job that you like, but it’s really hard to keep it and make a living from it. I have hopes for the future because I’m working hard to achieve my own goals. But I still rely on financial help from others. I work as a freelancer, mainly focused on my band and my own skateboard brand. There’s pressure and competition in all industries, no matter how friendly people pretend to be towards each other. Who doesn’t hope that their competitors will throw in the towel?
I don’t think much about things like retirement yet. But I do worry about what I’ll live on in old age (laughs). If I had more money, I’d love to travel, especially to Japan. For the future, I hope more young people listen to good music, come into contact with beautiful things and that there are fewer fools.
Yang, 35 years old, advertising specialist from Shanxi. Studying in Berlin since 2022.
I worked for an internet company in Beijing until last year. It was an interesting job, making campaigns for well-known brands. But every day was incredibly stressful. Six days a week, often until three or four in the morning and I still had to be at the office early in the morning. There was immense pressure. No one wanted to be the first to say, “Oh, I’m going home now, I need a little free time.” On the contrary, everyone wanted to prove that they could work more and better than others. Everyone competed with everyone else! Compared to European countries, China has a much larger population. Thousands of university graduates are competing for the same jobs, people who want to start families and then provide for them.
If you’re a woman over 30, it’s even tougher in the Chinese job market. In April 2022, about a month after I turned 35, a supervisor told me that it would be even harder for me to get promoted now and that many companies no longer want to hire you at this age. But this information didn’t only come from her; it also came from friends. Many of my colleagues got increasingly nervous as they reached a certain age and feared losing their jobs.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies in China laid off employees to save costs, including me. Thirty percent of the staff had to go, especially the older ones, but also those doing internships or traineeships. I lost my job as well. I wasn’t shocked when it happened; I had seen it coming. So, I thought about how I could change my life. Of course, I worried about my income and the cost of living, but I was able to take on enough small freelance projects.
During this time, I started learning better English to go abroad and study. I always had a desire to live in another country. Berlin was more of a random choice. I visited here in 2018 with my then-partner; I liked the graffiti, the streets, the rivers and the parks. And I had a few friends who already lived here.
But there were other reasons for me to leave China. I come from a traditional family. My parents hope that I’ll get married before I’m too old. But that’s already happened (laughs). If I could change something in Chinese society, it would be to convince people to focus more on developing their own businesses, like starting their own start-ups or online platforms.
And what I would definitely change is this ageism! Not just for women but also for men. In China, many companies openly state in their job ads that applicants over 35 won’t be accepted. This is the case in around 90 percent of the job postings! That’s crazy. In Europe, you can continue to advance your career even when you’re over 40. It’s very different from China. I think many younger Chinese have realized that this kind of job market is unfair. They are smart enough to better balance their jobs and their health. I look positively toward the future. It will get better; I’m sure of it.
JL, designer, 29 years old, from Hebei.
I work as a freelance designer. Initially, it wasn’t easy to make ends meet, but it has improved in recent years. I basically have new assignments every month and I also work on some personal projects. After graduating, I switched companies about half a dozen times until I found one that I liked. I worked there for five years before deciding to go freelance. I don’t really know what the job market looks like these days and I’m not very interested in it. In the past two years, I’ve realized that there’s no such thing as unemployment and retirement when you’re doing what you love and can make a living from it. I don’t know what will happen in the future; maybe I won’t have a pension when I’m old because I don’t work for a “regular” large company and am not in social security. Maybe I won’t be able to support myself… I hope I’ll come up with a solution before that happens.
Emigration has been the hottest topic in China in recent years, and I would also like to live elsewhere. I want to live in an environment with a different system and experience a different culture. But at the moment, it’s not clear which country would be most suitable for me. As for what I would change in today’s society if I could? For my own safety, I’d rather not answer that question.
Censorship in China has always had an economic component. Just as Baidu and Tencent rose to become leading IT companies in China after the authorities blocked Google services and Facebook, a similar development could repeat itself with OpenAI. Since China officially blocked access to the US-based ChatGPT, there has been a nationwide race to create the leading Chinese OpenAI.
The 2019-founded AI startup Beijing Zhipu Huazhang Technology Co., also known as “Knowledge Atlas”, has good chances. The company recently raised investments of 2.5 billion yuan (equivalent to 342 million dollars), according to a company spokesperson.
Among Zhipu’s biggest investors are China’s gaming and WeChat giant Tencent, as well as Alibaba’s subsidiary Ant Group Co., smartphone manufacturer HongShan (the Chinese subsidiary of California-based venture capitalist Sequoia) and food delivery service Meituan, with 700 million monthly active users.
Zhipu emerged in 2019 as a spin-off from Beijing’s Tsinghua University and is led by Tang Jie, a computer science and technology professor. Tang obtained his doctorate in England and conducted research in Manchester before returning to China in 2015. He is a fellow of the US-based Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), the industry’s most significant association. Only the top one percent of global members receive this honor. Tang is also a fellow of the IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional organization with 427,000 members in over 190 countries.
Tang also received the ACM award for the best research paper in a decade in the Special Interest Group (SIG) Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KOOD). This places him among the world’s best. He holds the majority stake in the company but is building the startup together with Li Juanzi, another Tsinghua University professor.
Zhipu has developed two bilingual (English and Chinese) open-source language models, GLM-130B and ChatGLM-6B, with 130 billion and six billion parameters, respectively. Generally, AI models with a higher number of parameters can perform more complex tasks than their smaller counterparts. ChatGLM-6B, the smaller of its two open-source language models, has an advantage in that it can run on a consumer graphics card, significantly reducing costs.
Zhipu was among the first Chinese companies to receive approval for a public offering from the government in August. On Aug. 31, the company launched its first generative AI assistant named Zhipu Qingyan. Users can access the chatbot by downloading the app from app stores or using the plug-in on WeChat. According to the company, the software can ask and answer questions, engage in multiple rounds of dialogue, generate creative writing, and produce code.
Zhipu faces intense competition. Since the beginning of the year, over 100 Chinese companies have entered the generative AI space, says Zhang Yaqin, dean of the Institute for AI Industry Research at Tsinghua University in Beijing. “Some have introduced Large Learning Models (LLMs), while others are developing industry-specific models covering areas such as biological computing and education.”
Robin Li, co-founder and CEO of Baidu, also sees significant opportunities. “Generative AI and large generative language models have tremendous transformative power in many industries and represent a significant market opportunity for us. To stay one step ahead, we continue to evolve.”
Baidu’s Ernie Bot was introduced as China’s first ChatGPT competitor in mid-March, though only accessible to a select few, and is considered the main rival to Tang’s Zhipu. Since Aug. 30, Ernie has been made accessible to the public, and by the end of October, Li announced that the large language model Ernie is on par with OpenAI’s GPT-4. Since the beginning of the year, many Chinese technology companies, including Alibaba and ByteDance, have launched their own models. Nevertheless, Alibaba is also investing in alternatives like Zhipu.
AI development gains momentum worldwide. Last month, Amazon announced plans to invest up to 4 billion dollars in OpenAI rival Anthropic, which is developing a chatbot called Claude. Previously, Paris-based company Mistral AI raised 113 million dollars in funding for the development of large language models.
The global AI market was estimated at 136.6 billion dollars in 2022 and is projected to reach 196.6 billion dollars in 2023. Pan Helin, co-director of the Research Center for Digital Economy and Financial Innovation at the International Business School of Zhejiang University, emphasized that China has “gained the upper hand in promoting the industrial application of AI compared to its foreign counterparts. The country has relatively complete industrial categories, an extremely large consumer market, and a strong development base.”
China has officially begun formulating national standards for testing LLMs, and the country’s first standardization task force for LLMs was formed in July during the 6th World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai. Led by the Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Innovation Center, the task force consists of six team leaders, including Baidu, Alibaba Cloud, iFlytek Co, 360 Security Technology, Huawei Cloud and the China Mobile Research Institute. The task force is responsible for developing practical LLM standards.
China’s climate envoy, Xie Zhenhua, will retire after this year’s climate conference in Dubai (COP28), according to a government official cited by the Reuters news agency. Xie, who turns 74 this month, will be replaced by Liu Zhenmin starting in December. Liu is a former Chinese vice foreign minister and the United Nations undersecretary-general.
Xie first represented China at global climate negotiations in 2007 in Copenhagen. He and his then-US counterpart, Todd Stern, played a significant role in the creation of the Paris climate agreement in 2015. Xie stepped down from his position as special representative for climate change and chief negotiator in late 2019 at the age of 70.
High-ranking Chinese officials are supposed to retire at the age of 68. However, Xie returned to his role in February 2021, reappearing on the global stage. In 2021 and 2022, he once again led China’s delegations to the COP. Xie has a good relationship with John Kerry, the current US special envoy for climate. nib/rtr
Although significant air quality improvements have been witnessed in the Greater Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in recent years, residents of the capital and its surroundings will need to brace themselves for severe smog in the coming weeks.
According to the Swiss manufacturer of air purification devices, IQ Air, which also monitors air quality globally, the concentration of hazardous PM2.5 fine particulate matter was reported to be 20 times the limit recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday. Devices of this kind are designed to remove fine particulate matter from the air inside homes.
The authorities have been alarmed by the situation and have already restricted the use of high-emission vehicles. Citizens are being urged to work from home. Due to a weather phenomenon known as an inversion layer, the severe air pollution is expected to persist until mid-November, as reported by the “Beijing Daily,” citing government officials.
In an inversion weather scenario, warmer layers of air trap cooler air beneath, preventing it from rising. The accumulation of pollutants emitted by factories and vehicles within this layer of air results in dense smog. rtr/flee
French EU Commissioner Thierry Breton is scheduled to visit China and Hong Kong next week. A spokesperson for the EU Commission confirmed the travel plans to Table.Media on Wednesday. This follows a previous report by Politico. The visit will take the Commissioner for the Internal Market to Beijing from Nov. 8-10, and to Hong Kong on Nov. 11.
The EU Commission has not yet disclosed specific details about whom Breton will meet during the visit. Breton’s trip is part of a series of EU officials visiting the People’s Republic, including Trade Chief Valdis Dombrovskis, Digital Commissioner Věra Jourová, and EU High Representative Josep Borrell. These visits are also considered in the context of a potential EU-China summit. ari
The two not-so-young young pandas, Pit and Paule, are set to leave Berlin Zoo for China later this year. However, a spokesperson for the zoo offers hope that there could be replacements soon: Panda mother Meng Meng could, “in theory”, signal her receptiveness for conception again next spring, the spokesperson told the German Press Agency when queried. “If everything goes optimally, we could have the great fortune of having young pandas again by the end of next summer.”
The conditions don’t look bad, the Berlin Zoo’s spokesperson continued, stating, “Meng Meng has proven to be an excellent mother and we hope it works out great again.”
This is quite a statement, as until recently, it was almost considered impossible for pandas in captivity to become pregnant. However, modern panda medicine has made significant progress. As a result, it’s no longer uncommon to see baby pandas in zoos worldwide.
However, there’s a catch: All pandas, including their offspring, are property of the People’s Republic and are only lent to zoos. Recently, China has recalled many pandas. flee
What does Chengdu in Sichuan have in common with Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa? According to Alexander Demissie, it’s the spicy food, the warmth of the people and the mild weather. He should know, as he has lived in both cities. Demissie was born in Addis Ababa. When he was ten years old, his family moved to Lake Constance. After completing his Abitur (German high school diploma), he moved to Cologne, where he studied Regional Studies of East Asia with a focus on China and politics. He spent a year abroad in Chengdu.
Demissie points out that today’s Ethiopia shares many similarities with China twenty years ago and is often referred to as “China of Africa”. These countries not only share economic development but also rich cultural, linguistic and historical legacies. Ethiopia, with its 3,000 years of continuous culture, language, and history, can compete with China, which takes pride in its 5,000-year-old culture and history. Because of this common ground, the Chinese regard Ethiopia with respect and admiration, and this plays a significant role in business dealings, says Demissie.
Ethiopia holds a special place for China, just like Egypt, South Africa, Morocco, Nigeria and Kenya. These countries have benefited greatly from dealings with the People’s Republic of China and investments through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). However, not all African countries manage to establish profitable relationships with China, according to Demissie.
Through his company, The China Africa Advisory, Demissie acts as a bridge between China, Africa and Europe. He produces studies on political policies in target countries for businesses and international organizations, organizes professional conferences and assists in entering new markets. He has in-depth knowledge of the relationships between China and African countries, as well as the role of Europe.
Alexander Demissie has been deeply involved with China since 2001. Originally, he had other plans when he stumbled upon a flyer in the university’s student services office. The flyer advertised the Regional Studies of East Asia program with a focus on China. He asked himself, “What do I actually know about China?” and the answer was, “almost nothing”. He considers this a shortcoming of the German education system. One graduates from high school without knowing much about China and the global South. When he sat down with the academic advisor, who spoke enthusiastically about the program, Demissie enrolled. However, what significantly influenced his future career path was a seminar on China in Africa.
In 2003, Xi Jinping’s flagship project, the Belt and Road Initiative, was far from predictable; it was only announced a decade later. Since then, China has systematically planned its investments in Africa, creating supply chains, securing raw materials for its industry, and making significant diplomatic achievements. According to Demissie, he and his classmates learned about China’s role in Africa over twenty years ago, and the development was not surprising.
Demissie blames a degree of arrogance on the part of Europeans for why Europe is only now slowly starting to work on an alternative to the BRI with the Global Gateway initiative. He believes that Europeans have had biases against Africa and haven’t questioned their perspectives enough. Arrogance can lead to being left behind, he says.
After completing his studies, Demissie initially worked at the United Nations Climate Secretariat in Bonn, organizing conferences worldwide. During this time, he recognized the importance of China and the limited knowledge about the country. He saw an opportunity to bridge this gap and founded his own company, The China Africa Advisory, in 2016.
Demissie is confident that China will not disappear from Africa; in fact, it will increase its activities. This development should neither be viewed solely positively nor negatively but rather addressed with a factual and strategic approach. The discussion should encompass topics like supply chains, opportunities for European businesses in Africa and keeping Europe attractive as an export market.
African nations are increasingly looking beyond Europe. African companies find it much easier to export to China and other countries like India and Brazil. These nations are becoming serious alternatives for African states seeking partners and markets.
Demissie recalls that interest in Africa was initially low in Germany and he initially had only Chinese clients. However, customers from Germany are gradually starting to show interest in Africa. For them, Demissie’s team creates studies on sustainability and opportunities in specific industries in Ethiopia and other African countries, giving an overview of how Chinese companies operate on-site.
In addition to supporting the search for investment opportunities, Demissie also facilitates trilateral cooperation between African, Chinese and European partners. Often, the African side desires trilateral collaborations, says Demissie, and he provides an example from the textile sector. While an Ethiopian company may receive the bulk of its investments from China, such as machinery and capital, it prefers to train its staff through German companies, in part to meet German market standards.
In trilateral collaborations involving three parties, trust often needs to be built. Through studies and training, Demissie demonstrates to the partners that collaboration can work and lead to success.
Another area of focus is diversification toward Africa. Some German companies want to leave China, and Demissie provides market entry advice and facilitates connections. He also organizes investment conferences with German and European partners, which usually take place in Africa. These conferences explore highly specialized markets that align with the objectives of the respective African states. The topics often revolve around future-oriented themes, such as a Railway Summit in Ethiopia in 2018, a conference on the logistics sector in 2019, and an event on renewable energy in 2023.
China Africa Advisory also advises African governments to make African actors aware of developments in China. Demissie works with partners in China for this purpose. For instance, when China opened up the agriculture sector for African products, Demissie provided analyses of the new guidelines and highlighted opportunities.
Demissie is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Bonn on China-Ethiopia relations. His dissertation will focus on how Ethiopian elites make decisions about their China relationships. His lectures on China in Africa are always full, he says. It is no longer a niche subject, but this unique relationship is still rarely in the spotlight. According to Alexander Demissie, it will change in the future, and he is confident of it. Julia Fiedler
This year, the Halloween celebrations in Shanghai carried the spirit of the blank sheets of paper protest from last December. Some chose costumes with political messages. This unhealthy-looking young woman is carrying a begging bowl and a sign that reads 医学牲 Yīxué shēng – a wordplay on medical student and livestock, highlighting the precarious situation of students. Others took to the streets in hazmat suits and were promptly arrested by the police for causing unrest. The memories of sometimes violent lockdown measures carried out by the so-called “Da Bai” are still fresh.
This year, over eleven million university graduates have flooded the Chinese job market. Not all of them are finding the jobs they had hoped for and many are left unemployed, reflecting the high youth unemployment rate. However, young people in China are not just concerned about job difficulties. Many of them find the idea of emigrating appealing and they are questioning societal certainties.
Fabian Peltsch has collected transcripts from conversations with young individuals from China, providing us with personal insights into their thoughts and concerns about the current mood in the People’s Republic.
The open-source chatbot ChatGPT is officially blocked in China, which has triggered a race for the leading Chinese OpenAI. Currently, Baidu’s Ernie is in the lead. However, the competition is catching up, as reported by Frank Sieren. The AI start-up Beijing Zhipu Huazhang Technology Co., also known as “Knowledge Atlas”, has recently raised investments of 2.5 billion yuan (equivalent to 342 million US dollars). The largest investors in Zhipu include China’s gaming and WeChat giant Tencent and the Alibaba subsidiary Ant Group Co. Ernie is facing serious competition.
Queque, 26 years old, civil servant, living in Chongqing
After two years of COVID-19 isolation, it became clear that China’s economy would experience a downturn. This year, the government stopped publishing the unemployment figures for young people. Finding well-paid work that doesn’t completely exhaust you has become almost impossible. Due to the competence of the authorities and the economic cycle, I personally believe that the economic downturn will persist for a long time.
For people in the lower and middle classes, this means they will continue to struggle to find good jobs. We Chinese have grown up in an environment where exams play a significant role. I believe this has prepared us to adapt to new situations. Changes in social conditions can be painful, but adapting to them means survival. It’s embarrassing to admit that we are dissatisfied with society while feeling powerless to change it.
I currently work for a state-owned enterprise with a very market-oriented management style. I have to be at the office by 9 a.m. Aside from the one-hour lunch break, I take short breaks in between and usually finish around 5:30 p.m. But I’m often quite busy and work on weekends as well. Sometimes, I feel guilty because I might not work as much as others in my environment. In China, there are plenty of people who can do your job just as well if you don’t want to do it.
In non-state-owned companies, you can be let go for various reasons, and simply getting older is enough. China’s labor laws don’t provide perfect protection in such cases. State-owned companies in China usually don’t fire employees quickly unless they make a significant mistake.
In China, women can retire at 55 and men at 60. But I’m afraid I’ll be completely exhausted by the age of 50. I’ve heard of a study that claims each year of work costs you two years of life once you’ve passed 50.
It’s astonishing: Chinese society seems to believe in nothing. Some people live for their families, others don’t know why they live, but everyone’s life seems to revolve around money. I hope things slow down a bit, and we can take a moment to see the beauty of life and understand that there’s more to the world than just money. Sometimes, it seems like everyone is blinded by something that fuels strong animosity among people. Something that makes us lose sight of the good and the beautiful. When it comes to social justice and class issues, I feel that all of East Asia is in a state of oppression. And that sparks resistance within me.
I’ve thought about emigrating before, but I was raised by a single parent, and my heart is deeply connected to my mother. So I want to stay with her and take care of her. There are many reasons to leave China, but this one reason is enough for me to stay. Chinese family bonds are strong, but they can also be a burden.
Qiqi, 31 years old, skateboarder from Beijing
These days, it’s relatively easy to get a job that you like, but it’s really hard to keep it and make a living from it. I have hopes for the future because I’m working hard to achieve my own goals. But I still rely on financial help from others. I work as a freelancer, mainly focused on my band and my own skateboard brand. There’s pressure and competition in all industries, no matter how friendly people pretend to be towards each other. Who doesn’t hope that their competitors will throw in the towel?
I don’t think much about things like retirement yet. But I do worry about what I’ll live on in old age (laughs). If I had more money, I’d love to travel, especially to Japan. For the future, I hope more young people listen to good music, come into contact with beautiful things and that there are fewer fools.
Yang, 35 years old, advertising specialist from Shanxi. Studying in Berlin since 2022.
I worked for an internet company in Beijing until last year. It was an interesting job, making campaigns for well-known brands. But every day was incredibly stressful. Six days a week, often until three or four in the morning and I still had to be at the office early in the morning. There was immense pressure. No one wanted to be the first to say, “Oh, I’m going home now, I need a little free time.” On the contrary, everyone wanted to prove that they could work more and better than others. Everyone competed with everyone else! Compared to European countries, China has a much larger population. Thousands of university graduates are competing for the same jobs, people who want to start families and then provide for them.
If you’re a woman over 30, it’s even tougher in the Chinese job market. In April 2022, about a month after I turned 35, a supervisor told me that it would be even harder for me to get promoted now and that many companies no longer want to hire you at this age. But this information didn’t only come from her; it also came from friends. Many of my colleagues got increasingly nervous as they reached a certain age and feared losing their jobs.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies in China laid off employees to save costs, including me. Thirty percent of the staff had to go, especially the older ones, but also those doing internships or traineeships. I lost my job as well. I wasn’t shocked when it happened; I had seen it coming. So, I thought about how I could change my life. Of course, I worried about my income and the cost of living, but I was able to take on enough small freelance projects.
During this time, I started learning better English to go abroad and study. I always had a desire to live in another country. Berlin was more of a random choice. I visited here in 2018 with my then-partner; I liked the graffiti, the streets, the rivers and the parks. And I had a few friends who already lived here.
But there were other reasons for me to leave China. I come from a traditional family. My parents hope that I’ll get married before I’m too old. But that’s already happened (laughs). If I could change something in Chinese society, it would be to convince people to focus more on developing their own businesses, like starting their own start-ups or online platforms.
And what I would definitely change is this ageism! Not just for women but also for men. In China, many companies openly state in their job ads that applicants over 35 won’t be accepted. This is the case in around 90 percent of the job postings! That’s crazy. In Europe, you can continue to advance your career even when you’re over 40. It’s very different from China. I think many younger Chinese have realized that this kind of job market is unfair. They are smart enough to better balance their jobs and their health. I look positively toward the future. It will get better; I’m sure of it.
JL, designer, 29 years old, from Hebei.
I work as a freelance designer. Initially, it wasn’t easy to make ends meet, but it has improved in recent years. I basically have new assignments every month and I also work on some personal projects. After graduating, I switched companies about half a dozen times until I found one that I liked. I worked there for five years before deciding to go freelance. I don’t really know what the job market looks like these days and I’m not very interested in it. In the past two years, I’ve realized that there’s no such thing as unemployment and retirement when you’re doing what you love and can make a living from it. I don’t know what will happen in the future; maybe I won’t have a pension when I’m old because I don’t work for a “regular” large company and am not in social security. Maybe I won’t be able to support myself… I hope I’ll come up with a solution before that happens.
Emigration has been the hottest topic in China in recent years, and I would also like to live elsewhere. I want to live in an environment with a different system and experience a different culture. But at the moment, it’s not clear which country would be most suitable for me. As for what I would change in today’s society if I could? For my own safety, I’d rather not answer that question.
Censorship in China has always had an economic component. Just as Baidu and Tencent rose to become leading IT companies in China after the authorities blocked Google services and Facebook, a similar development could repeat itself with OpenAI. Since China officially blocked access to the US-based ChatGPT, there has been a nationwide race to create the leading Chinese OpenAI.
The 2019-founded AI startup Beijing Zhipu Huazhang Technology Co., also known as “Knowledge Atlas”, has good chances. The company recently raised investments of 2.5 billion yuan (equivalent to 342 million dollars), according to a company spokesperson.
Among Zhipu’s biggest investors are China’s gaming and WeChat giant Tencent, as well as Alibaba’s subsidiary Ant Group Co., smartphone manufacturer HongShan (the Chinese subsidiary of California-based venture capitalist Sequoia) and food delivery service Meituan, with 700 million monthly active users.
Zhipu emerged in 2019 as a spin-off from Beijing’s Tsinghua University and is led by Tang Jie, a computer science and technology professor. Tang obtained his doctorate in England and conducted research in Manchester before returning to China in 2015. He is a fellow of the US-based Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), the industry’s most significant association. Only the top one percent of global members receive this honor. Tang is also a fellow of the IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional organization with 427,000 members in over 190 countries.
Tang also received the ACM award for the best research paper in a decade in the Special Interest Group (SIG) Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KOOD). This places him among the world’s best. He holds the majority stake in the company but is building the startup together with Li Juanzi, another Tsinghua University professor.
Zhipu has developed two bilingual (English and Chinese) open-source language models, GLM-130B and ChatGLM-6B, with 130 billion and six billion parameters, respectively. Generally, AI models with a higher number of parameters can perform more complex tasks than their smaller counterparts. ChatGLM-6B, the smaller of its two open-source language models, has an advantage in that it can run on a consumer graphics card, significantly reducing costs.
Zhipu was among the first Chinese companies to receive approval for a public offering from the government in August. On Aug. 31, the company launched its first generative AI assistant named Zhipu Qingyan. Users can access the chatbot by downloading the app from app stores or using the plug-in on WeChat. According to the company, the software can ask and answer questions, engage in multiple rounds of dialogue, generate creative writing, and produce code.
Zhipu faces intense competition. Since the beginning of the year, over 100 Chinese companies have entered the generative AI space, says Zhang Yaqin, dean of the Institute for AI Industry Research at Tsinghua University in Beijing. “Some have introduced Large Learning Models (LLMs), while others are developing industry-specific models covering areas such as biological computing and education.”
Robin Li, co-founder and CEO of Baidu, also sees significant opportunities. “Generative AI and large generative language models have tremendous transformative power in many industries and represent a significant market opportunity for us. To stay one step ahead, we continue to evolve.”
Baidu’s Ernie Bot was introduced as China’s first ChatGPT competitor in mid-March, though only accessible to a select few, and is considered the main rival to Tang’s Zhipu. Since Aug. 30, Ernie has been made accessible to the public, and by the end of October, Li announced that the large language model Ernie is on par with OpenAI’s GPT-4. Since the beginning of the year, many Chinese technology companies, including Alibaba and ByteDance, have launched their own models. Nevertheless, Alibaba is also investing in alternatives like Zhipu.
AI development gains momentum worldwide. Last month, Amazon announced plans to invest up to 4 billion dollars in OpenAI rival Anthropic, which is developing a chatbot called Claude. Previously, Paris-based company Mistral AI raised 113 million dollars in funding for the development of large language models.
The global AI market was estimated at 136.6 billion dollars in 2022 and is projected to reach 196.6 billion dollars in 2023. Pan Helin, co-director of the Research Center for Digital Economy and Financial Innovation at the International Business School of Zhejiang University, emphasized that China has “gained the upper hand in promoting the industrial application of AI compared to its foreign counterparts. The country has relatively complete industrial categories, an extremely large consumer market, and a strong development base.”
China has officially begun formulating national standards for testing LLMs, and the country’s first standardization task force for LLMs was formed in July during the 6th World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai. Led by the Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Innovation Center, the task force consists of six team leaders, including Baidu, Alibaba Cloud, iFlytek Co, 360 Security Technology, Huawei Cloud and the China Mobile Research Institute. The task force is responsible for developing practical LLM standards.
China’s climate envoy, Xie Zhenhua, will retire after this year’s climate conference in Dubai (COP28), according to a government official cited by the Reuters news agency. Xie, who turns 74 this month, will be replaced by Liu Zhenmin starting in December. Liu is a former Chinese vice foreign minister and the United Nations undersecretary-general.
Xie first represented China at global climate negotiations in 2007 in Copenhagen. He and his then-US counterpart, Todd Stern, played a significant role in the creation of the Paris climate agreement in 2015. Xie stepped down from his position as special representative for climate change and chief negotiator in late 2019 at the age of 70.
High-ranking Chinese officials are supposed to retire at the age of 68. However, Xie returned to his role in February 2021, reappearing on the global stage. In 2021 and 2022, he once again led China’s delegations to the COP. Xie has a good relationship with John Kerry, the current US special envoy for climate. nib/rtr
Although significant air quality improvements have been witnessed in the Greater Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in recent years, residents of the capital and its surroundings will need to brace themselves for severe smog in the coming weeks.
According to the Swiss manufacturer of air purification devices, IQ Air, which also monitors air quality globally, the concentration of hazardous PM2.5 fine particulate matter was reported to be 20 times the limit recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday. Devices of this kind are designed to remove fine particulate matter from the air inside homes.
The authorities have been alarmed by the situation and have already restricted the use of high-emission vehicles. Citizens are being urged to work from home. Due to a weather phenomenon known as an inversion layer, the severe air pollution is expected to persist until mid-November, as reported by the “Beijing Daily,” citing government officials.
In an inversion weather scenario, warmer layers of air trap cooler air beneath, preventing it from rising. The accumulation of pollutants emitted by factories and vehicles within this layer of air results in dense smog. rtr/flee
French EU Commissioner Thierry Breton is scheduled to visit China and Hong Kong next week. A spokesperson for the EU Commission confirmed the travel plans to Table.Media on Wednesday. This follows a previous report by Politico. The visit will take the Commissioner for the Internal Market to Beijing from Nov. 8-10, and to Hong Kong on Nov. 11.
The EU Commission has not yet disclosed specific details about whom Breton will meet during the visit. Breton’s trip is part of a series of EU officials visiting the People’s Republic, including Trade Chief Valdis Dombrovskis, Digital Commissioner Věra Jourová, and EU High Representative Josep Borrell. These visits are also considered in the context of a potential EU-China summit. ari
The two not-so-young young pandas, Pit and Paule, are set to leave Berlin Zoo for China later this year. However, a spokesperson for the zoo offers hope that there could be replacements soon: Panda mother Meng Meng could, “in theory”, signal her receptiveness for conception again next spring, the spokesperson told the German Press Agency when queried. “If everything goes optimally, we could have the great fortune of having young pandas again by the end of next summer.”
The conditions don’t look bad, the Berlin Zoo’s spokesperson continued, stating, “Meng Meng has proven to be an excellent mother and we hope it works out great again.”
This is quite a statement, as until recently, it was almost considered impossible for pandas in captivity to become pregnant. However, modern panda medicine has made significant progress. As a result, it’s no longer uncommon to see baby pandas in zoos worldwide.
However, there’s a catch: All pandas, including their offspring, are property of the People’s Republic and are only lent to zoos. Recently, China has recalled many pandas. flee
What does Chengdu in Sichuan have in common with Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa? According to Alexander Demissie, it’s the spicy food, the warmth of the people and the mild weather. He should know, as he has lived in both cities. Demissie was born in Addis Ababa. When he was ten years old, his family moved to Lake Constance. After completing his Abitur (German high school diploma), he moved to Cologne, where he studied Regional Studies of East Asia with a focus on China and politics. He spent a year abroad in Chengdu.
Demissie points out that today’s Ethiopia shares many similarities with China twenty years ago and is often referred to as “China of Africa”. These countries not only share economic development but also rich cultural, linguistic and historical legacies. Ethiopia, with its 3,000 years of continuous culture, language, and history, can compete with China, which takes pride in its 5,000-year-old culture and history. Because of this common ground, the Chinese regard Ethiopia with respect and admiration, and this plays a significant role in business dealings, says Demissie.
Ethiopia holds a special place for China, just like Egypt, South Africa, Morocco, Nigeria and Kenya. These countries have benefited greatly from dealings with the People’s Republic of China and investments through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). However, not all African countries manage to establish profitable relationships with China, according to Demissie.
Through his company, The China Africa Advisory, Demissie acts as a bridge between China, Africa and Europe. He produces studies on political policies in target countries for businesses and international organizations, organizes professional conferences and assists in entering new markets. He has in-depth knowledge of the relationships between China and African countries, as well as the role of Europe.
Alexander Demissie has been deeply involved with China since 2001. Originally, he had other plans when he stumbled upon a flyer in the university’s student services office. The flyer advertised the Regional Studies of East Asia program with a focus on China. He asked himself, “What do I actually know about China?” and the answer was, “almost nothing”. He considers this a shortcoming of the German education system. One graduates from high school without knowing much about China and the global South. When he sat down with the academic advisor, who spoke enthusiastically about the program, Demissie enrolled. However, what significantly influenced his future career path was a seminar on China in Africa.
In 2003, Xi Jinping’s flagship project, the Belt and Road Initiative, was far from predictable; it was only announced a decade later. Since then, China has systematically planned its investments in Africa, creating supply chains, securing raw materials for its industry, and making significant diplomatic achievements. According to Demissie, he and his classmates learned about China’s role in Africa over twenty years ago, and the development was not surprising.
Demissie blames a degree of arrogance on the part of Europeans for why Europe is only now slowly starting to work on an alternative to the BRI with the Global Gateway initiative. He believes that Europeans have had biases against Africa and haven’t questioned their perspectives enough. Arrogance can lead to being left behind, he says.
After completing his studies, Demissie initially worked at the United Nations Climate Secretariat in Bonn, organizing conferences worldwide. During this time, he recognized the importance of China and the limited knowledge about the country. He saw an opportunity to bridge this gap and founded his own company, The China Africa Advisory, in 2016.
Demissie is confident that China will not disappear from Africa; in fact, it will increase its activities. This development should neither be viewed solely positively nor negatively but rather addressed with a factual and strategic approach. The discussion should encompass topics like supply chains, opportunities for European businesses in Africa and keeping Europe attractive as an export market.
African nations are increasingly looking beyond Europe. African companies find it much easier to export to China and other countries like India and Brazil. These nations are becoming serious alternatives for African states seeking partners and markets.
Demissie recalls that interest in Africa was initially low in Germany and he initially had only Chinese clients. However, customers from Germany are gradually starting to show interest in Africa. For them, Demissie’s team creates studies on sustainability and opportunities in specific industries in Ethiopia and other African countries, giving an overview of how Chinese companies operate on-site.
In addition to supporting the search for investment opportunities, Demissie also facilitates trilateral cooperation between African, Chinese and European partners. Often, the African side desires trilateral collaborations, says Demissie, and he provides an example from the textile sector. While an Ethiopian company may receive the bulk of its investments from China, such as machinery and capital, it prefers to train its staff through German companies, in part to meet German market standards.
In trilateral collaborations involving three parties, trust often needs to be built. Through studies and training, Demissie demonstrates to the partners that collaboration can work and lead to success.
Another area of focus is diversification toward Africa. Some German companies want to leave China, and Demissie provides market entry advice and facilitates connections. He also organizes investment conferences with German and European partners, which usually take place in Africa. These conferences explore highly specialized markets that align with the objectives of the respective African states. The topics often revolve around future-oriented themes, such as a Railway Summit in Ethiopia in 2018, a conference on the logistics sector in 2019, and an event on renewable energy in 2023.
China Africa Advisory also advises African governments to make African actors aware of developments in China. Demissie works with partners in China for this purpose. For instance, when China opened up the agriculture sector for African products, Demissie provided analyses of the new guidelines and highlighted opportunities.
Demissie is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Bonn on China-Ethiopia relations. His dissertation will focus on how Ethiopian elites make decisions about their China relationships. His lectures on China in Africa are always full, he says. It is no longer a niche subject, but this unique relationship is still rarely in the spotlight. According to Alexander Demissie, it will change in the future, and he is confident of it. Julia Fiedler
This year, the Halloween celebrations in Shanghai carried the spirit of the blank sheets of paper protest from last December. Some chose costumes with political messages. This unhealthy-looking young woman is carrying a begging bowl and a sign that reads 医学牲 Yīxué shēng – a wordplay on medical student and livestock, highlighting the precarious situation of students. Others took to the streets in hazmat suits and were promptly arrested by the police for causing unrest. The memories of sometimes violent lockdown measures carried out by the so-called “Da Bai” are still fresh.
