Quality of China's 'Tofu' buildings: Railings on the outer wall fall off with just a pull

Quality of China's tofu buildings. Railings on the outer wall fall off with just a pull. India to impose tariffs of up to 30% on some imported steel from China. The economic situation is grim. Former central bank governor Yi Gang admits facing deflationary pressure. This incident reveals just how poor the quality of a tofu dreg building in China is and how dangerous it can be to people. Residents of an apartment building on the 20th floor in Langfang City, Hebei province, attempted to install air conditioners. While workers were operating at high altitude, the guardrail at the installation site for the air conditioning unit, as designed by the building, fell off, nearly causing a serious safety accident. A video of the incident was shared online a few days ago, shocking viewers with its intensity. According to a mainland media website on September 11th, Mr. Jiang from Langfang, Hebei province, was recently installing air conditioners for residents of a high-rise building on the 20th floor. As he climbed to the installation site, carrying the heavy air conditioning unit around his waist, he reached out to grab the guardrail attached to the outer wall of the building. To his shock, one end of the guardrail immediately came loose. It turned out that the guardrail was only secured with an expansion screw on one side. Mr. Jiang said that, fortunately, he was tied to both a main rope and an auxiliary rope, preventing him from falling along with the machine when the guardrail loosened. He added that if he had only been using a flat safety rope like most installers, the consequences could have been disastrous. Mr. Jiang brought this incident to the attention of the media, hoping to remind his fellow workers of the importance of not neglecting or simplifying safety measures during high-altitude work. He emphasized that safety always comes first. After the incident was reported and the video went viral, Chinese netizens expressed their outrage and shock. One netizen commented, The person who installed that guardrail must have had their conscience eaten by a dog. This is practically attempted murder. Another wrote, This is playing with people's lives. The quality of construction is absolutely chilling. Yet another netizen asked, If the worker had only tied a single safety rope, who would have been held responsible for the fatal accident? It is understood that, had the installer fallen due to the loose guardrail, the building's original construction unit, the contractor, and the supervising entity would all be held responsible. India to impose tariffs of up to 30% on some imported steel from China India's finance ministry has issued an order to impose tariffs ranging from 12% to 30% on certain steel products imported from China and neighboring Vietnam, aiming to protect and promote local industries. According to Reuters, the order issued on Tuesday, September 10th, states that over the next five years, taxes will be imposed on welded stainless steel pipes exported from China, the world's largest steel producer, and Vietnam. Since the clash between Indian and Chinese troops in the disputed Himalayan border area in 2020, relations between the two countries have been tense. India has increased its scrutiny of Chinese investments and halted related major projects. However, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Tuesday that India is not rejecting business from China. He added that the real issue is which industries China operates in and on what terms, though he did not elaborate. Currently, China's ongoing real estate crisis has led to a shrinking domestic construction industry and an oversupply of steel. Globally, this excess poses concerns about dumping, which could lower domestic product prices, force factories to close, and cause job losses. Earlier this year, President Biden called for higher tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum during a speech to the United Steelworkers. His economic advisor, Lael Brainard, noted that overcapacity caused by Beijing's policies presents a serious threat to the future of the U.S. steel and aluminum industries. The U.S. has also taken steps to curb Chinese steel imports via third countries, such as Mexico. Indian steel prices plummet as Chinese imports surge. According to Reuters, India, the world's second largest crude steel producer, became a net importer of steel in the fiscal year that ended in March. And this trend has continued in the first four months of the new fiscal year, which began in April. India's steel minister announced last Wednesday, September 4th, that he would push the Ministry of Finance to increase steel import tariffs to protect domestic mills from cheap imports from countries like China. Between April and July, China became India's largest steel exporter, shipping approximately 807,000 metric tons to India, followed by Japan and South Korea. India's steel minister, H.D. Kumaraswamy, told reporters during an industry meeting that the Ministry of Steel has been asked to implement several measures to protect the industry from cheap imports, including supporting industry calls for higher tariffs on imported steel. The economic situation is grim. Former central bank governor, Yi Gang, admits facing deflationary pressure. Yi Gang, the former governor of the People's Bank of China, made a rare admission at the Shanghai Bund Financial Summit, acknowledging that China is facing deflationary pressure. Mainland industry insiders have stated that overall, China's economic situation is quite grim. The Chinese economy is struggling to recover, facing multiple challenges, including squeezed corporate profit margins, reduced employee wages, a real estate crisis, and weak domestic demand, all of which have impacted investor and consumer confidence. Yi Gang, currently the deputy director of the Economic Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, remarked at the Shanghai Bund Financial Summit on September 6, I think the leadership should focus on resisting deflationary pressure at the moment. If you look at nominal gross domestic product, GDP, it is positive, but you also need to consider people's incomes and tax revenues. Private equity fund manager, LD Xiaomaoje, believes that Yi Gang's remarks represent a rare directed mission of current price declines and low demand among ordinary people, which have become major problems affecting China's economic development. Industry insiders, the economic situation is quite severe. Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics of China on September 9 showed that the Consumer Price Index, CPI, in August, increased by 0.6% year-on-year, with fresh vegetables and livestock meat contributing significantly to this rise. However, this data was still lower than market expectations. Additionally, the Producer Price Index, PPI, in August, decreased by 1.8% year-on-year, a higher decline than anticipated. Mainland industry insiders have interpreted these figures. LD Xiaomaoje noted that the August CPI growth was lower than expected, while the PPI decline was more severe than anticipated. This disappointing data indicates that the economic situation is quite severe. He analyzed the signals these data points reveal. First, they underscore the objective reality that Chinese society is under pressure from current economic growth. Whether in terms of residence consumption, price indexes, or the Industrial Producer Price Index, these are all objective reflections of societal demand. In a healthy economy, strong consumer demand leads to rising prices, encouraging businesses to expand production, which in turn stimulates overall economic vitality. However, in this case, ordinary people's consumption is weak, and products produced by businesses are not selling, leading to an oversupply. As a result, prices are continually lowered to boost sales. In the long run, companies will face reduced production and capital, forcing them to cut costs by reducing wages, or even laying off employees. This will, in turn, further diminish consumer purchasing power, reinforcing the deflationary cycle. He added, Deflation is a phenomenon many countries work hard to avoid because it is more destructive than inflation. The current consumption and production situation in China clearly reflects the growing deflationary pressure. He believes that it is urgent to improve the income levels of Chinese people, and boost their purchasing power. The lack of consumption is not due to a decrease in willingness, but rather because ordinary people's wallets are thinner, and their purchasing power is insufficient. This is the most fundamental issue. PPI decline exceeded expectations, and the automobile industry is under significant pressure to reduce prices. Blogger Follow Me All The Way North analyzed that the August CPI and PPI data showed China's economy is in a deflationary state. He noted that the PPI fell by 1.8% in August, marking its 23rd consecutive month of decline. The 1.8% drop is relatively large compared to the previous two months, where the decline was 0.8%. Prices for cars, home appliances, and mobile phones are dropping rapidly. In the second half of this year, especially in the automotive industry, the pressure to reduce prices is extremely high, and many manufacturers and dealers are struggling. On August 31st, the National Bureau of Statistics of the Chinese Communist Party announced that the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index, PMI for August, was 49.1%, down 0.3 percentage points from July, which was also lower than market expectations. Follow Me All The Way North emphasized that PPI is an important indicator for assessing deflation. In addition to the CPI and PPI data, the August PMI, at 49.1%, was below the critical 50% threshold that separates expansion from contraction. Therefore, based on a comprehensive assessment, my judgment remains unchanged. China may face a long-term deflationary period lasting more than 30 years. China's Zero-Cost Purchase E-commerce platforms outraged as national economic worsen. Economic crisis and bankruptcy wave in China's commercial landscape Recently, Chinese media has been inundated with videos capturing the heartbreaking moments of numerous companies facing bankruptcy. The head of one company shared on his personal page, After three years of battling the pandemic, I still couldn't endure. Overnight, my multimillion-dollar company vanished. Standing with my last few employees, I cried for not meeting their expectations. In the video, he tearfully signs the final confirmations for each employee, realizing the devastation that unfolded despite building resilience during the severe pandemic in China. Little did he know that the economic downturn would prove even more formidable. Another distraught CEO, upon learning of his company's bankruptcy, sat slumped on a street curb. Indifferent to the bustling crowd passing by, even when approached by concerned police officers, he couldn't cease crying. In addition, an emotional scene unfolded as a female worker at another company couldn't hold back her tears upon hearing the news of the company's bankruptcy. Everything is gone, all the efforts. The company is no more. I've lost everything, and finding another job will likely end up the same. These videos share individual stories, but collectively paint a grim picture of economic instability in China. Almost every measure taken by the Chinese government seems futile, exacerbating the worsening situation. A wave of bankruptcies hits various companies, and China's commercial empire, online retail and e-commerce, is on the brink of collapse, with numerous companies shutting down simultaneously. What is the root cause of China's commercial empire downturn? These videos reflect not only personal tragedies but also a broader crisis that challenges the effectiveness of the Chinese government's interventions, leaving the once-thriving commercial landscape teetering on the edge of collapse. Ripple effects of refund-only policies unraveling China's e-commerce landscape. A company with an annual gross merchandise volume, GMV, of 1 billion CNY has unexpectedly gone under. Just last year, it was thriving, but now it appears to be in a dismal state. This company specialized in women's clothing and was led by an entrepreneur with roots in the taobao ecosystem. After accumulating substantial profits, the entrepreneur invested in an entire floor, which included warehouse facilities, customer service, logistics, and a design department. Currently, the warehouse is burdened with tens of millions worth of unsold inventory. Let me show you around. Dresses that would typically sell for over 100 or 200 yuan are now being liquidated at a mere 10 yuan per piece, with some going as low as 5 yuan. The reason cited by the entrepreneur for this unfortunate turn is the alarmingly high rate of returns. The warehouse is now inundated with a massive surplus of stock, forcing the company to exit the market with a heavy heart. Recently, the e-commerce landscape in China has been witnessing a wave of closures, creating a series of ups and downs. Last year, these e-commerce businesses already faced a profitability squeeze due to the prevailing trend of low prices promoted by various platforms, leading to numerous closures. Now, major shopping platforms are mimicking Pinduoduo by introducing a refund-only feature, marking the resurgence of nightmares for merchants. This policy allows users to obtain a refund without returning the purchased item, a mechanism pioneered by Pinduoduo in 2021. Pinduoduo claims that the intention behind this rule was to enhance user experience, encourage competition among merchants through increased order volume, and ultimately boost profits for merchants by offsetting their after-sales costs, creating a positive cycle. However, in practice, it has become a tool for many unscrupulous buyers who engage in zero-cost purchases, exploiting platform vulnerabilities. Numerous dishonest buyers take advantage of these loopholes, placing orders and then demanding refunds for various unjustifiable reasons. Adding to the complexity, the requirement for a refund-only differs from the refund policy that includes returning the product. When a buyer applies for a refund-only, platforms assess and process the refund, inevitably leading to judgment errors, especially when dealing with opportunistic individuals seeking undue advantages. Compounding the issue is the inherent time lag between logistics operations and platform systems. After a buyer applies for a refund-only, most are unable to intercept the shipment, with some items even delivered to the buyer before the platform can intervene. Consequently, merchants are left empty-handed, facing financial losses. The approval from the Chinese government for unrestricted development of e-commerce platforms, with the refund-only strategy touted as a clever move for users to seize the opportunity, has left businesses and online stores grappling with continuous losses. This cunning ploy has created a dire economic situation in China, pushing enterprises to the brink. The consequences are so severe that some customers, in an act of defiance, have returned a brick instead of the products, and astonishingly, still received full refunds. The orchestrated dance between the government's permissive stance and the exploitation by users is casting a dark shadow on the economic landscape, unraveling a disheartening narrative of businesses in distress and an economy in turmoil. For instance, on January 6, a merchant from an online shopping platform in Wuhan, Hubei, revealed in a video that a woman, after purchasing products worth 1,800 yuan, initiated a refund-only operation and later went to the courier station to collect the delivered items. According to station staff, this woman had initiated refund-only operations for over 1,000 items. The merchant has reported the incident to the police and appealed to the Taobao platform, seeking strict punishment for such behavior. The video showed a woman in purple clothing, wearing a mask, who surprisingly arranged for a large truck to come to the station to pick up the goods. Essentially, she spent zero money to acquire a truckload of products. Let's take a look at how she executed this operation. The woman purchased four items worth 1,800 yuan and, after placing the order, instructed the merchant to package the four items separately. At this point, she had already planned for a freebie opportunity. Upon seeing the logistics information, she applied for a refund once the items reached the express delivery point. To please the user, the platform directly processed the refund for her. After receiving the refund, she effectively took three items, rejecting only one. However, she had applied for a refund for all four items. The refund-only operation essentially allowed her to acquire three items, collectively valued at over 1,000 yuan, without spending a penny. The merchant appealed to the platform, but the appeal was unsuccessful. The platform, in an attempt to enhance customer experience, inadvertently attracted a group of opportunistic individuals engaging in unethical practices. While the refund-only policy has its share of problems, the implementation of this policy, coupled with an unbeatable low-price strategy, has propelled Pinduoduo's rapid growth in the past three years. Despite the numerous challenges, it is considered one of the secrets behind Pinduoduo's success in grabbing a significant share of the Chinese e-commerce market from its competitors. As widely known, Pinduoduo initially gained traction by targeting what is commonly referred to as lower-tier or outside-the-fifth- The year 2018 marked a turning point for Pinduoduo when its user base began to surge. Key characteristics of Pinduoduo users include lower educational levels, an average age of 45, and a significant proportion of female users. This demographic tends to have a late start in online activities and often lacks extensive experience in online shopping compared to first-tier cities. These users, often playing the role of vulnerable consumers in many after-sales disputes, benefit significantly from Pinduoduo's implementation of the refund-only feature, making the refund process more convenient for them and contributing to a substantial increase in user numbers. However, the widespread use of this feature has resulted in a phenomenon where merchants end up with both lost money and unsold goods, leading to resistance and even retaliation from platform sellers. In the past year, Pinduoduo faced a highly publicized incident known as the Exploding Shops. Starting from March 28, 2023, individuals organized and launched coordinated attacks on dozens of brand stores on the Pinduoduo platform through short video platforms and social media. This organized and premeditated action aimed to loopholes in Pinduoduo's refund-only service. It was a collective expression of dissatisfaction among merchants who felt that Pinduoduo's punishment rules favored consumers, resulting in unfair penalties for merchants in disputes with consumers. This discontent led to the temporary closure of some brand stores as a protective measure against further losses. Despite the negative impact on normal business operations, Pinduoduo chose to retain the refund-only service, asserting its commitment to not succumbing to any online criminal activities. This stance won Pinduoduo more customers but also intensified the debate on the ethical implications of such policies. Examining Pinduoduo's financial reports, it's evident that measures like refund-only have significantly contributed to the platform's recent revenue growth and profits, surpassing industry averages. By the end of 2021, Pinduoduo boasted an active buyer base of 860 million, closely trailing Alibaba's 979 million Chinese consumer data. This user base surpassed even JD.com's 570 million active buying users at the time. With Pinduoduo's market value surpassing Alibaba's in November 2023, the pressure on Alibaba and JD.com to follow suit with low-price strategies increased. Amidst fierce competition among major e-commerce players, platforms like Taobao and JD.com adopted the refund-only feature at the end of last year, followed by short video platform Kuaishou in January 2024. Additionally, TikTok's e-commerce arm, Douyin, had already introduced the net push refund feature in September 2023. Some view this trend as strategic adjustments by other platforms to emulate Pinduoduo's success. However, others see this as a case of bad practices driving out good ones. The trend has sparked concern, with many expressing dissatisfaction with the impact of such policies. The ease with which users can exploit the refund-only feature, and even the emergence of organized groups teaching others how to do so, has raised broader concerns about the societal implications. Some argue that if this trend continues without appropriate policies to curb abuse, it could disrupt the entire e-commerce ecosystem and lead to extreme outcomes. In the current economic downturn and intense competition in the e-commerce sector, these refund-only services, while seemingly advantageous to consumers, pose significant challenges for platforms. This has sparked discontent among merchants, particularly as they grapple with the pressures of meeting user expectations while sustaining their businesses. Some merchants express their frustration, emphasizing that the core of retail is to provide better products with more favorable services at lower prices, and the current trend, especially with the proliferation of refund-only abuse, is disheartening. The impact of these practices is particularly felt in the retail industry, where many businesses are struggling due to economic challenges and fierce competition. The widespread use of refund-only services across various platforms has intensified these challenges, making it difficult for businesses to continue operations. The economic consequences of these practices are seen not only in the declining sales of clothing items during the New Year period, but also in the broader economic downturn affecting various industries. In a furious culmination, the uncontrolled sprawl of Chinese e-commerce platforms has unleashed the infuriating refund-only onslaught, subjecting businesses to perpetual torment. The core cause of this economic maelstrom lies in the callousness of the CCP, which, despite green-lining the unbridled expansion of these platforms, callously dismisses the catastrophic repercussions on enterprises. The relentless pursuit of only refund practices, fueled by the government's indifferent endorsement, paints a bleak canvas of a collapsing economic terrain. This crisis's genesis can be unequivocally traced to the CCP's apathetic policies, ruthlessly destabilizing businesses and aggravating the economic nosedive.