How the state gets grip on housing, education and health care – Arthur Kroeber

 

Arthur Kroeber

The Chinese state is extending its grip on previously private investments in different areas like housing, health care, and education, similar to its crackdown on tech sectors in the past, says leading economist Arthur Kroeber to Reuters. Investors now prefer to turn to those industries, as they have the state as a backup.

Reuters:

China’s recent sweep of the medical sector came as a shock to many investors who had thought the end of Beijing’s three-year regulatory purge of the property and tech sectors meant there would be no more industry-wide crackdowns as policymakers prioritised economic recovery.

Several government bodies in July launched a year-long anti-corruption campaign into the medical system, making clear that China’s drive to deliver affordable housing, education and healthcare to its masses was more important.

That forced many investors to quickly draw parallels with last year’s crusade against private tutoring and a long-running one against tycoon Jack Ma’s consumer finance firm Ant Group.

The one unanimous conclusion they came to was that Beijing wants a greater state presence in these sectors.

“The underlying principle is that healthcare is kind of like a social service that should principally be in state hands,” said Arthur Kroeber, partner and head of research at Gavekal in New York. Kroeber says the crackdowns are about “defining what the state does, what the private sector does, and creating a more limited sandbox for the private sector to play in.”

“This links to the idea of common prosperity because it’s the state’s job to guarantee a level of provision of basic services, whether it’s education or healthcare, so it’s important for the state to have a role,” he said.

That has left investors now picking the state over the private sector.

More in Reuters.

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What is happening in China’s education industry – Mark Schaub

 

Mark Schaub (left)

China’s authorities have been cracking down on education, tutoring, and foreign teachers, scaring foreign firms and teachers. China lawyer Mark Schaub summarizes an earlier webinar under Chatham rules. No reason to panic, he says at his vlog. “It makes completely sense what the government is currently doing. If there is a demand, there will be a way to carry on.”

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Lack of schooling key problem for 70 million left-behind children – Zhang Lijia

 

Zhang Lijia

A hidden problem in China are the 70 million children in the countryside, left behind by their migrant parents who left to work elsewhere in de big cities, says author Zhang Lijia in an interview with the Borgen Project. Many drop out of school and those who remain face dropping quality of their education. Zhang Lijia is currently working on a book on left-behind children (LBC’s).

The Borgen Project:

While their parents seek more money in the city, left-behind children are left in inadequate school buildings with limited supplies and ill-prepared teachers. In an interview with The Borgen Project, Lijiah Zhang, an author and journalist who examines China’s left-behind children, stressed that education is the largest problem these children face. “Without their parents, the children are more likely to lose interest in their studies and sometimes drop out of school, the opposite of what their parents hope for,” she said. Indeed, over 13% of left-behind children drop out by the eighth grade. Another reason for dropouts is the household responsibilities some left-behind children must take on, such as agricultural work, which leaves them with no time for academics.

For those who do continue their education, the quality is waning. With teachers lacking incentives and resources, education is a large obstacle for LBC. Educators hired for rural teaching positions are often fresh out of training and possess little teaching experience to offer a proper education. But because they are cheaper to pay, schools that lack funding hire them constantly. The staff is overworked and tremendously underpaid, with some rural educators working over 12 hours a day. This poor teaching quality combined with cramped classrooms and a lack of technology sets rural children up for failure.

Left-behind children dropping out of school perpetuates cyclical poverty. China’s economic expansion over the past 40 years has brought about 800 million people out of poverty, but it has also widened the gap between rural and urban communities. Families in poverty continue to struggle with money, and the number of parents deciding to leave children behind is rising. These children are stuck living with the effects of poverty, and with no parental guidance, they have little means of digging their way out.

Zhang stated that many LBC feel powerless in their situations, which leads to them losing interest in their schooling and dropping out, thus reducing their chances of climbing the employment ladder. Because of the difference in economic opportunities between rural and urban communities, poor children remain poor while the rich stay rich…

The diets of left-behind children are often also insufficient. According to a 2015 study, left-behind boys consumed more fat and less protein in their diets. This puts them at an increased risk for obesity and stunted growth. Zhang said: “I think the LBC’s diet is worse than non-LBC. Their guardians, usually their grandparents, are mostly very frugal. They also don’t have any idea about healthy diet or nutrition.” Limited nutrition can lead to poor school performance in addition to long-term health risks.

More in the Borgen Project.

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How to deal with the economic apocalypse - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean

The crisis caused by COVID-19 is going to change many familiar habits by consumers and companies, says Shanghai-based VC and SOSV General Partner William Bao Bean to E27. Who will be the winners, despite the expected economic downturn?

E27:

“There are two things to take note of. First, that people need to understand we’re heading into an economic downturn. The second thing is that this type of shock is quite special because it’s driving an equally massive change in habits,” Bean says in an interview with e27.
“Stay at home is driving the adoption of digital [platforms] extremely quickly. So on the one side, it’s an economic apocalypse, but on the other side, people are focussed on the change of habits,” he continues.
While balancing these two directions can be tough, there is plenty of good news on the ground...
Winners of the future will be very different from the winners of the past which, according to Bean, will mostly be driven by newly formed habits.
E-sports is expected to be “fricking huge,” he says.
“With an audience larger than the NBA, tennis and American football, it’s over half a billion people who watch these sports. Plus, you know, some people [prefer to] watching it, instead of playing it. Right now, a lot of sports are not airing and who is the beneficiary of [having] no sports on TV?” the investor points out.
Gaming has become one of the most common past times of entertainment and experts predict that the trend is here to stay.
Twitch, a leading live streaming platform for gamers, noted a viewership increase of 56 per cent this quarter compared to Q1 2020 while growing 60 per cent year over year. Facebook Gaming also saw a boost from the lockdown growing 75 per cent throughout Q1 until now.
Aside from gaming, Bean also expects online education and online media to have a longevity period of growth. This is mostly driven by the needs of parents and students who were forced to study from home during the circuit breaker measures implemented in Singapore, and similar approaches taken in other countries.
As with the case of e-sports, online media are also experiencing a surge in popularity as customers see their offline entertainment sources becoming limited.

More at E27.

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Online education: a big winner in the corona crisis - Rupert Hoogewerf

Online education is one of the big winners in the ongoing coronavirus crisis, next to health care, says Hurun rich list maker Rupert Hoogewerf in the South China Morning Post. "Valuations of traditional education institutions had recorded a severe drop, compared to the quick rise of education technology-focused companies," he says.

The South China Morning Post:

Hurun Report, which on Thursday released its first ever global list of billionaires who made their fortunes in the education business, said the education sector was going through a tectonic shift, as online tutoring and education became more common.

Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Report’s founder, said mainstream education institutes were being forced to offer online courses, and that valuations of traditional education institutions had recorded a severe drop, compared to the quick rise of education technology-focused companies.

In China, by one estimation, online education might actually be a lifeline for traditional institutions in these challenging times.

More at the South China Morning Post.

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The emerging regulations of online education - Mark Schaub

Mark Schaub

Online education is a booming business in China, and regulations are catching up, very slowly, says China-lawyer Mark Schaub in a thorough overview of the legal minefield for online educational ventures at the China Law Insight. "Curiously for a business that combines two highly sensitive areas of the Chinese economy – the internet and education – online education was only first officially addressed in 2018."

Mark Schaub:

The past five years witnessed a boom in the online education sector in China with annual revenues increasing from RMB 122.54 billion in 2015 to RMB 269.26 billion (forecast) in 2019[1]. The rapid expansion is attributable to consumers’ love of the internet, the continued growth of the middle class combined with the high regard in which education is held in China.   
However, the online education regulatory regime has not matched the sector’s speedy development. The regulations remain fragmented and spread across a variety of regulations that govern online activities more generally. Curiously for a business that combines two highly sensitive areas of the Chinese economy – the internet and education – online education was only first officially addressed in 2018.
To some extent the PRC regulators are catching up as they have issued a slew of regulations in order to better regulate online education. The regulations acknowledge the hybrid nature of online education as a number of different authorities are cooperating in building the regulatory framework. ...
Despite the rigid regulations outlined above there are many large education companies that are very active in online education in China. Some have operated an offshore model, but most have adopted a VIE model.
The VIE model is where a foreign company arranges for domestically incorporated entities to be held by nominees and which are controlled by the foreign company by means of contractual arrangements. Under a VIE structure, the “controlled” domestic company obtains the requisite licenses to operate the business. The contractual arrangements typically include exclusive service agreements which allow the finances of both entities to be consolidated under GAAP accounting rules.
VIE structures are also used by foreign investors who wish to circumvent restrictions on operating in China in restricted or prohibited sectors (such as online, education and online education!).
It has long been considered that VIE structure is a “grey” area of Chinese law as it has never been tacitly approved by the PRC authorities and there have been some cases where the domestic company decided to not fulfill its obligations under the contractual arrangement and when taken to court it was ruled that such contractual arrangements were unenforceable as they were intended to circumvent PRC regulatory requirements.

Much more at the China Law Insight.

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China's philanthropists focus on education - Rupert Hoogewerf

Rupert Hoogewerf

China's philanthropists spend most of their money on education, followed by poverty alleviation, says the 2019 Hurun Philanthropist List, according to the Shanghai-based Hurun chief researcher Rupert Hoogewerf in a press release. Automotive executive of China’s largest auto components company Wanxiang Group tops the list with US$720 million.

Hurun:

Lu Weiding, chief executive of China’s largest auto components company Wanxiang Group, became the country’s most generous philanthropist, with a single donation of US$720 million in the year ending March 31, according to Hurun Philanthropist List. Lu, 48, nicknamed “Auto Parts King,” made the donation through shares of a subsidiary that went public to a charitable trust in memory of his father, Lu Guanqiu.

Lu Guanqiu founded Wanxiang in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, with about US$500 in 1969, which is about US$3,500 in 2019 dollars. He grew the company from a farm tool manufacturer into a multinational conglomerate with business in auto parts, real estate, agribusiness, and finance. He died in 2017 at age 72. Lu Weiding and his family has a net worth of US$6.5 billion, according to Hurun’s estimate. Occupying the second spot on the 2019 Hurun Philanthropist List was Chen Yidan, 48, co-founder of Chinese internet giant Tencent Technology, based in Shenzhen. He made a US$500 million gift, mainly made up of Tencent shares. In 2016, he established the Yidan Prize with a US$320 million donation, giving US$2 million each year to two individuals who make significant contributions to education. Xu Jiayin, 61, ranked third with a US$230 million donation. Xu has a net worth US$37 billion through his 77% stake in the Guangzhou-based Evergrande Group. In total, 114 Chinese philanthropists donated US$3 million or more in the year leading up to March 31, according to Hurun, which began to compile the list 16 years ago. Total donations, based on cash, cash equivalents, and legally binding commitments, were down 3% year-over-year to US$3.2 billion. “The preferred cause of China’s top philanthropists has been education, although poverty alleviation has grown dramatically to become the second most popular cause this year,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Report, in a news release. Education accounted for 35% of total donations. while the proportion of donations to poverty alleviation increased to 29% from the 18% reported a year ago.

More in Barron's.

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How the new income tax will drive out expats - Paul Gillis

Paul Gillis

The reform of the income tax in China will drive many expats out of the country as it will kick in by 2021, as foreign and local taxpayers will fall under the same taxation rules, says financial expert Paul Gillis on his weblog. Especially the equal treatment for housing and education costs will become too costly for expats, or their companies.

Paul Gillis:

Tax reform will lower the tax burden on lower- and middle-income people, while leaving the top rates intact. China has a progressive tax system with rates topping out at 45% on income over 960,000 RMB (US$143,000). 

Foreigners used to get special treatment. While China taxes its own people on worldwide income, expatriates were only taxed on worldwide income after they had been resident for five years. The five-year period could be restarted by leaving China for 30 consecutive days or 90 days in a year.  The 30 day “tax break” was the most popular tax provision in the world. Initial proposals would have revoked this rule, but the final version makes it even better. It retains the 30-day tax break but requires it only every six years. The 90 days in a year provision is gone. 

More important for expatriates was the allowance of special exclusions from income for housing, education and home leave expenses. These expenses are very high in China.  A home in the Yosemite development near the international schools rents for 55,000 RMB per month ($98,500 per year) and tuition for two kids at the International School of Beijing (ISB) runs 600,000 RMB ($89,500 per year).  Local nationals did not get to exclude these costs. 

The new law treats locals and expatriates the same.  Both will obtain deductions for housing and education, but the benefit for rent is limited to 18,000 RMB (US$ $2,700) a year, far below what most expatriates pay. Education is limited to 12,000RMB (US$1,800) per child. 

That will be a tax cut for locals, and a big tax increase for many expatriates. While it may be fair to treat foreigners and locals the same, fairness is in the eyes of the beholder. 

Expatriates can stay under the old system through December 31, 2021. After that some expatriates will see staggering increases in tax. The expatriate living in Yosemite with two kids at ISB will see taxes increase as much as $82,000.  Since most expatriates at that level are also tax equalized, the total cost increase to their companies is likely to be as much as $149,000. That will force many companies to reconsider whether they can keep these expatriates in China.

More at the Chinaaccountingblog.

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Beijing replaces Shanghai as city with most international schools - Rupert Hoogewerf

Rupert Hoogewerf

Shanghai lost its top position for international schools in China to Beijing, says The Hurun Education Top International Schools in China 2018, according to Shanghai-based Hurun chief researcher Rupert Hoogewerf in the Pienews. The survey is based on research on 330 professionals at those schools and government agencies.

Pienews:

The Hurun Education Top International Schools in China 2018 surveyed at least 330 school principals, senior teachers, investors, overseas study agents, and even government departments, in China between July and December 2018. 

In the second year of the ranking, Beijing replaced Shanghai as the city with the most international schools on the list, Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Education, highlighted. 

In total, 26 schools in Beijing made the top 100 list, compared to 23 in Shanghai. Last year  the figures were 21 and 26, respectively. 

The top 100 came from 24 cities across Mainland China, and two-thirds of the list came from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. 

The proportion of schools included that admit Chinese passport holders rose from 70% to 80% since last year’s ranking – eight of the top 10 schools are able to admit Chinese passport holders, up four from 2017. 

“This ranking is primarily targeted at parents with children in China, helping them to find the most suitable school for their child, teachers already at or looking to work at international schools in China and admission officers of universities looking to recruit students from China,” Hoogewerf said.

More in the Pienews.

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Ranking international schools in China - Rupert Hoogewerf

Rupert Hoogewerf

International schools are big business in China, not only for expat families living in China, but increasingly also for ambitious Chinese. Rupert Hoogewerf, chief researcher of the Hurun China Rich List ranked those schools for the first time at Hurun Education. YK PAO school, International School of Beijing, Dulwich College Beijing and Keystone Academy lead the top international schools in China, the report says.

Hurun Education:

 “China's international schools are young, especially compared with the top schools in the UK and US, many of which have been around for several hundred years. With the demand in the market for an international education, expect to see these schools and their alumni build an international reputation of excellence,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Report Chairman and Chief Researcher. 

Average annual tuition is about US$20,000, rising to US$45,000 for the big cities of Shanghai and Beijing. “It is a big cost to put a child through the international education system in China,” continued Hoogewerf. 

Between April and October, Hurun Education asked 110 international education experts in China an unprompted question to recommend up to five schools in each of ‘Greater Shanghai’, ‘Greater Beijing’, Guangdong and ‘Rest of China’. Hurun Education received 942 nominations in total, an average of just under 9 nominations per expert. Half of respondents were school principals and senior teachers with the other half including investors, overseas study agents, training institutions and administrative departments of education. 34% came from ‘Greater Shanghai’, including Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu; 33% from ‘Greater Beijing’, including Beijing and Tianjin, and 33% from the rest of China. 24% of respondents were non-Chinese. 152 schools received votes. Schools were ranked on an index of 1 to 100, the school with the most votes receiving the maximum index of 100. The rankings refer to international schools in Mainland China only. 

Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Report Chairman and Chief Researcher, said, “I believe this to be the first serious attempt to rank the international schools in China. This ranking is targeted at parents with children in China and admission officers of universities from around the world. I hope this ranking will help parents form an opinion on which international school is the most suitable for their child, by providing a comprehensive study of the market from the views of international educational experts in China.”

More at Hurun Education.

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Why online education booms in China - Andy Mok

Andy Mok

Online education is doing extremely well in China. E-commerce expert Andy Mok gives three main reasons why online education is a winner. "The Chinese people have valued education for thousands of years," he says at WomenofChina.

WomenofChina:

Analysts believe China could become one of the world's most vibrant online education markets, given its growing spending power and under-supply of educational resources, as well as the introduction of the two-child policy. 

"Well, there is clearly a tremendous demand for online education. I think there are three reasons for that. First one is cultural. The Chinese people have valued education for thousands of years. The second reason is technological. Especially now, more and more Chinese have access to the interview through their mobile phones, faster bandwidth and more powerful processors. And finally, it's political. In the recent concluded 19th Party Congress, Xi Jinping emphasized one of the challenges facing China today is unequal and unbalanced development, so online education is potentially a very powerful tool for addressing this unequal and unbalanced development," said Andy Mok, the managing director of Red Pagoda Resources.

More in WomenofChina.

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Most of China rich did not get a degree - Rupert Hoogewerf

Rupert Hoogewerf

If Bill Gates is a standard, getting an education degree is no measurement for later wealth. The Hurun China Rich list discovered that half of its listed 2,000 rich did not finish with a degree, says chief researcher Rupert Hoogewerf in Global Times. Partly that is caused by the chaotic times during the Cultural Revolution.

Global Times:

The annual Hurun University of Life Rich List 2017, released on Tuesday, shows that half of 2,000 Chinese entrepreneurs with assets of at least 2 billion yuan ($300 million) have no degree. 

Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of the institute, said that "these people might not succeed in accordance with current social standards; however, they made it and created great enterprises, which taught me that a hero may rise from nowhere." 

The report listed the top 100 heroes, with Zong Qinghou, chairman of Wahaha Group, one of China's biggest beverage producers, ranking first. 

According to Hurun, Zong, 72, from East China's Jiangsu Province, ranked No.41 in the Hurun Global Rich List 2016 and No.5 in the China Rich List 2016 with his wealth of $19 billion. Zong ranked No.1 in the China Rich List in 2012 with wealth of $12.6 billion. 

The report said that Zong started work after graduating from middle school and established Wahaha beverage factory in 1988. Over the past 20 years, he built up his drinks empire and is a deputy of the National People's Congress. 

Also on the list are Chinese tech entrepreneur Jia Yueting, chairman of LeEco, who was born in 1973 in North China's Shanxi Province and became an Internet worker after graduating from a vocational school, and SOHO China Chairman Pan Shiyi, a property tycoon, who was born in 1963 and graduated from a vocational school. 

Compared with those who obtained a degree, the average wealth of the top 100 entrepreneurs without a prominent education background is 24.9 billion yuan, 9.6 billion yuan less than those who went on to further education.

The report said that the average age of the latter is six years older than the former with eight entrepreneurs over 70. However, only one of the top 100 "well-educated" entrepreneurs is over 70. "The heroic entrepreneurs are older and deeply affected by the Cultural Revolution (1966-76)," Hoogewerf said.

More in Global Times.

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Education and tourism might be next in stopping capital outflow - Victor Shih

Victor Shih

The efforts by China´s financial authorities to reduce the outflow of capital has already reduced many investment plans by the China. But financial analyst Victor Shih sees a few more holes in the country´s policies that might be stopped soon too: education and tourism, he tells Sourceable.

Sourceable:

Still, the Chinese determination to choke cash outflows appears to be serious, and could have implications that extend far beyond property and into other sectors whose payrolls and future plans are increasingly dependent on Chinese money, like universities and tourism operators. 

What China is doing with capital controls is similar to its management of the Internet, which Beijing has accomplished with great success. Access to censored websites “is not impossible from China, but it’s just a big hassle, and because it’s a hassle, very few people manage to do it on a regular basis,” said Victor Shih, who specializes in Chinese fiscal policy at the University of California San Diego. 

The goal with currency conversion restrictions “is exactly the same – to create enough friction to deter the vast majority of people from converting sizable amounts of money,” he said. 

There is much more, too, that China could do, Prof. Shih said. Every month, Chinese people spend between $15-billion and $20-billion (U.S.) abroad on services like tourism and education. It’s a huge cash drain, and one that China could pare back by restricting the number of people who can travel and study abroad. 

“I really think this is where it’s all heading – dialling back the clock to the early eighties when all flows, including visits, were tightly regulated by the government,” Mr. Shih said. 

“The leadership would like a certain combination of outcomes – stable growth, and also currency stability, and also no financial risk,” he said. “In order to accomplish that, you just have to control more and more stuff.”

More in Sourceable.

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Luxury CPI keeps on rising - Rupert Hoogewerf

Rupert Hoogewerf

Despite a relative slowdown in the country´s economic growth, China´s luxury price index saw the fastest rise in five years outpacing the CPI, show the latest report by the Hurun Institute, according to the Shanghai Daily. Luxury property, health and education are the driving forces, says Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Chairman.

The Shanghai Daily:

The gauge of China’s luxury buying power, based on a basket of 124 luxury goods and services, rose 5.1 percent in June from the same month of last year. Comparatively the country’s CPI rose a mere 1.9 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics said. 

“Luxury property, health and education drove up the Luxury Consumer Price Index this year, coupled with a decrease in the value of the yuan against most major currencies,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Report. 

About 60 percent of the surveyed luxuries cost more than last year. 

Property was the biggest riser, gaining over 13 percent — a big turnaround from last year’s 1.9 percent decline. 

High-end health care costs rose for a third consecutive year, up 11.7 percent, while top education continued its decade-long uptrend with a 6.2 percent price hike.

More in the Shanghai Daily.

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China´s rich give more, and more thoughtful to charity - Rupert Hoogewerf

Rupert Hoogewerf

The Hurun China rich list published its annual list of people giving to charities. Not only grew the amount of gifts year-on-year in 2016 50%, the givers organize their charity more professional and are better aware of its effects, tells Hurun Chairman Rupert Hoogewerf in the Luxury Daily.

The Luxury Daily:

Wealthy Chinese individuals’ philanthropic donations rose 50 percent year over year in 2016, according to new research from Hurun Report. 

Hurun’s rankings of China’s 100 most generous philanthropists found that the top Chinese donors were most apt to support education and disaster relief, with half of the list giving funds to causes in those two categories. Almost one in seven individuals who made the list are new to the rankings, showing a diverse, large audience for institutions that rely on the deep pockets of ultra-high-net-worth individuals for funding. 

“Gone are the days when Chinese entrepreneurs simply give money to a charity,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Report chairman and chief researcher. “Nowadays, China’s top philanthropists are much more concerned about the impact of their donations, most of which are in education.”

More in the Luxury Daily.

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Sex in a country without sex education - Zhang Lijia

Zhang Lijia

Next year author Zhang Lijia will publish her novel Lotus, on sex workers in southern China, inspired by her grandmother. Caijing interviews her about this inspiration and about how sex changed in China.

Caijing:

Your first novel, Lotus, which will be published by Henry Holt and Co. next year, revolves around the story of a sex worker in southern China. Where did you find the inspiration for it? 

Before she died, I discovered that my grandmother was a sex worker. She was an orphan and was sold into a brothel. She met my grandfather, a married small-time grain dealer, on the job, and then became his concubine. I was curious about how she coped, what her life was like. 

Then, when I was in Shenzhen for work, I went to a small saloon to get a haircut. The women there just giggled and said the only person who knew how to cut hair was not around. When I looked at the saloon floor there were no hair shavings. I just stared at those girls in their low-cut dresses for a few minutes before I realized the shop was just a front for a brothel. 

My grandma's story had planted the initial seed of curiosity in my mind. I interviewed several sex workers while in Shenzhen. I also worked as a volunteer for a non-governmental organization distributing condoms among sex workers in northern China. 

Many small details in the book are real. Prostitution is just a window to see the tensions and the changes happening now. You can pack in so many important issues like migration, women's position in society, the gap between cities and rural areas, etc. It's just a literary device. 

What were the challenges you faced when researching your novel? 

The biggest challenge was that the lives of sex workers were so far removed from mine. One of my friends said, "Try and work as a prostitute, you can satisfy your sexual needs, and you can make some money, and do your research." All the sex workers I have met sent money to their families. They knew what they were doing is wrong so they argue, "Look I'm helping my family, you cannot say I'm a bad person." I really had lots of fun researching the book. They talk a lot about breasts. One woman's implants had gone sideways, they really compare their breasts! 

Have attitudes toward sex and sex education changed? 

It has changed dramatically. I spoke with Li Yinhe, a famous sexologist, recently. She conducted a survey in 1989 and 85 percent of the respondents said they had no sexual experience before marriage. Now, by the time people get married, very few will have had no sexual experience. 

While sex before marriage has become commonplace, there's not enough sex education, especially among the rural population. When a couple gets married, they'll be given condoms. Village officials will demonstrate how to use them by putting the condom on the thumb. But, the woman still gets pregnant and they say, "Oh, how did that happen?" 

Sex education is supposed to be part of the curriculum but it is not taught in many schools. There's this explosion – the divorce rate is increasing, the number of abortions and cases of STDs have gone up rapidly – but sex education is lacking.

More in Caijing.

Zhang Lijia is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your conference or meeting? Do get in in touch or fill in our speakers´request form.

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Journalist Ian Johnson discusses spiritual values: what are Chinese looking for?

Why Chinese class rooms avoid sex education – Zhang Lijia

+Lijia Zhang 

Today sex education is firmly on the curriculum of school, unlike when author Zhang Lijia grew up. Important, because with knowledge the kids become vulnerable in society. But it does not mean sex education is wholeheartedly embraced, fears Zhang Lijia in CNN.

CNN:

When Lijia Zhang was 10-years old, her mother told her babies are born from armpits. 

"I thought that's strange, because there's no hole there," Zhang recalls, adding that she "had absolutely nothing" in terms of sex ed when she was growing up in Nanjing in the 1970s, beyond what her mother told her. Now a journalist writing for English-language publications, Zhang publicly revealed her own experience of molestation by a schoolteacher in a recent opinion piece on the severity of child sex abuse in China. 

Zhang is part of a growing number of voices calling for better sex education to combat child sex abuse, rising rates of sexually transmitted diseases, and unwanted pregnancies. Parents spur this on, pressuring their children to concentrate on academics above all else. Zhang adds that Confucian thought doesn't encourage open discussion of sex. As a popular saying goes: "Lust is the worst of all wicked things; Filial piety is the best of all good things." 

Educators have also largely ignored what calls the government has made to improve sex education. In part, teachers are too embarrassed to cover the subject, but primarily they concentrate on meeting their own academic targets. Sex is not a subject tested in the all-important university entrance exam and teachers have little incentive to emphasize the subject. 

"At school the focus is to get students to score high in exams in order to get them into good universities. Sex education is not considered important," Zhang explains. 

Parents spur this on, pressuring their children to concentrate on academics above all else. Zhang adds that Confucian thought doesn't encourage open discussion of sex. As a popular saying goes: "Lust is the worst of all wicked things; Filial piety is the best of all good things."

More at CNN.

Zhang Lijia is currently writing a book on prostitution in China, expected to be published later this year.

Zhang Lijia is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speaker´ request form.

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Education, first step in emigration process of the rich - Rupert Hoogewerf

Rupert Hoogewerf

When China´s rich set up shop abroad, they often follow a pattern, explains Hurun founder Rupert Hoogewerf in the China Daily. The first step in that process is sending their children to a specific country, to explore the situation. That is why education is a key tool for the emigration process. 

The China Daily:

The Chinese super rich are banking on foreign education for their teenage children as an investment. 

Going overseas for a university degree has always been an option for the children of the wealthy, but now parents are sending their children overseas for secondary education also. 

The United Kingdom is their first choice with the United States second, according to the Chinese Luxury Consumer Survey 2014, published by the Hurun Report, which polled 400 parents who each had at least 10 million yuan ($1.6 million) in disposable income. 

For undergraduate study, the rankings are reversed with the US topping the list, the UK second and Australia third. 

In terms of secondary education, Canada is the third most favored destination. 

"We have been keeping a keen eye on overseas education as it indicates a trend in emigration," said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of the Hurun Report.

More in the China Daily.

Rupert Hoogewerf is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´request form.

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