Page 10 - 2025 Special Report

uptick in the number of newborns year-on-year. 得担忧的问题。尽管政治格局仍然充满变数，但许多
The reasons are in many cases similar: Rising costs 企业确信，美国新一届政府将优先考虑沟通、平衡的
of living are causing young people to put off or rule 贸易政策和可预见的全球市场。无论是通过小步走还
out marriage and childbirth while pursuing higher 是大谈判，中美两国都需要继续消除分歧，尽可能地
education and careers. While people are living 携手合作。
longer, that’s not enough to keep up with rate of
new births. Meanwhile, the number of people aged 让我们面对现实，化解分歧并展望更为广阔的可
60 years and older reached 310 million in 2024, 能性，这才是明智的商业之道。
or 22 percent of the total population. Ultimately,
the number of deaths outpaced the number of
births by a small margin, standing at 10.93 million.
Furthermore, an aging population can also lead
to increased healthcare costs and potential social
issues related to eldercare. Countries such as
China that allow extremely little immigration and
no dual citizenship are especially at risk.

Another problem that China still faces is that
while China has a large pool of inexpensive and
skilled labors, the country is currently facing a
significant shortage of highly skilled technicians,
particularly in the high-tech manufacturing sector,
as its economy transitions towards more advanced
industries, leading to a push to further develop and
cultivate a more robust skilled workforce through
initiatives like vocational training programs.
The Chinese government is actively promoting
vocational education to address the skills gap,
aiming to increase the proportion of skilled
workers through targeted training programs. The
Chinese government has set goals to increase the
percentage of skilled workers in the workforce,
including plans to establish national skilled talent
training bases across various sectors.

Of course, there are other problems on the
horizon as well for both the US and China. As we
have mentioned in other publications, China and
America are still struggling with several issues that
will continue to thwart negotiations such as the
tariffs both countries have placed on each other.

Still, if one can look through all of the hand
wringing and saber rattling, the US is still China’s
third-largest trading partner, with a total trade
value of RMB 4.01 trillion (US$0.56 trillion), growing
in 2024 by 4.4%. Both the US and China will always
remain vitally interested in trade, including with
each other. We don’t see a possible reduction
in the trade a concern as we look at the trade
figures as a concern. While the political landscape

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