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Tom Mardorf considers himself to be among the wealthier and more privileged parts of the population in Mallorca. He owns two houses on the well-known holiday island where he has been living since 1996 as a part-time resident. The German businessman has been selling organic cosmetics and nutrition supplements.
Mardorf is officially registered as a citizen of Malta because that’s where his main residency is. But the 58-year-old German says he feels drawn to Mallorca and comes to the Balearic island as often as he can. His visit last September though came as “a shock” to him, he told DW.
“The canceled summer season has left ugly wounds everywhere,” he says, adding: “Poverty is rising rapidly.”
Amid rising infections in Spain over the summer, the four Balearic holiday islands were shuttered again and have remained in a permanent lockdown ever since. Mallorca is said to be suffering the most of all Spanish resorts from the collapse in tourist arrivals.
An estimated 75% of all income generated on the island is directly or indirectly linked to the travel industry, which has led to both rising living standards and higher costs of living for its residents. “Those downsides of mass tourism are now becoming brutally visible,” says Mardorf.
Despite the current pandemic-induced hardships, the government of the Balearic Islands region is planning to extend the sweeping measures until March, insisting the “balancing act” is necessary to avert the risk of continuing the shutdown over the popular Easter holiday season.
Mallorcans are increasingly venting their anger about lockdown measures including curfews
To make matters worse, both the national and the regional governments have announced that they want to spend the €140 billion ($169 billion) earmarked for Spain under the EU’s pandemic rescue package for purposes other than tourism. The money is to flow into “future-oriented industries” Madrid says, and the regional government is prioritizing funding for universities, culture and agriculture.
In view of the drama that’s unfolding across Mallorca, Tom Mardorf feels his professional skills as a merchant and money manager are needed more than ever before. In collaboration with the Santa Ponsa Community Church, he has organized a food bank and a fundraising campaign. With the help of private donations that he and his team of 27 local helpers collect, they buy food to support about 70 families in Santa Ponsa.
Most of his fellow fundraisers are foreigners like him, and Mardorf fears that some of them could themselves become dependent on donations for their livelihoods if the pandemic endures.
Tom Mardorf (center) together with his staff at the food pantry in Santa Ponsa
Former hotel worker Paul Cameron is one of those delivering food to the needy in Santa Ponsa. The 40-year-old British citizen says Mallorca’s rising poverty doesn’t show itself in higher numbers of beggars in the streets or squatters in empty hotels. Poverty comes on “sneaking feet,” he says, affecting not only jobless restaurant and hotel workers, but increasingly architects and lawyers, too.
“We’re seeing more and more people in Palma [de Mallorca] living in tents along streets,” he told DW, adding that he, his wife and their three children barely make ends meet by living off their savings.
For Bart Mooji, a 55-year-old restaurant owner from the Netherlands, the financial squeeze from the lockdown is also becoming more dramatic by the day. He’s already amassed €23,000 in debt to cover running costs and says the Spanish government’s aid is too slow in coming. “I’ve received roughly €2,000 in direct aid so far. The situation is really dramatic.”
Restaurant owner Bart Mooij (left) is just one of many who don’t know if their business will survive the pandemic
The fateful dependency on mass tourism
As most Mallorcans blame the regional government in Palma for their hardship, the problem of the holiday island’s lopsided economic development goes much deeper, and for a good part way back into the past.
In the 1970s, former Spanish dictator Francisco Franco attempted to turn Mallorca into a primary holiday destination for people from wealthier and more industrialized nations in northern Europe. The concept of mass tourism was born, fostering Mallorca’s long-held image as a place of unbridled revelry and excessive fun in the sun.
The destination became a money-spinner, also making many Mallorcans richer. In the 1980s and 1990s, more and more foreigners were drawn to the treasure island, trying to scoop up some of the new-found wealth as hotel and restaurant owners, physicians, lawyers and real estate brokers.
After Spain’s entry into the European Union in 1986, Brussels fueled the boom by funding road projects and bridges as well as high-speed train connections and airports.
But now, after Britain’s decision to leave the EU and the collapse of travel company Thomas Cook in 2019, Mallorca’s fortunes appear to be turning, and the boom seems to be ending. The global coronavirus pandemic is likely to finish off the island’s mass tourism model forever.
In the small town of Santa Ponsa, situated close to rich tourist hubs in the southwest of the island, poverty isn’t directly perceptible in the streets. The province of Calvia, in which it lies, is home to many large hotels with around 60,000 tourist beds. And yet, some 1,500 households in the province rely solely on welfare benefits at the moment, says Mardorf.
The number of food packages delivered by the Santa Ponsa outlet has been growing steadily
The majority of the province’s wealthier inhabitants are foreigners, including many Brits, Scandinavians, Germans and Americans. Living in their luxury condos and holiday rentals, he argues, they hardly take notice of the plight of the local population. It’s like a parallel world, he finds, in which hardly anyone speaks Spanish or tries to integrate into society.
How to profit from a pandemic
Hardly surprising, the coronavirus pandemic is also offering rich pickings for some people living in Mallorca. Real estate agents are presently riding the wave of virus-caused foreclosures and bankruptcies, brokering lucrative deals for investors who are bargain-hunting for cheaper offerings especially in the lower and middle segment of the market, where prices have been falling.
By contrast, the market for luxury real estate has remained stable despite the crisis, showing that demand for premium estates on the island is far from abating.
But renting a luxury villa has never been cheaper because operators don’t want to let their first-class homes stand idle even during the lockdown. Fabian Dudek, the founder of Berlin-based startup Glassdollar, used the opportunity in Mallorca last fall, when he moved parts of his company to the island. The lockdown is “easier to sustain close to the beach,” he says, and the rent he pays for his finca in Deia is “really affordable.”
For food bank helper Paul Cameron, there’s little consolation in all of this. About 35% of those lining up for food at the Santa Ponsa distribution outlet every day do this for the first time in their lives, he says. “They’re having enormous fear and uncertainty about the future.” He would return to Britain only in case of an emergency, he says, because Mallorca is “actually a safe place to raise your children without drugs and social conflict.”
Leaving Mallorca isn’t an option either for Bart Mooji, the Dutch restaurant owner. He has invested in his business and wants to raise his children here, he says. But at the same time he believes the crisis is “definitely changing” the holiday island.
António Guterres was among leaders addressing a Special Meeting of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to investigate the links between structural racism, inequality and sustainable development, with a focus on pandemic response.
The UN chief said the global crisis “represents a damning indictment of systematic prejudice and discrimination”, with COVID-19 mortality rates up to three times higher for some marginalized groups.
“As we strive to recover from the pandemic and build a better world, we need to forge a new social contract based on inclusivity and sustainability. That means investing in social cohesion,” the Secretary-General said.
“All groups need to see that their individual identities are respected, while feeling that they belong as valued members of society as a whole.”
The ECOSOC meeting, held online, comes ahead of the annual High Level Political Forum in June which will review global progress towards reducing inequalities and promoting peace, justice and strong institutions, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Solidarity and cooperation
Council President Munir Akram underscored the need for action, recalling commitments made by world leaders during the UN’s 75th anniversary last year.
“Solidarity and cooperation among countries, societies, communities, and individual citizens is the only possible way to eliminating racism, xenophobia and discrimination for all,” he said.
This year also marks the 20th anniversary of a landmark UN Conference on racism, held in Durban, South Africa, and the country’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa, spoke of how COVID-19 has exposed “fault lines” both within and between countries.
“The pandemic has deepened poverty, inequality and other forms of social injustice around the world,” he said in a pre-recorded message. “Africans and people of African descent, Asians and people of Asian descent, Roma and the Sinti are among those particularly affected.”
Address the threat, achieve the dream
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, outlined several proposals for the international community to recommit to uphold fundamental principles of human rights.
They include addressing historic inequalities and injustices as part of pandemic recovery, increasing representation of people of African descent in global institutions, and building a global alliance against rising Islamophobia, antisemitism, and racial violence.
“Extremism and systemic racial discrimination and exclusion are threatening the very political, legal and moral foundations of several States,” he warned. “We must collectively address the threat posed by racial and other forms of inequalities.”
The son of slain civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. acknowledged the difficulty of achieving sustainable development against the backdrop of the pandemic, though he underscored the critical role of solidarity.
“To me, the 17 Sustainable Goals are essential challenges that we absolutely must meet, if we want to create the beloved worldwide community that my father spoke about so often,” Martin Luther King III said in a pre-recorded message.
“We have got to work together to create a global ethos to end poverty and discrimination, homelessness, pollution, pandemics, disease and violence.”
“For too long, we have been waging a senseless and suicidal war on nature. The result is three interlinked environmental crises”, Secretary-General António Guterrestold a virtual press briefing on the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report, Making Peace with Nature.
Pointing to climate disruption, biodiversity loss and pollution, which “threaten our viability as a species”, he detailed their cause as “unsustainable production and consumption”.
“Human well-being lies in protecting the health of the planet”, said Mr. Guterres.
According to the UNEP report, the world can tackle the climate, biodiversity and pollution crises together, but the UN chief said that these interlinked crises require “urgent action from the whole of society”.
Noting that some two-thirds of global CO2 emissions are linked to households, he underscored that “people’s choices matter”.
He explained that “we are overexploiting and degrading the environment on land and sea. The atmosphere and the oceans have become dumping grounds for our waste. And governments are still paying more to exploit nature than to protect it”.
Trio of emergencies
The report shows that the global economy has grown nearly fivefold in the past five decades, but at massive cost to the environment.
Despite a pandemic-induced decline in emissions, global warming is on track to increase by 3°C this century and while pollution-related diseases are prematurely killing some nine million people annually, over a million plant and animal species risk extinction.
Mr. Guterres made several points, including that women represent 80 per cent of those displaced by climate disruption; polluted water kills a further 1.8 million, predominantly children; and 1.3 billion people remain poor and some 700 million hungry.
“The only answer is sustainable development that elevates the well-being of people and the planet”, he said, drawing attention to possible actions for governments, including putting a price on carbon, shifting subsidies from fossil fuels to nature-friendly solutions and agreeing to “not support the kind of agriculture that destroys or pollutes nature”.
‘The bottom line’
While noting that far-reaching change involves recasting how we invest in nature, the report presents a strong case to integrate nature’s value into policies, decisions and economic systems that, among other things, foster innovative sustainable technologies.
“The bottom line is that we need to transform how we view and value nature”, said the Secretary-General. “The rewards will be immense. With a new consciousness, we can direct investment into policies and activities that protect and restore nature”.
SDGs and the environment
The report examines linkages and explains how science and policymaking can advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 and a carbon neutral world by 2050, all while bending the curve on biodiversity loss and curbing pollution.
While the authors stress that ending environmental decline is essential to advancing the SDGs on poverty alleviation, food and water security, and good health for all, Mr. Guterres flagged the need for “urgency and ambition” to address how we produce our food and manage our water, land and oceans.
“Developing countries need more assistance. Only then can we protect and restore nature and get back on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030”, he said, adding that the report shows that “we have the knowledge and ability to meet these challenges”.
As an example, Making Peace with Nature outlined that sustainable agriculture and fishing, allied with diet changes and less food waste, can help end global hunger and poverty, improve nutrition and health, and spare more land and ocean for nature.
“It’s time we learned to see nature as an ally that will help us achieve the Sustainable Development Goals”, upheld the Secretary-General.
An auspicious year
This year, beginning with next week’s UN Environment Assembly, a number of key international environmental conferences – including on climate change, chemicals, biodiversity, desertification and oceans – can help to propel us on the path to sustainability, the UN chief said.
“One key moment occurs tomorrow, when we welcome the United States of America back into the Paris Agreement on climate change”, he highlighted, noting that the move “strengthens global action”.
“President Biden’s commitment to net zero emissions means that countries producing two-thirds of global carbon pollution are pursuing the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. But we need to make this coalition truly global and transformative”, he added.
If adopted by every country around the world, a global coalition for carbon neutrality by 2050 can still prevent the worst impacts of climate change.
“But there can be no delay. We are running out of time to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C and build resilience to the impacts to come”, he asserted.
Adopting a vision
The report spotlighted the importance of changing mindsets to find political and technical solutions that equal the environmental crises.
“The path to a sustainable economy exists – driven by renewable energy, sustainable food systems and nature-based solutions. It leads to an inclusive world at peace with nature”, said Mr. Guterres, emphasizing that “this is the vision we must all adopt”.
The UN chief encouraged everyone to use the report to “re-evaluate and reset our relationship with nature”.
Making Peace with Nature draws on global assessments, including those from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), UNEP reports and new findings on the emergence of zoonotic diseases, such as COVID-19.
ICS/Craig Nisbet
The Seychelles moved in March 2020 to protect 30 per cent of its marine environment.
Netflix is turning Lupita Nyong’o‘s best-selling book Sulwe into an animated musical film. Published in 2019, the children’s book follows a young girl with “skin the color of midnight” who is visited by a shooting star and embarks on a magical journey to learn about the nature of true beauty.
Netflix announced that its next animated musical feature will be Sulwe, based on Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o’s #1 New York Times bestselling book of the same name. Nyong’o will produce the film, which does not yet have a director, writer, or composer attached.
“The story of Sulwe is one that is very close to my heart,” Nyong’o said in a statement accompanying the announcement. “Growing up, I was uncomfortable in my dark skin. I rarely saw anyone who looked like me in the aspirational pages of books and magazines, or even on TV. It was a long journey for me to arrive at self-love. Sulwe is a mirror for dark-skinned children to see themselves, a window for those who may not be familiar with colorism, to have understanding and empathy, and an invitation for all who feel different and unseen to recognize their innate beauty and value. I am thrilled that the book is being adapted into an animated musical that we hope inspires children all around the world to celebrate their uniqueness.”
The book, illustrated by Vashti Harrison and published in 2019 by Simon & Schuster, was a treatise on self-love and turns the story of a young dark-skinned girl’s journey of self-discovery into a magical, cosmic quest.
Here is the logline for the film, per Netflix:
Sulwe has skin the color of midnight. She is darker than everyone she knows. All she wants is to be beautiful and bright. One night, Sulwe is visited by a shooting star sent by the Night, and embarks on a magical journey where she learns the eye-opening story of the sisters Night and Day. Sulwe is a story about colorism, self-esteem, and learning that true beauty comes from within.
Netflix has come out of the gate running with its animated titles, first earning critical and awards attention with its inaugural Oscar-nominated feature Klaus, before quickly following up with Kris Pearn’s solid The Willoughbys and Glen Keane’s directorial debut Over the Moon. It’s got a buzzy slate ahead: high-profile directors like Richard Linklater, Henry Selick, and Guillermo del Toro have projects lined up with the streamer, while beloved properties like Chicken Run and Redwall are in the works.
While Netflix’s last animated musical, Over the Moon, was mostly just okay, Nyong’o is an immense talent whose involvement in any capacity is exciting. She’s won an Oscar and written a best-selling book, which is more than most people can claim.
Watch Nyong’o read Sulwe on Netflix’s Bookmarks, a live-action series that features prominent Black celebrities and artists reading children’s books from Black authors, below:
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Mr. Don, the UK’s leading garden writer and broadcaster, is an advocate for the Food and Agriculture Organization of The United Nations (FAO) for the International Year of Plant Health (extended into 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), an initiative aimed at demonstrating the ways in which protecting plant health can help end hunger, reduce poverty, protect the environment, and boost economic development.
Monty Don, British horticulture expert and FAO Goodwill Ambassador to promote the International Year of Plant Health., by Marsha Arnold
“I would define the term ‘plant health’ in two ways. Firstly, the way in which plants’ health is related to the environment in which they are growing. The biggest mistake that gardeners make is to try and force a plant to grow where it doesn’t want to grow, and not understanding what a plant needs in order to be healthy. Rosemary, for example, is adapted to the rocky sun-baked hillsides of the Mediterranean, whilst a Hosta likes shade, rich food, and lots of water.
The second definition involves the ways that plants boost human health, whether it’s physical health, or mental health. The last year and the COVID-19 pandemic has certainly highlighted the importance of mental health, and the positive role that gardens can play: tens of thousands of people around the world have reported that horticulture has provided them with a close connection with nature, with the seasons, with the weather and with their own internal mindset. We might be living in the midst of an unpredictable, scary, chaotic world at the moment, but gardening and plants remain constant.
For humans to be healthy, we need to eat and to have access to fresh, seasonal, locally produced fruit and vegetables. In wealthy western and northern Europe, we have twenty-four-hour, year-round access to fruit and vegetables from all over the world. For me this is not healthy, because it means huge transportation costs, and large-scale interventionist and artificial out-of-season growth. So, for example, you can eat strawberries in February, but they will have to be grown in a polytunnel in a warmer country and produced in such a way that they won’t actually taste good.
There are many ways that we can eat local fruits and vegetables. We can grow our own, whether in allotments, back gardens, window boxes or rooftop gardens, and we can try to buy locally whenever possible. If we all do this, it will lead to improved health benefits for us, and environmental benefits for the planet.
In countries like Mexico markets are dominated by fresh seasonal produce, unlike in many wealthy western and northern Europe countries.
Healthy soil means healthy plants
Soil is amazing. There are more living organisms in the first six inches of the soil than there are stars in the known universe. And we know less about what’s happening just a foot below the ground than we do the deepest part of the sea.
If you have healthy soil, you will have healthy plants. The relationship between the bacteria in the soil and the nutrients that the plants take up is completely intertwined. Not just the main nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, but the micro-nutrients and minerals which people increasingly realise are so important to our health.
However, our agricultural practices since the Second World War have practically ignored soil health. Over the last seventy or eighty years, we have treated soil as an inert medium that we can use rather like a factory floor, raising plants short of any obvious nutritional quality.
A new generation of activists
But now there is a new generation of farmers all over the world who realise that, by looking after the soil, you no longer have to spend a fortune on artificial fertilisers, you get much healthier plants, and your crops are just as good.
My message to this generation, to all of the young people who are concerned about sustainability and the future of the planet, is that the world is in your hands and the world begins at your door.
By far the best way that we can tackle the bigger issues of plant health, sustainability and climate action, is to learn how to connect to our own immediate world, how to love, treasure and care for it. So, I would say, it’s the old, old story: think global, act local.”
Epic Games has filed another antitrust complaint against Apple, this time in the European Union.
Filed with the European Commission, Epic has accused the iPhone maker of enforcing a “series of carefully designed anti-competitive restrictions” that have harmed competition when it comes to app distribution and payment processes.
“Apple uses its control of the iOS ecosystem to benefit itself while blocking competitors and its conduct is an abuse of a dominant position and in breach of EU competition law,” Epic Games said in an announcement.
In the announcement, Epic Games said Apple’s decision to block Fortnite — a popular game created by the games developer — from the iOS platform has harmed the company. It added that Apple has since launched its own gaming distribution service, Apple Arcade, while allegedly barring Epic Games from the doing the same.
“Consumers have the right to install apps from sources of their choosing and developers have the right to compete in a fair marketplace. We will not stand idly by and allow Apple to use its platform dominance to control what should be a level digital playing field,” Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney said.
“It’s bad for consumers, who are paying inflated prices due to the complete lack of competition among stores and in-app payment processing. And it’s bad for developers, whose very livelihoods often hinge on Apple’s complete discretion as to who to allow on the iOS platform, and on which terms.”
Prior to this latest complaint, Epic Games already had legal processes underway in Australia, the US, and the UK that specifically targeted Apple’s app distribution and payment processes.
Much like the legal stoushes in those jurisdictions, Epic Games said it is not seeking damages from Apple in its EU complaint. Instead, it has asked the European Commission to “address Apple’s anti-competitive conduct by imposing timely and effective remedies”.
The standoff between Epic Games and Apple commenced six months ago, when Apple and Google blocked Fortnite from their app stores after Epic Games implemented an in-app payment system within the game to circumvent paying the 30% commission fee of those stores.
This sparked Epic’s original US lawsuit that was brought against Apple and Google, which accused the tech giants of conducting anti-competitive and monopolistic practices.
“Apple has become what it once railed against: The behemoth seeking to control markets, block competition, and stifle innovation. Apple is bigger, more powerful, more entrenched, and more pernicious than the monopolists of yesteryear. At a market cap of nearly $2 trillion, Apple’s size and reach far exceeds that of any technology monopolist in history,” Epic said in the originating claim.
Apple then countersued Epic Games in September, accusing the game developer of attempting to pay nothing for the value it derived from being in the App Store by implementing its own in-app payment system.
The iPhone maker also raised another lawsuit accusing Epic of charging others for access to Apple’s intellectual property and technologies through the in-app payment system, as well as for preparing a “smear campaign” against the company. This lawsuit, however, was quickly thrown out by the US court.
In the months that followed, Epic Games raised its Australian and UK lawsuits against Apple. In both instances, Epic said it was extending the battle to make digital platforms fairer for consumers and developers.
Buddhism, bollywood, business can expand people-to-people engagement between India, Singapore: Goyal
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By – Shyamal Sinha
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said three ‘Bs’ – Buddhism, Bollywood and Business – can help expand people to people engagement and strengthen economic ties between India and Singapore.
The minister said that it is a partnership that will help us become Aatmanirbhar& also give opportunities for us to expand our global footprint.
Shri Goyal urged businesses to look at ways how we can expand the engagement and encourage India’s youth to use more innovative technologies. He said India & Singapore are working together in cyber security & disaster relief, and Education and skill development can be taken up as pillars where we can work together and learn from Singapore’s experience. E-Commerce, Fintech, smart manufacturing, healthcare are significant areas where India offers a large market. He said that our working together in these areas can truly transform India’s own effort to give the best to our people.
Shri Goyal quoted Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi as saying that “Singapore is our spring board to the ASEAN region”. Shri Goyal expressed the belief that the new regional order that will emerge, will rest on the strong shoulders of Singapore & India. He said that through budget 2021-22 and various other measures, Prime Minister has been trying to prepare the country to engage with the world from a position of strength, in the next decade. Similarly, the Singapore budget also this year has focused a lot on transformation and innovation. He expressed happiness that Singapore and the GIFT city which is our first operational smart city, have tied up with the Singapore exchange to boost international investment in India.
He said education and skill development can be taken up as pillars where both the sides can work together and learn from Singapore’s experience.
‘I look at expanding the Singapore-India ties resting on a greater degree of people-to-people engagement and I think that can rest on 3 ‘Bs’. The 3 ‘Bs’ that I think can expand our people to people engagement are – Budhism, Bollywood and Business,’ he said while addressing India-Singapore CEO Forum .
He added that in the post-COVID period, ‘I would like to invite all of you and experience Buddhism, enjoy bollywood and engage in business in India’.
The minister also suggested two areas for enhancing cooperation and that includes ways to promote women entrepreneurship.
‘Can we look at that engagement being taken forward to help us understand what Singapore does to promote women entrepreneurs and whether we can pull out a leaf or two from your own experiences.
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<p class="hyphenate ">Commenting on being a Muslim and how she reconciles her lifestyle that comes with racy photos sometimes, Hajia 4 Reall said: "<em>I think religion is all about the heart, it's not how you appear, it's about who you are inside</em>".</p>
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<p class="hyphenate ">"<em>I am a Muslim, yes I pray</em>" Hajia 4 Real who has now ventured into music, told <a href="https://www.pulse.com.gh/authors/david-mawuli" id="764b9a34-5d4c-431c-a10a-c91b6decb4b2" rel="nofollow">Pulse.com.gh's David Mawuli</a> and when asked about how exposing herself in photos and videos is against her religion she said, " <em>religion is not about how you appear</em>".</p>
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<p class="hyphenate ">In the video below, Hajia 4 Reall concluded that "<em>it is the relationship between you and your God</em>".</p>
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<p class="hyphenate ">The entrepreneur, born Mona Faiz Montrage, has dropped her second single titled "Fine Girl' after <a href="https://www.pulse.com.gh/entertainment/celebrities/hajia-4-reall-talks-about-her-life-and-new-song-video/vnj0pfz" id="150c4e24-0b55-434f-a5f8-ced1baeab2e1" rel="nofollow">her debut 'Badder Than' track that went viral</a> as she shocked fans with her idea of venturing into music.</p>
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<p class="hyphenate ">Watch the video below for Hajia 4 Reall's latest which has been receiving good attention and airplay.</p>
According to data from European Union statistics agency Eurostat, the People’s Republic of China surpassed the United States as the EU’s largest trading partner last year, with more than $710 billion in goods exchanged.
“In the year 2020, China was the main partner for the EU. This result was due to an increase of imports (5.6 per cent) and exports (2.2 per cent). At the same time, trade with the United States recorded a significant drop in both imports (-13.2 per cent) and exports (-8.2 per cent),” Eurostat said in a report released on Tuesday. The data doesn’t include China’s trade with the United Kingdom, which departed the EU last year.
By contrast, US trade with the EU was just €555 billion ($672 billion), a 10% decline from 2019.
Nick Marro, global trade lead at the Economist Intelligence Unit, told the South China Morning Post that demand for luxury goods in the Chinese economy, which closed down and opened up again much sooner than other countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic, helped keep European exports afloat while much of the rest of the planet remained in lockdown. However, the change is likely temporary.
“[The] expansion in total EU-China trade volumes more reflects strong growth in EU imports from China in 2020, rather than European exports benefiting strongly from China’s economic recovery,” Marro told the Hong Kong-based paper. “As a result, the overall structure of the EU’s trade relations are still more or less unchanged, and the importance of the US as a trade partner hasn’t meaningfully diminished. We’ll likely see a stronger revival in transatlantic trade flows as the pandemic comes under control in both markets, including as both sides jump-start their post-crisis recoveries.”
However, with the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) finalized last December after years of negotiations, that claim is cast into doubt. The deal will remove barriers to EU companies investing on the Chinese mainland, opening the door for the automobile and electronics industries, among others.
For the moment, the boom in EU-China trade has had an unexpected effect: the dramatic growth in shipping rates. According to the Financial Times, shipping costs have quadrupled since October thanks to a shortage in shipping containers as cargo ships sit idle in European and American ports. Even with new orders for containers, the price hike is likely to last well into 2021 due to the cargo backlog.
In the final months of 2020, the Chinese economy shattered its previous export records as it became the global factory for medical equipment for fighting the COVID-19 pandemic while itself being almost totally free of the virus. However, for 2021, economists have set big goals: Fitch Ratings has predicted a colossal 8% economic growth for China this year, which isn’t even the largest estimate out there.
A report by the Center for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), a UK-based think tank, predicted China would pass the US as the world’s largest economy by 2028.
