No longer enjoying a ‘population dividend’, the PRC is ageing. Raising the retirement age has been debated for over a decade; the Party’s Third Plenum Resolution (July 2024) foreshadowed raising it on a ‘flexible and voluntary’ basis.
Definiting a ' Chinese ' consciousness has been a mounting issue since the Opium Wars. The CPC and PRC inherited this mission. The momentum was renewed with the proclamation of Xi Jinping's Thought on Culture, which reiterated a program of merging ‘traditional’ culture with socialism.
Triggered by a flood of novel drugs and innovative R&D, pilots to speed up the review and approval of clinical trials were launched in select provinces on 31 July 2024. Initial pilot zones were approved for Beijing and Shanghai on 2 August.
From H2 2024, full cost and revenue insurance for soybean producers will expand from the initial 10 pilots. Indicative of Beijing's intention to better manage agricultural risk, this follows the nationwide rollout of such cover for major crops (rice, wheat and corn) announced on 31 May 2024.