China’s research and development funding growth slowed for the third year in a row against the backdrop of a shaky economic recovery, but investment intensity is increasing at a steady pace as the country’s push for hi-tech self-reliance continues. Preliminary estimates released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Thursday showed that R&D funding surpassed … Read more
Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu, said on Tuesday that President Bola Tinubu had steered the economy in the right direction and was determined to stay the course. The minister spoke during the defence of his ministry’s financial estimates before the National Assembly Joint Committees on National Planning in Abuja. He said the … Read more
China’s two major on-demand delivery service providers, Meituan and Ele.me, have introduced new features that alert or forcibly log out couriers who work excessively long hours, aiming to prevent rider fatigue. In a similar system imposed on China’s long-haul truck drivers, Meituan has been piloting a “fatigue management” system in select cities. This system detects … Read more
New data released by Meituan, China’s largest on-demand services provider, showed that its food delivery crews working in major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen earn more on average than the local population. According to the report, Meituan delivery people who work in major cities and meet the company’s minimum work time requirement took … Read more
Meituan, China’s largest on-demand local services provider, said its 7.45 million delivery workers drew 80 billion yuan (US$11.3 billion) in total income from the platform last year, company co-founder and chief executive Wang Xing said in an internal letter on Tuesday. About 4.5 million of those delivery workers are also covered with insurance for occupational … Read more
In neighbouring Hubei province, recruitment of schoolteachers has dropped one-fifth over the same period. The main reason for the fall appears to be the declining numbers of schoolchildren, as China experiences a period of “ultra-low” fertility, with fewer than 1.4 live births per woman over a lifetime. The China Population and Development Research Centre estimates … Read more
The world’s second-largest economy continues to grapple with an uneven recovery, but Li and other top leaders have tipped stable growth in the first half of the year and said that the around 5 per cent annual growth objective was attainable. Beijing is trying to whip up more positivity in the lead-up to the reform … Read more
He stressed that the pool of China’s workers had shrunk by 60 million over the past 12 years, which had had “a huge impact” on the economy, adding that many cities were struggling to recruit and battling unemployment and rising labour costs. Ma suggested further changes to family planning laws – which were modified in … Read more
Nigeria’s cost of living crisis is heaping misery on the citizens with inflation soaring amidst failing efforts by the monetary and fiscal authorities to stabilise the national currency’s exchange value and to review workers’ wages. Rising prices have taken many essential items, including food and housing, beyond the reach of millions of citizens across the … Read more
China’s migrant workers are getting older while their salary increases are lagging behind the general population, according to an official report. The report, published by the National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday, found that the average monthly salary of migrant workers rose by 3.6 per cent to 4,780 yuan (US$660) in 2023 compared with the … Read more
