“If it wasn’t for the desire to eat well, build big houses back home and show off to your old classmates, what else would motivate people to work hard to get rich? Chinese people’s creativity and entrepreneurial spirit come from these very insipid, realistic desires.
Popular blogger Yashalong, who wrote that “being realistic” is also a great driver of economic growth on his public WeChat account
“To close the gap with Hollywood, Chinese sci-fi filmmakers should build a complete industrial system and produce on a large scale.”
Liu Cixin, author of the Hugo Award-winning novel The Three-body Problem, at the Fifth China (Chengdu) International Sci-fi Conference held from November 22 to 24 in Sichuan Province
“When considering how to become an AI giant, we also must address the social problems that AI may bring about.”
Li Kaifu, founder and CEO of Sinovation Ventures, an investment platform targeting startups, on the challenges AI poses to employment at the 2019 New Economy Forum held from November 20 to 22 in Beijing
“High economic growth is history and will not occur soon... Structural changes may drive growth to fall further in 2020. We must prepare for the GDP growth rate to drop below 6 percent.”
Chen Zhiwu, director of the Asia Global Institute, University of Hong Kong, on financial portal Caixin’s program Who’s Time
“The current situation shows how necessary it is for Hong Kong schools to examine their practices in cultivating students’ values and rethink whether they could do more in helping them establish correct values, including information analysis, conflict resolution and personal growth and development.”
Yang Yun-hsiung, director of the Education Bureau of Hong Kong, pledging on a local TV program to increase resources for values education
“Housing prices have dropped in first-tier cities since last year. It was not due to a periodic decrease, but rather because China’s population has reached a turning point.”
Su Jian, director of the Center for National Economy, Peking University, claiming that housing price trends correlate with the country’s reducing population at the release of his university’s new book China’s Economic Growth Report 2019
“Finance is the lifeblood of the economy. Strengthening monetary and financial cooperation between China and Japan will enrich and nourish the two countries’ economic development, improve their ability to prevent risks, contribute to financial stability, enhance bilateral trade and investment and contribute to the stable development of the regional and even the world economy.”
Kong Xuanyou, Chinese Ambassador to Japan, at a Sino-Japan financial forum co-hosted by the Bank of China and the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group on November 28
“Given China’s large population, the delay in retirement age may impose some [negative] influences on employment, which departments have to take into consideration when working out specific policies.”
Li Pumin, director of the Chinese Association of Human Resource Development and former secretary-general of the National Development and Reform Commission, at the recent Caixin-Hengqin Forum
“The percentage of Chinese regions with a net population outflow rose to 70.7 percent while those with a net inflow fell to 29.3 percent.”
Ren Zeping, chief economist at the Evergrande Institute, warning against population migration trends on his institute’s WeChat account