GOOD MORNING FROM LONDON
13 MARCH 2026. CHINA POST #615
CHINA AND THE FOREIGN MEDIA
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EXTRACTS
#1 CHINA AND ITS ECONOMY
THE ECONOMIST
#2 US/ISRAELI AIR STRIKES AND CHINA
NIKKEI ASIA
#3 CHINESE TOURISTS SWITCH FROM JAPAN TO SOUTH KOREA
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
#4 CHINA MARRIAGE APS
NIKKEI ASIA
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#1 CHINA AND ITS ECONOMY
THE ECONOMIST
“China’s exports grew by 21.8% during the first two months of 2026, compared with a year earlier, boosting an economy marked by stubborn deflation and weak domestic demand. Growth was 6.6% in December. (China combines January and February figures to smooth the effect of the Spring Festival.) A growing trade surplus will irk Mr Trump, as he prepares to meet Xi Jinping later this month.
GRAHAM PERRY COMMENTS;-
China is coming in from the cold. It is a big change and the world is wrestling with the challenge. Alongside advances in Huawei, DeepSeek and Rare Earths there are question marks, How to handle China? How to assess China? How to embrace China?
China is something quite new, A country led by a 98 million strong Communist Party which regularly describes itself as a country building Socialism with Chinese Characteristics. What is Socialism and what are the Chinese Characteristics? And what impact will China have on world affairs?
In fact, there is no mystery because China regularly announces its policies – both its long-term goals and its short-term focus. It is there in print for everyone to see. The problem is that people either read and do not understand or simply do not read what it is that China is saying about the World Today and the World Tomorrow.
In the government work report delivered on Thursday to Beijing’s annual parliamentary session, Premier Li Qiang highlighted the following takeaway points;-
Gross domestic product growth of 4.5-5 per cent; a consumer price index increase of around 2 per cent; a fiscal budget deficit of around 4 per cent of GDP; addition of 12 million new urban jobs; a 7 per cent increase in the defence budget; research and development spending to grow by 10 per cent.
China today is a blend of resilience and perspective with the most important of the above statistics being the focus on expenditure on research and development of 10%. The progress that has seen China move in three decades from shoes, shirts and cameras to solar panels, wind turbines and artificial intelligence is set to accelerate still further. And China’s goal? – to move from todays moderately prosperous society to tomorrow’s [2049] prosperous society.” Dropping the word “moderately” over the next twenty-three years is of considerable significance. China has been on the move since 1979 but the pace is accelerating.
But isn’t Corruption going to undo the progress of the last 46 years? Xi has repeatedly made clear to the Chinese public and to the world at large that fighting corruption is the single most important China policy but the world dismisses Chinese noise as a mere power struggle within the Party and in so doing miss the key points of discussion that rage all over China.
In one sense it is true. There is a power struggle going on in China. But this is nothing new. There have always been struggles within the Party since its foundation in 1921. There are always different and conflicting views about China’s way forward. There are groups and factions that vie with each other for dominance and control. This is Politics throughout the World and this is Politics in China as well. It is nothing unusual or mystifying or surprising. It is a fact of life. There are different views in every country about the best path for its Leaders to pursue and China is no different.
A mere casual reading of the history of China since 1921 will speedily acquaint you with the constant and ever-present arguments in China about the best way forward. Today there are those in China who want to change course and move away from a Party dominated political structure. Enough about the Dictatorship of the Proletariat and the leadership of the Standing Committee of the Politburo, they proclaim. Let’s hear more, they assert, about Western notions of Civic Society, the Rights of Man and the Rule of Law and less about the Party and Marxism-Leninism and the ideas of Xi Jinping.
Or take Trump and the future of China-U.S. relations. Should China seek to reach an accommodation with the U.S or should it remain beyond the reach of the White House and maintain a stance of ever-present confrontation?
Or take the new Western trend of Health Tourism in China; Should China warn off Westerners from taking advantage of low China Health Costs and reverse the new trend of Westerners coming to China for medical attention?
Or take the mindset of the Chinese people. Are they oppressed, bullied and exploited? Or are they happy, alert and motivated? It fits the traditional anti-Communist narrative of the Western media to insist that the Chinese are sullen, unsmiling, resentful and unhappy. For sure, some Chinese are unhappy. Life is not easy. But see the bigger picture and recognise that China’s government‘s goal is to make China a “prosperous society” by 2049. Such an increase in the well-being of 1.4bn people could not be achieved by a tyrannical intolerant oppressive government. China could not have succeeded in removing 800+billion people from poverty or, in having 150+ million of its people annually travel to holiday destinations across the globe – if it was dictatorial and oppressive. (The number is predicted by Travelex, the international travel company, to reach 200 million by 2030). China’s achievements come from a partnership between Party and People and not a confrontation.
The Tiananmen Deaths of 1989 were a wake-up call to the Party and Government. Get To Grips With Corruption Now! Some in the Party were using office to look after themselves, their families, and their friends and against this background it is no surprise that Xi Jinping has doubled down on corrupt practices at the highest level of Government. Had Xi not acted, he would be out of office and China would have embraced the anarchy of the Cultural Revolution. It was that important.
As to the Tiananmen Deaths there are two opposed points of view. The pro human rights view is that an oppressive Party bullied its people into submission. And it is the case that the Party did use the Army to clear the protesters from the streets of Beijing. This argument advances the view that the Party is a Big Bully which gets its way – only with force. Understandable but Wrong. On this occasion it did use violence, and protesters were killed.
The Government froze. Some wanted to talk to the protesters and others wanted to stop the protesters. The “Stop” leaders prevailed and guns were turned on the protesters. No question – it was a bad day in Chinese history. The People’s Army was turned on the Protesters. The protesters were defeated. Some vanished into the night. Some escaped to Hong Kong and the U.S. Some died.
The Party knew it was at fault. It did not act to stop corruption. The protest gathered pace. Action was needed and action was taken.
As this Column has repeatedly acknowledged China has crime and corruption. There is unemployment and life can be a struggle. It cannot be any other way. China is a not a cure-all, a panacea for all of the ills of the world. The Chinese know the positives and the negatives but barring some quite remarkable outbreak of unrest across the regions of China, the expectation of the Chinese leaders and of China’s critics is that China will continue along its march to prosperity and take its people with them in the new Long March.
The problem is that we in the West have been brought up to believe that Liberal Democracy is the only way – with Hobbes, Paine, Rousseau and Montesquieu leading the way.
So the West needs to adjust its mindset. There is not just one way to progress – one prescribed blueprint for all countries across the globe. Different countries with different social systems and different forms of government will find their own individual routes in the future. “Each To Their Own.” So, let’s examine China, study China, question China. They are not going away. They will become bigger and stronger and more prosperous and it behoves the West to come to terms with the enormous experiment now underway in China.
GRAHAM PERRY
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EXTRACT #2
US/ISRAELI AIR STRIKES AND CHINA
NIKKEI ASIA
“The U.S. and Israeli airstrikes against Iran have shuffled the global geopolitical chess board just four weeks before the American and Chinese leaders are due to sit down together in Beijing, leaving analysts debating which side has the strongest pieces to play and whether the summit will happen at all.
The Chinese response to the attack”, which killed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been muted so far. The foreign ministry called the killing of Khamenei “a grave violation of Iran’s sovereignty and security.”
A commentary published by state news agency Xinhua cast doubt on diplomacy with the U.S., which had been negotiating with the Iranians just before the offensive. For Washington, it argued, “talks function less as a genuine pathway to a peaceful resolution of disputes than as a tactical pause before the resumption of military attacks.”
That message is set to linger over any meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.”
PERRY COMMENTS;-
Speculation is rife about China’s response to the US/Israel attack on Iran. Will the Trump-Xi summit be scrapped? Or will Xi want to avoid a rupture with the U.S. because he wants to maintain the October 2025 Seoul Tariff Truce alive? Will military expansion by the U.S. and Israel force Xi to take a stand which would torpedo Trump’s April visit to China?.
China is on the back foot as its substantial investments in Venezuela have been put at risk by the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and in Panama, the Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison has been stripped of its concession to run ports at the Panama Canal, which Trump had vowed to “take back” from Chinese influence.
Will Trump’s actions in Venezuela and Iran strengthen China’s resolve to resist the U.S. and damage the U.S.-China relationship?
The Taiwan question also comes into view as the New York Times reported that a $13 billion U.S. arms package for Taiwan was being delayed out of deference to Xi. Will Trump be distracted by his necessary focus on Iran and soften his stance on Taiwan – much to the satisfaction of China. Or will a macho Trump feel emboldened to take a strong pro-Taiwan position in discussions with Xi raising the tension between the two side. After all, the reunification of Taiwan with China is China’s #1 issue.
It should also be borne in mind that China is the top importer of Iranian oil, taking in the vast majority of Iran’s seaborne exports at steep discounts. The two governments signed a 25-year cooperation pact in 2021, with China pledging to invest up to $400 billion. “The main risk for China isn’t losing Iranian barrels,” the Asia Society’s Russel said. “It’s a price spike that hits China’s stressed domestic economy and export sector”
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EXTRACT #3
CHINESE TOURISTS SWITCH FROM JAPAN TO SOUTH KOREA
THE SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
“Beijing and Tokyo have been embroiled in a dispute since November, when Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said that Tokyo could respond militarily to a potential attack on the island. In response, Beijing has advised citizens to avoid travelling to Japan.
South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism estimated that up to 190,000 Chinese tourists visited the country during the nine-day holiday period. The daily average was 44 per cent higher than during last year’s holiday window, which fell from January 24 to 29.
The fresh wave of Chinese tourists brought rare optimism to South Korea’s retail and tourism sectors, which have been dampened by a consumption slowdown.
GRAHAM PERRY COMMENTS;-
The SCMP reports that In the weeks leading up to the Chinese New Year holiday, South Korean travel operators rolled out intensive marketing campaigns tailored to Chinese tourists, including discounts and gift vouchers linked to Chinese payment platforms such as Alipay and WeChat Pay.
Chinese tourists have traditionally been big spenders, according to Korean tourism industry officials who pointed to the most recent data from culture authorities showing that the average spending per Chinese visitor to Korea reached US$1,622 in 2024, compared with the overall foreign visitor average of US$1,372.
Even the Korean government has been pulling out all the stops to encourage more spending by Chinese group tourists. On February 15, Minister of Culture Chae Hwi-young visited one of Seoul’s main shopping and tourism districts, Myeong-dong, to inspect facilities for foreign visitors and called for efforts to foster a more welcoming atmosphere.
The push appears to have paid off. “This is my first time in Korea, and I was shocked by how many Chinese tourists were in Myeong-dong” said Wang Xinyue from Shandong province
Korean retailer Lotte Department Store said its foreign customer sales rose 120 per cent from February 13 to 18 compared with the previous Lunar New Year holiday period. In particular, sales to Chinese customers – including from the mainland, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan – jumped 260 per cent.
The Chinese Government enjoys strong popular support for its moves to discourage Chinese citizens from travelling to Japan. There is a stand-off between Japan and China and the Chinese Government knows that it can call upon its citizen’s patriotic credentials to persuade its citizens to avoid Japan as a holiday destination. The people are responsive – another example of ongoing popular support for the Party.
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EXTRACT #4
CHINA MARRIAGE APS
NIKKEI ASIA
“Apps that enable parents to search for spouses for their unmarried children have become increasingly popular in China, representing a new and growing form of matchmaking in a society where anxiety about the future has led many young people to avoid tying the knot.
The city of Hangzhou in the eastern province of Zhejiang is known for its cluster of tech companies. A man in his 60s living there found a new pastime in spring 2025 — browsing a marriage app on his smartphone to look for a husband for his 29-year-old daughter.
He screens candidates by birth year, hometown, monthly income, whether they own a house and a car, and so on. When he finds someone who meets his criteria, he calls the other person’s parents. If the families seem compatible, he lets his daughter know. “I found someone who seems nice. Why don’t you try contacting him?”
The man uses a matchmaking app for parents called Wanmei Qinjia, or “perfect in-laws.” The app has over 50 million users, according to the operating company.
GRAHAM PERRY COMMENTS;-
Nikkei Asia reports that a major competitor, Chengjiaxiangqin, has more than 12 million registered users. The App reportedly led to around 300,000 marriages just under four years after its launch in the summer of 2020.
As is the case elsewhere, apps in China for finding romantic or marriage partners were mainly targeted at the individuals themselves. By the mid-2000s, platforms such as Jiayuan.com and Baihe.com — at this point long-running services — were already available, according to the Communist Party newspaper, People’s Daily.
But over time, many of these apps came to be associated with casual encounters, socializing for entertainment and even fraud, rather than serious dating or marriage.
In their place, parent-focused matchmaking apps have emerged. A common feature across these services is that the parents first contact one another. Because parents are unlikely to support casual relationships, platform operators promote their services as more effective for finding serious partners looking for marriage.
Since the mid-2000s, it has become common for parents to post profiles of their children in parks on weekends in an effort to find potential marriage partners. These “park matchmakings” are thought to have naturally evolved into app-based matchmaking.
The apps are designed with older users in mind. Wanmei Qinjia, for example, keeps the amount of profile information displayed on the screen minimal so the app can use a large, easy-to-read font suitable for seniors.
Although the apps are free to install, parents need to pay if they want to increase the chances of their child getting matched through such measures as having their child’s profile shown more prominently to other parents. A one-year plan costs 998 yuan ($145). For parents prepared for a longer matchmaking process, there is a lifetime membership option priced at 1,598 yuan.
There is also a 108-yuan identity verification option, where parents submit their official ID documents and receive confirmation from the app. By having their information verified, users can put other families at greater ease and improve the likelihood of successful matches.
Operators are increasingly competing by diversifying their services. Chengjiaxiangqin has a high-priced plan where experienced professional matchmakers provide personalized advice to raise the likelihood of a successful marriage. To persuade users to pay for such plans, the app offers a guarantee of a full refund if the user’s child marries within two years. Framing it as a “refund if successful,” rather than a “refund if unsuccessful,” reflects the cultural superstitions surrounding good luck in China.
A growing range of companies and organizations are entering the parent-oriented matchmaking market. A women’s group affiliated with the Communist Party and others launched parent versions of their services in 2025. Venerable dating site Jiayuan.com also introduced a parental version on WeChat in February, according to Chinese media.
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CHINA POST #616
Two topics will be addressed in China Post #616
- The alleged racism of the Chinese Han majority to its national minorities especially the Uighurs in Xinjiang. The UK Economist has launched a broadside against Xi Jinping’s Communist government asserting that Beijing compels the 56 National Minorities of China to toe the Party line and conform to the power edicts emanating from Beijing. According to this narrative China is Racist; China is Oppressive; China is Exploitative.
There is a context – China is increasingly proving its critics wrong. The country is on the front foot – soon to be the largest economy in the world. But many critics remain anti-communist to the core. The China of today, they say, is the USSR of yesterday. Beijing is totalitarian, oppressive, and brutal. You will be familiar with this unfriendly China narrative.
The Economist has come to realise that China is outsmarting the U.S. Seoul 2025 was, for The Economist, a turning point. Xi Won and Trump Lost and increasingly the publication has extolled the virtues of China’s economic growth. But The Economist cannot bring itself to endorse China’s Socialist advance and so alongside the positives come the negatives. This is an issue that will be the lead article in the next China Post #616 – The Alleged Racism of the Han Majority.
- China and Jack Perry.
China Post #614 concluded;-
“So in China Post #615 I will refer to Jack Perry – the Capitalist; to Jack Perry – the Communist; and reconcile the two conflicting elements in his make-up. Who was Jack Perry?
The article will review the interest that MI5 and MI6 took in Jack. The phone tapping and even the MI5 reporting on Jack in the early 1950’s when two conflicting trends came together – first;- the Korean War which pitted China against the U.S. and the UK and, second, China’s invitation to Jack to form a UK company for the sole purpose of initiating arms length trade and business relations between the fledgling People’s Republic of China and the still imperialist United Kingdom.
The two topics – China’s alleged racism and China’s 1952 approach to Jack are two parts of the same whole. The whole is the coming of China and its significance for the world at large. We are living in momentous times.
GRAHAM PERRY
