It is a shame to live next to such a large neighbor as China and not know anything about this country. It's time to correct this injustice.
Chinese economy and retirees
Traditionally closed from prying eyes, the Celestial Empire is fraught with many mysteries, and some features of this culture can serve as an example for others. Very often, from the lips of 'realists' (as they call themselves), one can hear about the threat from China, about its creeping offensive into Siberia. However, there are reasons that make these assumptions completely unfounded. And the main one is demography. Populating and retaining land requires high fertility and money. And if China's money is all right, thanks to the rapid industrialization of the late 20th century, then thanks to the same industrialization and the rapid growth of cities, in 30 years China will face a pension collapse. According to Beidu journalist Yang Bo, received from the national 'Committee for the elderly', in 30 years the number of people of retirement age will reach 34.9% of the total population. Now this figure is only 17.3%, but China is already sounding the alarm.
And there is something. Despite the fact that the average life expectancy in China has increased significantly, the majority of retirees suffer from diseases that significantly reduce the quality of life and the ability to work in old age. A set of diseases is typical for post-industrial states, these are cardiovascular diseases, disorders of the musculoskeletal system, and so on. Different rates of aging in villages and cities also play an important role; aging in agriculture is faster, and people get more diseases. If we talk about the dynamics, then a typical Chinese family at the beginning of the 13th five-year plan (in China still has a five-year plan) corresponds to the 4-2-1 formula. Those. already now, each couple gives birth to only one child, who, upon reaching adulthood, will feed at least two people. What measures is the Chinese government taking to look after the elderly? In terms of its structure, China is the closest in Asia to the concept of “federation”, each county has the broadest freedom to allocate resources and search for non-traditional solutions. Therefore, life in each region may differ significantly from neighboring ones, and their leadership dances as it sees fit. For example, in the province of Zhejiang (a developed region on the east coast of China), the Internet + Pension service program was launched for retirees. In the paradigm of this program, receiving requests and tracking the status of pensioners is completely transferred to the Internet, and payment is made through government subsidies. The Internet, among other things, provides an opportunity for the elderly to earn remotely.
We are ready to spread positive energy on the Internet!
China, like all other real empires, cannot do anything without flags, drumming, and state participation. The nationwide retirement movement to 'spread positive energy' on the Internet is accompanied by external formalism, and its participants call themselves 'comrades retirees'.
As you can see, modern China is worried about the same problems as the rest of the developed world. It is unlikely that they will, like some other particularly cunning states, attract economic refugees in order to solve the problem of labor shortages at their expense, but what you can be sure of is that all resources will be distributed honorably, people will receive a dignified old age and China, as always, will remain unshakable. And Siberia will remain Russian Siberia.
Apolong
China follows modern trends and also makes its own self-driving car. What's so unusual about that? The oddity is that, unlike Yandex and 99% of the rest of the developers, the Chinese designers at Baidu Corporation began by developing an ARM chip (not an x86) for self-driving. The chipset is called 'Kunlun' and is a powerful neural network at the forefront of computing. In fact, the Kunlun project consists of two elements, one chip (labeled 818-300) is designed for deep learning and subsequent processing of incoming information, and the second chip (818-100) outputs information and offers a deep degree of integration with control elements. auto, its mechanics. This approach is the most progressive and is devoid of a number of disadvantages inherent in the universal x86 architecture. The chips are manufactured using Samsung's 14 nm technology and became the basis for the Apolong test car:
The Chinese handsome man was developed by Beidu together with the auto giant Xiamen King Long United Automotive Industry, and by 2019 it is planned to produce and deliver at least 100 Apolongs to the routes.
It's good to be China – when all other countries are bound by traffic safety laws, the mere desire of Soviet engineers in China opens the door to the future for new generations. Hurray, comrades!
Chinese false taxis copied Uber's business model
As far as we can remember, the question of control over private cabbies has always been raised in our country. The point of view of the state is clear – useful labor is produced in the service sector, paid for, and taxes from the process do not go to the treasury. During the years of perestroika, the phenomenon became so widespread that the police, and then the police, physically did not have the opportunity to check each car and impose a fine for illegal business activities. So it was with us until Uber and Yandex-taxis appeared, which more or less legalized the taxi market and made taxation unprofitable using the old methods. This could have been the case in China, had they not kicked out Uber with its dumping rates in 2016, which ultimately led to the merger of the Chinese division of Uber with its direct competitor, the local service Didi. This in itself is correct, it is stupid to have a foreign intermediary if you can establish a local one. And now in China without Uber (not to be confused with the Uber China app, this is not Uber), the black road transport market began to raise its head again.
To reduce overhead costs and generate more income, some Beijing false taxis have come up with the idea of renting cars through Internet services and looking for customers through illegal network platform applications. It turned out like a makeshift Uber. But the police were on the alert and in one day in Beijing, they 'covered' 54 'black' cabbies. It's funny, but, like in our country, passengers willingly enter into an agreement with taxi drivers and unanimously claim that they are old friends, no one asked them for money, etc. What amounts are we talking about? In Beijing, an illegal taxi ride can cost 100 or 10 yuan, but most often the amount revolves around the number 50 (474 rubles). And the fine for illegal carriage varies depending on the specific situation from 10,000 to 15,000 yuan (142,264 rubles). The fine is so high that most illegal taxi drivers leave their Chinese mobiles in the impoundment parking lots to pay for it. Do you think this is cruel? Or, on the contrary, is it too soft?
Nothing brings countries and peoples closer together than a common enemy
If two peoples are subject to the principles of freedom, and the Nazis and their actions are not tolerated, then, most likely, their life values are very close. China is one of the countries hardest hit by Nazism in the mid-20th century. When Europe suffered from the ubermensch boot, China experienced the same problems, only the Japanese imperialists acted in the role of supermen. Many films have been shot about this, both documentary and feature films. The imprint of those events in the memory of the Chinese people turned out to be so deep that even today their government is monitoring the world information field in search of signs of justifying Nazism. The found resource immediately falls into the eternal ban of the Great Chinese Firewall, and the diplomats of the resident country receive an angry letter from their Chinese comrades. This time, the largest chain store Amazon, which continues to sell Nazi symbols (banned in Russia), has come under popular anger despite tons of international criticism.
How effective is such a 'popular' attack? Remember, quite recently the harmless remedy meldonium was anathematized and our athletes were excommunicated for its use. Then, a quiet information wave swept the network, calling to ignore the products of the Coca-Cola company as one of the main sponsors of international sports, which allowed legal terror against athletes. It is difficult to assess the consequences, only one thing can be said with certainty – the shelves with the company's products in retail chains have decreased in size several times. Will this be the case with Amazon? Time will tell. In the meantime, Amazon is justified by the fact that it simply does not have time to remove third-party sellers who violated the principles of morality and ethics. This information was published by The Verge, Beidu and Sohu. And this is almost the only point of contact between the ideologies of the two hemispheres.
Silk pants in China have been worn for at least 4,600 years, apparently the most comfortable clothing for carrying and controlling a dragon. While the rest of the world went without pants at all.
After reading the Chinese news, a forgotten feeling of the common man's involvement in something great awakens in the soul. Towards a great idea and ways to achieve it. China, unlike Japan or Korea, is closest to Russia both culturally and ideologically. I hope you were as interested as I was in plunging into the Chinese news feed.
The next “Birches” will be released not earlier than in a month, because it is time for the author to go to the village and catch pike. Goodbye and good luck in all your affairs!