“Omicrons very emergence is another reminder that although many of us might think we are donewith COVID-19， it is not done with us. We are living through a cycle of panic and neglect…. The longer vaccine inequity persists， the more opportunity this virus has to spread and evolve in ways we cannot predict nor prevent.”

—WHO Chief Dr. Tedros said on November 29 in Geneva

“The COVID-19 pandemic， which necessitated isolation and social distancing， enabled a second，shadow pandemic of violence against women and girls， where they often found themselves inlockdown with their abusers. Our new data underlines the urgency of concerted efforts to end this.”

—UN Women Executive Director SimaBahous said on November 23， based on a newly released report by UN

“Thailand is eager to continue working with Huawei in various areas， including the digital economy， 5G smart hospitals， cloud and computing， digital power， smart logistics， and further data centers.”

—Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said on November 25 when he held a virtual meeting with Huawei founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei to deepen cooperation with Huawei

17.8%

Chinas vast market has become increasingly attractive to foreigninvestors， an official with theMinistry of Commerce （MOC） said on November 18.

FDI， in actual use， rose 17.8 percent year on year to US$142.01 billion， inthe first 10 months of the year. FDIinto the service sector increased 20.3 percent， while high-tech industriessaw FDI inflow soar 23.7 percent.

The US-China Business Councilstated in its Member Survey 2021that a majority of the surveyedcompanies have maintainedprofitability in China， and more than 40 percent of the companies planto increase investment in Chinaover the next year.

67.2%

According to advance estimates by the Ministry of Manpower ofSingapore （MOM） released onDecember 1， Singapores labormarket is slowly recovering.The overall employment rate ofresidents aged 15 and above grew to 67.2 percent in June， up from64.5 percent a year earlier， alsohigher than the 65.2 percent inJune 2019. For residents aged25 to 64， this rate grew to 81.8percent in June， from 80.3 percent the year before.

Manpower Minister Tan SeeLeng warned that Singaporesresident employment isrecovering， but labor market still troubled by COVID-19.

81%

In the last financial year， Chinagenerated 81 percent of all newcarbon capture patents registered，making it by far the worlds largestproducer of new carbon capturetechnologies， The Times newspaperhas reported， quoting an analysisfrom BDO， one of the worlds largestaccounting and consulting networks，on November 22. In the second place， the United States produced 9 percent of all new carbon capture patents，while Britain lagged behind otherindustrialized nations in generating 1 percent， it said.

Of the 203 carbon capture patents registered last year， China produced 164， America 18， while Britain onlytwo， it added.

Vietnam+

VNA November 30， 2021

Vietnam National Pavilion to Be Set Up on Chinese JD.com Platform

Once operational， the Vietnam National Pavilionon Chinese e-commerce platform JD.com will helpVietnamese products to be distributed directly toconsumers in the importing countries， said Dang Hoang Hai， head of the Vietnam E-commerce and DigitalEconomy Agency （VEDEA） on November 30.

This is the first Vietnamese pavilion on an international e-commerce platform which enables Vietnamese firms to provide their products to customers directly through trans-border e-commerce method， he said.

Despite negative impacts of COVID-19 in 2020， Vietnamstill saw strong growth in e-commerce activities. TheVietnam E-commerce White Book clarified that last year， the local e-commerce market expanded 18 percent toUS$11.8 billion， making Vietnam the only Southeast Asiancountry to enjoy two-digit growth in the field.

The Strait Times November 27， 2021

Young Consumers Driving Growth of Chinas Domestic Brands

According to a report released in September by Aurora Mobile， a big data solutions platform， nearly 70 percent of Chinese post-90s and around 80 percent of post00s generations prefer to buy domestic brands for their daily consumption.

A similar report jointly released by Internet giant Baidu and an institute under People.cn also showed that Chinese peoples interest in domestic products soared by 528 percent compared with 10 years ago.

Improvements in quality and branding have injected impetus into domestic products in growing sectors， including clothing， automobiles and cosmetics， with their popularity triple that of foreign counterparts this year， said the report.

BangkokPost November 29， 2021

Chinas Twitter-like Weibo Plans US$547 Million Hong Kong Listing

US-listed Chinese microblogging platform Weibo is seeking to raise up to US$547 million in a share offer in Hong Kong， documents showed on November 29， the latest China tech company to list closer to home as tensions with the United States rise.

Listing in Hong Kong is seen as a hedge against the risk ofbeing removed from US exchanges and a way of accessing an investor base closer to their home markets.

Weibo， which launched in 2009 and is among the earliest social media platforms in China， had 566 million monthlyactive users as of June， it said in a filing. Its shares havetraded on the Nasdaq since 2014.

Weibo said it plans to use the funds raised from its Hong Kong listing to grow its user base and for research anddevelopment.

TheStar November 24， 2021

Chinas Birthrate Plummets to Lowest Figure inDecades

Chinas birthrate plummeted to a record low last year，highlighting a looming demographic crisis caused by a rapidly ageing workforce， a slowing economy and the weakest population growth in decades.

China relaxed its“one-child policy”in 2016， allowingcouples to have two children. Earlier this year that was extended to three children.

But the changes have failed to result in the hoped-for baby boom， as the cost of living rises and women increasinglymake their own family planning choices.

Last year， China recorded 8.52 births per 1，000 peopleaccording to the 2021 Statistical Yearbook released in thepast week – the lowest figure since the yearbook databegan in 1978. It is a marked drop from the previous years 10.41， and the lowest figure since 1949， according to theNational Bureau of Statistics.