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These 5 ancient Chinese women could become Disney’s new heroines

Anticipation continues to build for the live-action remake of Mulan, which will be coming to theatres in March 2020. And although Hua Mulan’s warrior heroics have earned her a deserved place on the big screen, she isn’t the only ancient Chinese heroine who inspires us. These five tough ladies also deserve their moment in the spotlight as a Disney star:To get more news about women in ancient china, you can visit shine news official website.
What’s her story? Known for her extraordinary martial arts skills, this Northern Song dynasty warrior has been featured in the opera and novel Legend of Warriors of Yang Family. During her life, there was constant warfare at the Chinese border. After her soldier husband died in battle, Mu Guiying held back her tears and led the other widows of the kingdom in a war against the border attackers.
Why we love her: She dedicated herself to inspiring other women. A film adaptation of her life would be an inspirational tale of female power, even in the face of grief.
What’s her story? When Fan Lihua married a soldier from another kingdom, she had to put up with plenty of prejudice and disrespect because the kingdom she came from was less respected. Could her strong personality help her win the affections of her husband’s family and unite the two kingdoms in peace?
Why we love her: Raised by her father and brothers, Fan Lihua developed an outspoken, brutally honest personality that helped her stand out during the patriarchal Tang dynasty. This makes her the perfect type of protagonist for a film about a strong woman!
What’s her story? We love a female outlaw! And that’s just what this Ming dynasty warrior is all about. Tang Sai’er always fought for the little guy, even when doing so angered the royals. When she saw peasants being forced into slavery, this strong woman led an uprising against the Ming government. Her magnetic personality helped her recruit more than 10,000 soldiers to her cause.
What’s her story? The coolest thing about Liang Hongyu? She was skilled at just about everything! When she wasn’t using her superhero-level martial arts expertise to take on enemies, she was showing off her impressive singing, dancing and drumming skills. Although she was adept at so many things, she ultimately ended up being known as an especially talented soldier.
Why we love her: She broke down barriers! In fact, she became the first woman in Chinese history to receive a government salary for her work on behalf of national security.
What’s her story? Fu Hao’s legend extends back to the Shang dynasty and most of what we know about her is written on ancient oracle bones that were found in her tomb. Much like Liang Hongyu, Fu Hao is a woman of many talents and led both battles and religious ceremonies.
Why we love her: She never took a back seat, even in a world run by men. In fact, she made such a name for herself that she was ultimately buried in a tomb separate from her husband, which was a sign of just how well-regarded she was.

Move over, Mulan! It’s clear there were quite a few ancient Chinese women who knew a thing or two about being brave in a man’s world. Which one do you want Disney to put on the big screen?

China’s economy is growing again

Until a few weeks ago, Chinese shares were among the best-performing in the world over the previous six months as investors bet on the country’s economic recovery after the lifting of pandemic restrictions.To get more china economy news latest, you can visit shine news official website.

But since April 18, when China released figures on its first-quarter economic output, stocks of Chinese companies around the world have lost about $540 billion in value, according to CNN calculations. Investors trimmed their exposure to China amid economic uncertainty in the country, rising geopolitical tensions and Beijing’s crackdown on international consulting firms.

The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index has lost more than 5% since April 18. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng (HSI) Index has also shed 5%. And the Shanghai Composite Index and the Shenzhen Component Index have fallen 3% and 6.5% respectively. During the same period, the Nasdaq Composite jumped 4%.

The selling is not limited to equities. The Chinese yuan, a barometer of investor sentiment, has tumbled over 2% in the past month. On Wednesday, the yuan sank below 7 to the US dollar in offshore trading, breached that key level for the first time this year. The currency weakened further on Friday, hitting its lowest level in nearly six months.Investors remain skeptical [about China] for two primary reasons. First, the recovery has not been robust,” said Brock Silvers, chief investment officer for Hong Kong-based Kaiyuan Capital.

Another concern for global investors is the country’s “fundamental investability,” he said, referring to geopolitical and Chinese policy risks.

Relations between the United States and China have become increasingly tense over the past few months. Washington has ramped up sanctions against key Chinese industries, including chipmaking. Beijing has displayed a growing distrust of foreign companies, cracking down on international consultancies and expanding the country’s counter-espionage law last month.

“Unfortunately after two decades of mutual benefit, global tensions have risen between China and the US,” said Michael Kelly, global head of multi-asset at PineBridge Investments, a New York-based asset management firm.Chinese stocks began a sharp rally in late October on hopes that the country would exit its costly zero-Covid policy. In early December, Beijing ditched the stringent restrictions, which resulted in a quick rebound in economic activity.

But despite solid consumption-led growth of 4.5% in the first quarter, recent economic data point to an uneven recovery in the world’s second largest economy.

On Tuesday, China released a batch of economic data for April, which largely disappointed investors. Nomura and Barclay lowered their forecasts to 5.5% and 5.3%, respectively, after the data release. But UBS and Goldman Sachs maintained their growth projections, which are 5.7% and 6% for the year.

The consumer price index rose by just 0.1% in April, the slowest pace in more than two years. The producer price index, which measures factory-gate prices, declined by 3.6%, marking the biggest contraction in three years, and underscoring the risk of deflation.Imports plunged 7.9% in April, reinforcing signs of feeble domestic demand. As for employment, the jobless rate for 16- to 24-year-olds hit a record high of 20.4% in April.

China’s “faltering” real estate sector, formerly the economy’s main driver, remains a major worry, said Silvers. Over the past few decades, the sector has accounted for as much as 30% of China’s GDP.

On Wednesday, the National Bureau of Statistics reported that new home prices rose by just 0.3% in April, after 0.4% in March, suggesting that the pent-up demand may be fading after the end of pandemic restrictions. Before February, home prices had been in a historical decline for about 18 months.

China sets modest growth target of about 5% as parliament opens

China set a modest target for economic growth this year of around 5% on Sunday as it kicked-off the annual session of its National People's Congress (NPC), which is poised to implement the biggest government shake-up in a decade.To get more china economy news today, you can visit shine news official website.

China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by just 3% last year, one of its worst showings in decades, squeezed by three years of COVID-19 restrictions, crisis in its vast property sector, a crackdown on private enterprise and weakening demand for Chinese exports.
In his work report, outgoing Premier Li Keqiang stressed the need for economic stability and expanding consumption, setting a goal to create around 12 million urban jobs this year, up from last year's target of at least 11 million, and warned that risks remain in the real estate sector.

Li set a budget deficit target at 3.0% of GDP, widening from a goal of around 2.8% last year.

"We should give priority to the recovery and expansion of consumption," said Li, who spoke for just under an hour in a speech to open the parliament, which will run through March 13.The incomes of urban and rural residents should be boosted through multiple channels. We should stabilize spending on big-ticket items and promote recovery in consumption of consumer services," he said.

This year's growth target of around 5% was at the low end of expectations, as policy sources had recently told Reuters a range as high as 6% could be set. It is also below last year's target of around 5.5%."While the official growth target has been lowered for the second consecutive year, which might be a disappointment to the market, we reckon investors (should) pay attention to the underlying growth momentum to gauge the recovery pace," said Zhou Hao, economist at Guotai Junan International.

Li and a slate of more reform-oriented economic policy officials are set to retire during the congress, making way for loyalists to President Xi Jinping, who further tightened his grip on power when he secured a precedent-breaking third leadership term at October's Communist Party Congress.During the NPC, former Shanghai party chief Li Qiang, a longtime Xi ally, is expected to be confirmed as premier, tasked with reinvigorating the world's second-largest economy.

The rubber-stamp parliament will also discuss Xi's plans for an "intensive" and "wide-ranging" reorganisation of state and Communist Party entities, state media reported on Tuesday, with analysts expecting a further deepening of Communist Party penetration of state bodies.Li said China's armed forces should devote greater energy to training under combat conditions and boost combat preparedness, and the budget included a 7.2% increase in defence spending this year, a slightly bigger increase than last year's budgeted 7.1% rise and again exceeding expected GDP growth.

On Taiwan, Li struck a moderate tone, saying China should promote the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations and advance the process of China's "peaceful reunification", but also take resolute steps to oppose Taiwan independence.

Beijing faces a host of challenges including increasingly fraught relations with the United States and a worsening demographic outlook, with plunging birth rates and a population drop last year for the first time since the famine year of 1961.

China plans to lower the costs of childbirth, childcare and education and will actively respond to an ageing population and a decrease in fertility, the nation's state planner said in a work report released on Sunday.

The NPC opened on a smoggy day amid tight security in the Chinese capital, with 2,948 delegates gathered in the cavernous Great Hall of the People on the west side of Tiananmen Square.

During the session, China's legislature will vote on a plan to reform institutions under the State Council, or cabinet, and decide on a new cabinet line-up for the next five years, according to a meeting agenda.

It is the first NPC meeting since China abruptly dropped its zero-COVID policy in December, following rare nationwide protests. Excluding the pandemic-shortened meetings of the previous three years, this year's session will be the shortest in at least 40 years, according to NPC Observer, a blog.

Five Questions About China’s Economy in 2023

Reopening will be the biggest catalyst for China’s economic recovery in 2023. However, the earlier and faster-than-expected reopening led to a spike in COVID-19 infections which caused major disruption in December. While the government has stopped publishing daily infection cases, J.P. Morgan estimates the infection ratio had risen to about 40% of the total population by the end of 2022, with herd immunity reached in January, up from less than 1% in November 2022.To get more china economy news latest, you can visit shine news official website.

In addition, there was no new infection wave during the Lunar New Year break, which paves the way for domestic production and consumption normalization in the coming months. “Putting everything together, it appears that China’s economic recovery is more front-loaded compared to our baseline forecast,” said Haibin Zhu, J.P. Morgan’s Chief China Economist and Head of Greater China Economic Research. “The economic recovery will start in the current quarter with 7% quarter-over-quarter SAAR growth, followed by 7.4% in the second quarter, 5.5% in the third quarter and 6.1% in the fourth quarter.” Full-year GDP growth forecast stands at 5.6%.”

Across the rest of the world, slowdowns in growth can mainly be attributed to high inflation. In China, they are mainly due to the Omicron drag. China has been an outlier compared to the rest of the global economy, facing broad-based disinflation with lagging demand recovery despite steady production recovery. The consumer price index (CPI) averaged 2% growth in 2022 — which is below the 3% target — and the producer price index inflation was negative throughout the fourth quarter of 2022.

The major factor that will affect inflation this year is the rapid reopening of the economy, with consumer prices expected to recover from the second quarter of 2023. While there are risk factors, J.P. Morgan Research predicts that inflation will stay in check. “We expect CPI inflation to stay below 2% for most of this year, before turning up and approaching 3% toward the end of the year and into 2024,” said Zhu. “Overall, we look for headline CPI inflation to average 2% year-over-year in 2023.”However, there are concerns that pricing pressure may spiral out of control and accelerate significantly during reopening, adding stress to global inflation throughout 2023. There are two main risk factors:

Across sectors, housing was the largest drag on China’s economic growth in 2022 and the market registered record-low activity, despite policy adjustments introduced from late 2021. In 2022, new home sales (in floor space) fell 26.8%, new home starts fell 39.8% and real estate investment fell 10%.

In November last year, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) announced a 16-point rescue plan for the housing market, marking the most significant shift in housing policy since 2016. “On the investment side, this is a game changer for prudent private developers,” said Zhu. “The November measures explicitly address developers’ funding problems.”

In an attempt to boost demand, further measures have followed, which focus on lowering down payments and relaxing restrictions around purchasing a home. This indicates that housing has become a policy priority and highlights the importance of achieving stability in the market.
The dramatic changes to housing policy come after concern over risks to financial stability as well as a desire to achieve growth stabilization. The major housing market correction which has been under way since the second half of 2021 has led to rising developer defaults, increasing pressure on local governments and a collapse in land sales. Further correction runs the risk of accelerating house price declines, which have so far only been minor. Other negative outcomes include increasing financial risk for households as well as the potential for a balance sheet recession.