Asia-focused insurer AIA Group’s net profit plummeted in 2022, as investment returns suffered amid rising interest rates, although the company sees positive trends this year in the key mainland China market, reports Nikkei Asia. The Hong Kong-based company’s net profit dropped 96.2% to $282 million, down from $7.42 billion in 2021 and marked its biggest […]
Category: Health Care
China spent RMB 150 billion ($21.5 billion) in 2021 and 2022 to vaccinate the world’s largest population against COVID-19, according to the National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA), reports Caixin. The expenses include the purchase of vaccine shots and inoculation costs, paid by the state-run medical insurance fund and fiscal subsidies, according to the administration. In […]
China’s top leaders said Thursday that the country has achieved “decisive victory” over COVID as its death toll drops sharply, reports Bloomberg. A meeting of the Politburo Standing Committee said the Communist Party’s judgment, policies and adjustment of COVID controls since November have been “totally right,” according to China’s state television. The public would agree with the […]
Chinese provinces spent at least RMB 352 billion ($51.6 billion) on COVID-19 containment in 2022, according to annual budget reports from local governments, adding strains to provincial finances in a year when economic growth slowed, reports Reuters. Of China’s 31 provinces, regions and municipalities, at least 20 have disclosed their expenditure on fighting the pandemic in 2022, […]
A Chinese vaccine maker has announced positive early results for its messenger RNA jab, as COVID-19 spreads rapidly across a population that has been inoculated with more traditional vaccines, reports the Financial Times. CanSinoBio on Friday said its vaccine had elicited 23 to 29 times more antibodies than an inactivated jab when given as a […]