If you want on or off the ping list send me a FReepMail.
Things are getting so bad in the PRC I hardly know where to start. I will try to hit things I haven't covered before or have significantly changed.
1. Foreign nationals are staying away in droves. Have you ever heard the expression that "he couldn't draw a crowd with a Sheriff"? Well that's what it's like in the PRC these days. In 2020 there were about 215,000 foreign nationals working in Shanghai, accounting for about 23.7% of the national total. In July, well pre-floods, the Shanghai Home Trade show was practically deserted. About 1/3 of the space for booths that was filled in 2022, even with Covid, was unused. In 1Q, 2019 there were ~3.7 million inbound travelers to the PRC. This year it was ~50,000, a 98.5% drop. Roughly half of the PRC's tourist traffic so far this year has been from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macao.
2. High-net-worth Chinese (net worth > $1M US) are scrambling to get out of the PRC with whatever they can get out with. In 2022 ~10.8K hign-net-worth individuals emigrated from the PRC. In 2023 it is expected to top 13.5K individuals. The wealthy don't flee when things are going good. Look at the out migration from NY & CA.
3. Direct US investment in the PRC for 2Q CY2023 was only $4.9B. This is down 76% from 1Q CY2023 and down 87% from 1Q CY2022. There is now a net OUT flow of direct investment from the PRC.
4. Major companies are leaving the PRC. Toshiba left the PRC for Vietnam, Sony moved to Thailand, Samsung, Adidas, and Nike moved to Vietnam, Phillips moved to somewhere in SE Asia. Canon, LinkedIn, & Yahon have left. Now even Foxconn, they make Apple phones, is preparing to leave the PRC.
5. The office vacancy rate in Beijing hit an all time high in 2Q CY 2023 of 18.3%. It's not likely to get any better in the next several years.
WWG1WGA
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
