US Inflation Reaches 4% Level, Highest in About 3 Years, Fed Interest Rate Hike Expected

Recently NHK News on-line reported the following:

US CPI  (Source: NHK)

米物価上昇率4％台に 約3年ぶり高水準でFRB利上げ観測

2026年6月10日22:00

(2026年6月10日23:31更新)

統計・指標

アメリカの先月の消費者物価指数は、ホルムズ海峡の事実上の封鎖を背景にエネルギー価格が大幅に上昇したことなどから去年の同じ月と比べて4.2％の上昇となりました。およそ3年ぶりの高い水準で、金融市場ではインフレの再加速を抑えるためFRB＝連邦準備制度理事会が年内にも利上げに踏み切るのではないかとの見方が出ています。

アメリカ労働省が10日に発表した先月の消費者物価指数は去年の同じ月と比べて4.2％の上昇となりました。

伸び率は前の月から0.4ポイント拡大し、2023年4月以来、3年1か月ぶりの高い水準となりました。

ホルムズ海峡の事実上の封鎖の影響などで原油価格が高騰していることを背景に、ガソリン価格の上昇率が40.5％となるなどエネルギー価格の大幅な上昇が全体を押し上げたほか、衣料品が4.8％、医療サービスが3.6％、住居費が3.4％、それぞれ上昇しました。

また、変動の大きい食品やエネルギーを除いたいわゆるコアの物価指数も去年の同じ月と比べて2.9％の上昇と、伸び率が前の月から0.1ポイント拡大しました。

伸び率の拡大は3か月連続です。

金融市場ではインフレの再加速を抑えるためFRBが年内にも利上げに踏み切るのではないかとの見方が出ています。

Translation

US Inflation Reaches 4% Level, Highest in About 3 Years, Fed Interest Rate Hike Expected

June 10, 2026, 22:00

(Updated June 10, 2026, 23:31)

Statistics and Indicators

The US Consumer Price Index (CPI) for last month rose 4.2% compared to the same month last year, largely due to a significant increase in energy prices against the backdrop of the de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. This was the highest level in about three years, leading to speculation in financial markets that the Federal Reserve (FRB) might raise interest rates before the year-end to curb renewed inflation.

The US Department of Labor announced on the 10th that the CPI for last month rose 4.2% compared to the same month last year.

The growth rate increased by 0.4 percentage points from the previous month, reaching its highest level in 3 years and 1 month since April 2023.

Driven by soaring crude oil prices due to the de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, gasoline prices rose sharply by 40.5%. While driving up the overall inflation rate, clothing prices rose 4.8%, healthcare services 3.6%, and housing costs 3.4%.

Furthermore, the so-called core inflation index that excluded volatile food and energy prices, rose 2.9% compared to the same month last year, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the previous month.

The rate of had been continuing for three months in a row.

In the financial markets, there's a view that the Fed might raise interest rates later this year to curb the renewed acceleration of inflation.

So, the US CPI for last month rose 4.2% compared to the same month last year, largely due to a significant increase in energy prices. This is the highest level in about three years and probably the US may raise interest rates before the year end.

China's May Exports Increased by Over 19%; The Future Focus is on the Impact of High Crude Oil Prices

Recently NHK News on-line reported the following:

中国 5月の輸出額 19％余り増加 原油高の影響が今後の焦点

2026年6月9日14:58

中国

中国の5月の輸出額は、東南アジア向けが大きく伸び、アメリカ向けも大幅に増加したことから、去年の同じ月と比べて19％余り増えました。今後はイラン情勢を背景とした原油価格の高止まりがどう影響するかが焦点となります。

中国の税関当局が9日発表した貿易統計によりますと、5月の輸出額は去年の同じ月と比べてドル換算で19.4％増加しました。

これは、主要な輸出先の東南アジア向けが大きく伸びたことに加え、アメリカ向けも貿易摩擦の激化で大きく減った去年5月と比べて大幅に増加したことなどが主な要因です。

中国の輸出をめぐっては、イラン情勢を背景とした原油価格の高止まりで、主要な輸出先の内需が冷え込むのではないかという懸念が出ていて、今後、原油高がどう影響するかが焦点となります。

一方、輸入額は去年の同じ月と比べ、27.4％増加しました。

また、日本との貿易は、日中関係が悪化する中でも輸出額が10％余り、輸入額が29％余り、それぞれ増えました。

Translation

China's May Exports Increased by Over 19%; The Future Focus is on the Impact of High Crude Oil Prices

June 9, 2026, 2:58 PM

China

China's May exports increased by over 19% compared to the same month last year, driven by significant growth in exports to Southeast Asia and the United States. From now on, the focus would be on how the persistently high crude oil prices stemmed from the situation in Iran could make an impact.

According to trade statistics released by Chinese customs authorities on the 9th, May exports increased by 19.4% in dollar terms compared to the same month last year.

This was mainly due to a significant increase in exports to Southeast Asia as a major export destination, as well as a substantial increase in exports to the United States, compared to May last year when exports fell sharply due to escalating trade friction.

Regarding China's exports, concerns were rising that persistently high oil prices because of the situation in Iran might cool domestic demand in major export destinations. From now on, the impact of high oil prices would be a key focus.

Meanwhile, imports increased by 27.4% compared to the same month last year.

Furthermore, trade with Japan saw increases of over 10% in exports and over 29% in imports, even amid deteriorating Japan-China relations.

              So, China's May exports see a big increase compared to the same month last year. From now on, the focus would be on how the persistently high crude oil prices due to the situation in Iran could affect China’s trading figures in the coming months.

遇到棘手的醫學問題？你的醫生可能使用人工智能解决 ( (2/2)

Recently The New York Times reported the following:

Have a Thorny Medical Question? Your Doctor May Be Using A.I. for That (2/2)

OpenEvidence, a fast-growing start-up, is using artificial intelligence to help doctors find answers to clinical questions for diagnosis and treatment.

The NYT - By Steve Lohr - Steve Lohr has reported on the way technology is changing the work force for more than a decade.

June 8, 2026

(continue)

Dr. Topol is a co-author of a recent paper, “The Illusion of Readiness in Health A.I.,” which found “significant competency gaps” in the capability of big A.I. systems when applied to health care.

The evaluations so far have largely focused on the performance of the so-called large language models of big tech companies like OpenAI and Google, which are trained on data across the open internet.

OpenEvidence, founded in 2022, took a more focused approach. It bet that smaller A.I. software models trained on highly specialized data could outperform the giant models in a specific, information-rich field like medicine. The start-up trained its software initially on the publicly available medical data from sources like the government’s National Library of Medicine.

Then the company struck content licensing deals with The New England Journal of Medicine, The Journal of the American Medical Association and other publishers of peer-reviewed medical literature.

Studies of OpenEvidence, including one by researchers at the Mayo Clinic, have found that while the app is not flawless, its answers are generally accurate and evidence based.

OpenEvidence is available to any government-verified physician in America as a free, downloadable app.

“We treated physicians like consumers,” Mr. Nadler said. Users are presented ads, many of them from drug companies, during the five seconds or so they wait for the A.I. to reply. Physicians are served ads on only 5 percent of their questions, the company said.

Sidestepping the traditional gatekeepers of hospital technology departments has raised some issues. OpenEvidence has relied on the workplace behavior known as “shadow A.I.,” workers using such tools without the knowledge or oversight of their employers.

Some health systems are now focusing on bringing OpenEvidence into the institutional fold. Mount Sinai announced in March that it would provide a link to OpenEvidence directly from a patient’s electronic health record.

But the agreement does not give the start-up access to the medical center’s patient data. That integration could come later, Dr. Gavin said, but only after rigorous testing and controls.

Protecting patient privacy and safety will be “paramount,” he said, adding that “we’re not going to just throw a patient’s data over the wall to a private company.”

Doctors in smaller practices across the country, especially in rural areas, say the technology has won them over.

In Corinth, Miss., Dr. Ben Long counts himself as an A.I. skeptic. But he was reassured that OpenEvidence generates answers based on only high-quality, peer-reviewed information.

At first, Dr. Long used it mainly as a reference tool, asking factual questions. But now, he regards the app more as “a consultant, a thought partner” with which he has a dialogue, he said.

“A.I. forces you to think more deeply about your own thinking, challenging your assumptions and why you might be wrong,” Dr. Long said.

A.I. can also let doctors tap expertise that would normally be the realm of specialists.

Dr. Barbara Creighton often diagnoses and treats complex cases at a community hospital in Fairbanks, Alaska. They can involve multiple conditions and failing organs. At a large medical center, a team of specialists might be consulted — an infectious disease expert, a pulmonologist and a gastroenterologist, for example.

Dr. Creighton’s small hospital is not so richly staffed. It does have an arrangement with a big medical center to pay for specialist consulting sessions. She now relies increasingly on OpenEvidence to answer many questions, saving her time and her hospital money.

“It’s like having a bunch of specialists in your pocket,” Dr. Creighton said.

At Mount Sinai, Dr. Gavin said he viewed A.I. technology as a powerful tool to help realize the promise of precision medicine with treatments tailored to individuals.

Progress will require a “patchwork of solutions” from hospitals, medical schools and private companies, he said. Whether OpenEvidence thrives and plays a role in that long-term future remains to be seen.

“But it represents a step in that direction,” Dr. Gavin said.

Translation

 遇到棘手的醫學問題？你的醫生可能使用人工智能解决 ( (2/2)

OpenEvidence 是一家快速發展的新創公司，它正利用人工智能幫助醫生找到臨床診斷和治療問題的答案

（繼續）

Topol博士是近期一篇論文《醫療人工智能的就緒假象》的合著者，該論文發現，各大型人工智能系統在應用於醫療保健時，其能力存在「顯著的差距」。

迄今為止，評估主要集中在 OpenAI 和谷歌等大型科技公司所謂的大型語言模型的性能上，這些模型是基於開放互聯網上的數據進行訓練的。

成立於 2022 年的 OpenEvidence 採取了更專注的方法。它押注於規模較小的人工智能系統軟件模型，基於其高度專業化的資料訓練，在特定且資訊豐富的領域例如醫學等，其效能可能優於大型模型。這家新創公司最初使用來自美國國家醫學圖書館等機構的公開醫療數據來訓練其軟件。

隨後，該公司與《新英格蘭醫學雜誌》、《美國醫學會雜誌》以及其他同行評審醫學文獻出版商達成了內容授權協議。

包括Mayo診所研究人員在內的多項針對 OpenEvidence 的研究發現，儘管該應用程式並非完美無缺，但其答案通常準確且基於證據。

OpenEvidence 是一款免費下載的應用程式，任何經美國政府認證的醫生均可使用。

Nadler先生說: 「我們對待醫生像對待消費者一樣」。在用戶等待人工智能回覆的大約五秒時間內，系統會向他們顯示廣告，其中許多來自製藥公司。該公司表示，醫生在回答問題時，只有 5% 的發問會遇到廣告。

繞過醫院技術部門的傳統把關人也引發了一些問題。 OpenEvidence 一直以來都依賴一種被稱為「影子人工智能」的職場行為，即員工在雇主不知情或缺乏監督的情況下使用此類工具。

一些醫療系統目前正致力於將 OpenEvidence 納入其係統。西奈山醫院於今年三月宣佈，將直接在患者的電子健康記錄中提供 OpenEvidence 的連結。

但該協議並未賦予這家新創公司存取醫療中心患者資料的權限。Gavin醫師表示，這種整合可能會在之後進行，但前提是必須經過嚴格的測試和控制。

他強調，保護患者隱私和安全 '至關重要'，並補充說：“我們不會輕易將患者數據拱手讓給一家私人公司。”

全國各地小型診所的醫生，尤其是在農村地區的醫生，表示這項技術已經贏得了他們的認可。

在密西西比州Corinth市，Ben Long醫生自認是對人工智能持懷疑態度。但他感到安心的是，OpenEvidence 產生的答案只基於高品質的同儕審查資料。

起初，Long醫師主要將其用作參考工具，提出一些事實性問題。但現在，他更傾向於將這款應用程式視為“顧問，思想夥伴”，並與之進行對話。

Long醫生說： “人工智能迫使你更深入地思考自己的思維方式，挑戰你的假設以及你可能犯錯的原因。”

人工智能還可以讓醫生利用通常只有專科醫生才能提供的專業知識。

Barbara Creighton醫生經常在阿拉斯加Fairbanks的社區醫院診斷和治療複雜的病例。這些病例可能涉及多種疾病和器官衰竭。在大型醫療中心，醫生可能會諮詢一個專家團隊 - 例如，傳染病專家、肺科醫生和腸胃科醫生。

Creighton醫生所在的小型醫院人員配備並不充足。它與一家大型醫療中心達成協議，支付專家諮詢費用。她現在越來越依賴 OpenEvidence 來解答許多問題，這不僅節省了她的時間，也為醫院節省了金錢。

Creighton醫生說: 「這就像有一群專家在自己的口袋裡一樣」。

西奈山醫院的Gavin醫生表示，他認為人工智能技術是實現精準醫療願景的強大工具，能夠為患者量身定制治療方案。

他指出，要取得進展，需要醫院、醫學院和私人企業共同努力，「拼湊多種解決方案」。 OpenEvidence 能否蓬勃發展，並在未來的長遠發展中發揮作用，還有待觀察。

Gavin醫生說: 「但這已代表朝著那方向邁出第一步」。

              So, OpenEvidence has trained its software using publicly available medical data like the government’s National Library of Medicine etc. Currently, this application is available free to any government-verified physician in America, and many doctors in the US are using it. Apparently, it has a very good potential in helping doctors to perform their work and I am wondering when will it be made available to other countries.

遇到棘手的醫學問題？你的醫生可能使用人工智能解决 (1/2)

Recently The New York Times reported the following:

Have a Thorny Medical Question? Your Doctor May Be Using A.I. for That (1/2)

OpenEvidence, a fast-growing start-up, is using artificial intelligence to help doctors find answers to clinical questions for diagnosis and treatment.

The NYT - By Steve Lohr - Steve Lohr has reported on the way technology is changing the work force for more than a decade.

June 8, 2026

Dr. Nicholas Gavin, an emergency medicine doctor at Mount Sinai in New York City, was working an overnight shift last summer when a patient came in with a puzzling set of symptoms. Within seconds, his three younger colleagues — two medical students and a resident — were consulting a free artificial-intelligence-powered app for physicians, OpenEvidence.

Dr. Gavin soon learned that they were far from outliers. A third of Mount Sinai’s 9,000 doctors were already regular OpenEvidence users, the health system’s executives found out in a meeting last year with the start-up’s leaders.

“That was an ‘aha’ moment for our leadership,” said Dr. Gavin, who is also the system’s chief clinical innovation officer.

OpenEvidence’s A.I. app, essentially a chatbot for medicine, has become a viral hit with physicians. Talk to a doctor and chances are he or she uses the app to ask specific medical questions or bounce ideas off it in a diagnostic dialogue.

More than half of the nation’s physicians are regular users. Last month, they used it for 30 million questions and consultations, nearly twice the volume from six months earlier, according to the start-up. A separate survey last year of 1,000 physicians found that 45 percent of them used the app, nearly triple the percentage who used ChatGPT, according to Offcall, a career information service for doctors.

That growth propelled the start-up to a $12 billion valuation in January, up from $3.5 billion last July.

But doctors’ quick adoption of the app since its introduction in 2024 — one of a handful of A.I.-enhanced programs on the market seeking to win over physicians — has heightened concerns about how and when the technology should be used in life-or-death situations. In a high-stakes field like medicine, health care systems are navigating thorny matters of patient privacy, safety and trust, as well as the limitations of the technology itself.

“It’s not an oracle, it’s a tool,” said Daniel Nadler, founder and chief executive of OpenEvidence. “Knowledge and knowledge workers still matter.”

The doctor’s office has been a target for computer-assisted decision making for decades, with very limited success until the recent advances of A.I.

The first wave of A.I. in medicine focused on easing the heavy burden of documentation that contributes to physician burnout with transcriptions and summaries of patient visits, called A.I. scribe software. The second wave, which is just getting underway, aims to use A.I. to assist doctors with reliable information and advice to guide diagnosis and treatment while at a patient’s bedside.

The competition has intensified in recent months. UpToDate, a popular legacy electronic reference for doctors, has given its service an A.I. makeover with a chatbot interface. Doximity, an online professional network for physicians, bought an A.I. start-up that mines medical literature and generates summaries. Abridge, a fast-growing A.I. scribe maker, is adding decision-support tools. And last month, OpenAI introduced ChatGPT for Clinicians.

OpenEvidence became a front-runner in part because it exclusively used medical journals and other high-quality research as data to train its A.I. models. Physicians can ask the app specific questions or enter the characteristics and symptoms of a patient and ask for potential explanations. The app is compliant with the federal law that protects patient health information, and physicians are told not to enter any personally identifying information.

OpenEvidence responds with a summary of most likely diagnoses, and then offers other “most important not to miss diagnoses.” Each has links to the research articles that inform the summaries.

“A.I. is solving some of the problems that have long plagued the practice of medicine,” said Dr. Raja-Elie Abdulnour, chief clinical innovation officer at NEJM Group, which publishes The New England Journal of Medicine. “These tools just didn’t exist before, and that’s why people are so excited about them now.”

Yet the early enthusiasm should be tempered with a large dose of caution, medical experts agree. The research so far into the benefits and shortcomings of A.I. in medicine is decidedly mixed.

A.I. has aced standard licensing exams and outperformed human doctors in diagnosing certain cases. But A.I. has also stumbled, failing to accurately summarize research papers or giving wrong answers to diagnostic questions. And it isn’t going to replace humans anytime soon.

“The potential for A.I. is great, but we’re not there yet,” said Dr. Eric Topol, a cardiologist and an executive vice president at Scripps Research in San Diego. “It hasn’t really been tested and demonstrated in the messy, real world of medicine.”

(to be continued)

Translation

遇到棘手的醫學問題？你的醫生可能使用人工智能解决 (1/2)

OpenEvidence 是一家快速發展的新創公司，它正利用人工智能幫助醫生找到臨床診斷和治療問題的答案

去年夏天，紐約市西奈山醫院的急診醫生Nicholas Gavin值夜班時，一位有令人費解症狀的病人前來就診。幾秒鐘之內，他的三位年輕同事 - 兩名醫學生和一名住院醫師 - 就開始使用一款名為 OpenEvidence 的免費人工智能醫生應用程式去診斷。

Gavin醫生很快就發現，他們絕非異類。西奈山醫院的9,000名醫生中，有三分之一已經是 OpenEvidence 的經用使用者。去年，這醫療機構的管理層在與這家新創公司的領導人會面時得知了這一情況。

同時也是該智能系統的首席臨床創新官的 Gavin醫生說道:「這對我們的領導層來說是一個『頓悟』時刻」。

OpenEvidence 的人工智能應用程序，本質上是一個醫療聊天機器人，已在醫生群體中迅速走紅。随便問一個醫生，他們很可能都使用這款應用程式來諮詢特定的醫學問題，或在診斷對話中與它交流想法。

超過一半的美國醫生都是這款應用程式的經常用戶。據這家新創公司稱，上個月，他們使用該應用程式進行了 3,000 萬次諮詢和問詢，幾乎是六個月前的兩倍。去年一項針對 1,000 名醫生的獨立調查發現，45% 的醫生曾使用過這款應用程序，幾乎是 ChatGPT 用戶比例的三倍。這項調查的數據來自醫生職業資訊服務平台 Offcall。

這一成長推動這家新創公司在今年 1 月的估值達到 120 億美元，而去年 7 月的估值為 35 億美元。

但自2024年推出以來，醫生們對這款應用程式的快速接受度 - 它是市場上為數不多的幾款旨在贏得醫生青睞的人工智能增強型程式之一 - 加劇了人們對這項技術在生死攸關的情況下應該如何以及何時使用的擔憂。在醫療如此高風險的領域，醫療保健系統正在努力應對棘手的病患隱私、安全和信任問題，以及科技本身的限制。

OpenEvidence的創始人兼執行長 Daniel Nadler表示: 「它不是神諭，而是一種工具」; 「知識和知識工作者仍然至關重要」。

幾十年來，醫生辦公室一直是用電腦去輔助診症的目標場所，但直至人工智能最近取得大進展之前，其應用非常有限。

第一波人工智能在醫學領域的應用主要集中在減輕醫生因繁重的文件工作而導致的職業倦怠，其方式是透過轉錄和總結患者就診記錄，即所謂的人工智能記錄軟件。第二波浪潮剛興起，旨在利用人工智能為醫生提供可靠的資訊和建議，以指導他們在患者床邊進行診斷和治療。

近幾個月來，競爭日益激烈。廣受歡迎的傳統電子參考資料平台 UpToDate 為其服務進行了人工智能改造，新增了聊天機器人介面。向醫生提供線上專業網路的 Doximity 收購了一家人工智能新創公司，該公司挖掘醫學文獻並提供摘要。快速發展的人工智能醫療記錄工具 Abridge 正在添加決策支援工具。上個月，OpenAI 推出了臨床醫生的 ChatGPT。

OpenEvidence 之所以能成為領跑者，部分原因在於它完全使用醫學期刊和其他高品質研究作為資料來訓練其人工智能模型。醫生可以向該應用程式提出具體問題，也可以輸入患者的特徵和症狀，並尋求可能的解釋。這款應用程式符合保護患者健康資訊的聯邦法律，醫生被告知不得輸入任何個人識別資訊。

OpenEvidence 會提供最可能診斷的摘要，並提供其他「不容錯過的重要診斷」。每個摘要都附有相關研究文章的連結。

出版《新英格蘭醫學雜誌》的 NEJM Group 的首席臨床創新官 Raja-Elie Abdulnour 醫生表示:「人工智能正在解決一些長期困擾醫學實踐的問題」;「這些工具以前根本不存在，所以人們現在對它們如此興奮」。

然而，醫學專家一致認為，早期的熱情應該伴隨著大量的謹慎。目前關於研究人工智能在醫學領域的益處和不足的結果是明顯地參差。

人工智能已經順利通過了標準的執業資格考試，並在某些病例的診斷上超越了人類醫生。但人工智能也曾失手，例如無法準確總結研究論文，或對診斷問題給予錯誤答案。而且，它在短期內也不會取代人類。

Eric Topol博士是心臟科醫生，也是聖地亞哥Scripps研究所的執行副總裁説: 「人工智能的潛力巨大，但我們尚未達到目標」; 「它還沒有在紛繁複雜的真實醫學世界中經過實際考驗和證實」。

（待續）

隨著全球緊張局勢加劇，中國正在建構經濟堡壘（2/2）

Recently The New York Times reported the following:

China Builds an Economic Fortress as Global Tensions Rise (2/2)

Beijing says the changes are needed for national security, but they could complicate efforts by Chinese companies to find growth overseas.

The NYT - By Alexandra Stevenson and Murphy Zhao - Reporting from Hong Kong. Alexandra Stevenson is the Shanghai bureau chief for The Times, reporting on China’s economy and society.

Published June 5, 2026

Updated June 6, 2026

(continue)

Green Light, Red Light

What is new in the rules unveiled this week is the effort to slow the overseas expansion of Chinese companies.

The measures restrict the movement of certain talent in sectors deemed sensitive, though Beijing has not defined which sectors qualify. They also give officials broader authority to review the movement of capital, including the power to force investors to sell shares or halt investments if national security concerns arise.

The rules also lay the legal groundwork for regulators to bar foreign entities from investing or operating in China, including expelling them from the country, in retaliation for actions taken by their governments against Chinese investments.

To some experts, the most striking effect of these rules is that they could constrain the ambitions of Chinese companies when they are under intense pressure to find new markets and the country’s exports are reaching record levels.

“China has been encouraging companies to go overseas to set up production facilities, invest and bypass any constraints that may exist on manufacturing in China,” said Lester Ross, a longtime China expert and senior counsel at Wilmer Hale.

Yet these new rules could complicate that, he added.

Chinese officials are calling the new rules a “milestone” for outbound investment. But for many investors, the vague definition of what constitutes a national security concern has led to significant uncertainty.

Déjà Vu?

The idea that companies or individuals need approval to invest overseas may seem unusual. But China has long restricted money flowing out of the country and currently limits individuals to moving $50,000 abroad each year. That tool has become increasingly important as economic growth has slowed.

Nor is China the first country to screen outbound investment. The Biden administration in 2024 imposed restrictions on U.S. financing of Chinese semiconductor, quantum computing and artificial intelligence sectors.

The European Union has also urged its member states to review investments in those same sensitive sectors.

But unlike the United States and Europe, Beijing has defined national security far more broadly. And its rules are correspondingly more expansive.

For lawyers and trade advisers, the flurry of restrictions from multiple governments signals the end of an era.

The Chinese government cited “profound changes unseen in a century” as justification for the new State Council rules. The argument resonated with Zhou Yong, a lawyer with Junhe, a Chinese law firm.

“From a legal standpoint, the restructuring of international business rules has been brought about by great power competition and technological progress,” Mr. Zhou said.

“China,” he added, “hopes to have some tools of its own.”

Translation

隨著全球緊張局勢加劇，中國正在建構經濟堡壘（2/2）

北京方面稱，這些變革是為了國家安全，但可能會使中國企業在海外尋求成長的努力變得更加複雜

（繼續）

綠燈與紅燈

本周公佈的新規旨在減緩中國企業的海外擴張。

這些措施限制了某些被認為敏感產業的特定人才流動，但北京方面並未明確界定哪些產業屬於敏感產業。這些措施也賦予官員更大的權力來審查資本流動，包括在出現國家安全問題時強制投資者出售股票或停止投資的權力。

這些規則也為監管機構提供了法律依據，使其可以禁止外國實體在中國投資或經營，甚至將其驅逐出境，以報復其政府對中國投資的行動。

一些專家認為，這些規則最顯著的影響在於，它們可能會限制中國企業的雄心壯志，而此時中國企業正面臨著尋找新市場的巨大壓力，而中國出口額正創歷史新高。

長期研究中國問題、Wilmer Hale律師事務所高級顧問Lester Ross表示: 「中國一直鼓勵企業到海外設立生產基地、進行投資，以繞過中國製造業可能存在的各種限制」。

但他補充說，這些新規可能會使情況變得複雜。

中國官員稱這些新規是對外投資的「里程碑」。但對許多投資者而言，國家安全問題的模糊定義導致了極大的不確定性。

似曾相識？

企業或個人需要獲得批准才能進行海外投資的想法或許聽起來有些不尋常。但中國長期以來一直限制資金外流，目前規定個人每年向境外轉移資金不得超過5萬美元。隨著經濟成長放緩，這項措施的重要性日益凸顯。

中國並非第一個審查對外投資的國家。拜登政府在2024年對美國投資中國半導體、量子運算和人工智能領域的計劃實施了限制。

歐盟也敦促其成員國審查在這些敏感領域的投資。

但與美國和歐洲不同，北京對國家安全的定義遠較寬鬆，其相關規定也相應更為廣泛。

對律師和貿易顧問而言，多國政府接連的限制措施標誌著一個時代的終結。

中國政府以「百年未有之大變局」為由，為國務院的新規辯護。這項說法引起了中國Junhe律師事務所律師Zhou Yong的共鳴。

Zhou先生說： “從法律角度來看，國際商業規則的重組是由大國競爭和技術進步帶來的。”

他補充說：“中國希望擁有一些屬於自己的工具。”

So, China is erecting walls to prevent money, technology and companies from leaving the country.  China has announced new rules requiring national security screening for Chinese companies seeking to invest overseas. The move follows regulations introduced in April and taken together, it seems that China is building an economic fortress around its technology and supply chains. Apparently, these restrictions signal the end of globalization.

隨著全球緊張局勢加劇，中國正在建構經濟堡壘（1/2）

Recently The New York Times reported the following:

China Builds an Economic Fortress as Global Tensions Rise (1/2)

Beijing says the changes are needed for national security, but they could complicate efforts by Chinese companies to find growth overseas.

The NYT - By Alexandra Stevenson and Murphy Zhao - Reporting from Hong Kong. Alexandra Stevenson is the Shanghai bureau chief for The Times, reporting on China’s economy and society.

Published June 5, 2026

Updated June 6, 2026

China is erecting walls to prevent money, technology and companies from leaving the country.

This week, the State Council, China’s cabinet, announced new rules requiring national security screening for Chinese companies seeking to invest overseas. The move follows regulations introduced in April that allowed the authorities to intervene when foreign companies tried to relocate supply chains out of China.

Taken together, the measures amount to a new blueprint for the economic fortress China is building around its technology and supply chains amid rising tensions with Europe and the United States.

The rules are another sign that the economic principles of open markets and free trade, which have governed much of the world for decades and helped fuel China’s extraordinary rise, are giving way to a more fragmented era.

From Washington to Brussels, the world’s largest economies are choosing trade barriers over greater economic integration, driven in part by heightened concerns over China’s global dominance in raw materials, manufactured goods and technology, and a surge in Chinese products around the world.

“We’ve moved away from a world where laws made it easier to allow the flow of capital, people, technology and trade to go around,” said Ben Kostrzewa, a partner and trade expert at Hogan Lovells in Hong Kong.

“The Chimerica economy envisioned 20 years ago turned out to be chimerical,” he said, referring to the once-popular portmanteau of China and America.

Beijing has already offered a preview of what this new era could look like. It blocked Meta’s $2 billion acquisition of Manus, an artificial intelligence company founded by Chinese engineers. It told Chinese refineries sanctioned by the United States not to comply. And it ordered a state-backed security equipment company not to cooperate with European Union investigators.

With each action, Beijing edges closer to a confrontation with the United States and Europe.

A Focus on National Security

Chinese policymakers have been building a growing arsenal of export controls, countermeasures and trade penalties in response to tariffs and other restrictions imposed by foreign governments.

The new State Council rules extend that effort to the overseas activities of Chinese companies and outline how Beijing could retaliate against foreign companies and individuals when Chinese investments are restricted.

The rules also give the authorities new powers to scrutinize Chinese companies seeking opportunities abroad, subjecting them to national security reviews that place investments into one of three categories: encouraged, restricted or prohibited.

Part of the motivation for this, lawyers say, is to keep money, talent and intellectual property in fields where China has a competitive edge from leaving the country.

Foreign businesses in China worry the measure could be interpreted broadly enough to include data from Chinese operations, which they must provide to international regulators as part of investigations or investment reviews.

China also clamped down on outbound investment a decade ago, targeting what it called “irrational” deals by corporate giants seeking trophy assets like the Waldorf Astoria. But those interventions were aimed at reducing financial risks at home and largely involved banking regulators scrutinizing company balance sheets.

The new framework is different. Its focus is national security, and the effort is far more coordinated.

(to be continued)

Translation

隨著全球緊張局勢加劇，中國正在建構經濟堡壘（1/2）

北京方面稱，這些變革是為了國家安全，但這可能會使中國企業在海外尋求成長的努力變得更加複雜

中國正在築起高牆，以阻止資金、技術和企業流出中國。

本週，中國國務院宣佈了新的規定，要求對尋求海外投資的中國企業進行國家安全審查。此前，中國於4月出台了相關規定，容許當局在外國公司試圖將供應鏈遷出中國時進行幹預。

總而言之，這些措施構成了中國圍繞其技術和供應鏈構建經濟堡壘的新藍圖，而此時中美關係正日益緊張。

這些規則再次表明，數十年來主導世界大部分地區並助力中國崛起的開放市場和自由貿易的經濟原則，正在讓位給一個更加碎片化的時代。

從華盛頓到布魯塞爾，世界主要經濟體都在選擇設置貿易壁壘，而非加強經濟整合。這在一定程度上是由於人們日益擔憂中國在全球原材料、製成品和技術領域的主導地位，以及中國產品在全球市場的激增。

香港Hogan Lovells律師事務所合夥人兼貿易專家Ben Kostrzewa表示:「我們已經告別了那個法律允許資本、人員、技術和貿易更自由流動的世界」。

「20年前人們所設想的Chimerica經濟 最終被證明是虛幻的」，他指的是曾經流行的中美兩國的合成字。

北京已經提前展現了這新時代的可能面貌。它阻止了Meta以20億美元收購由中國工程師創立的人工智慧公司Manus。它告知受美國制裁的中國煉油廠無需遵守制裁規定。它還命令一家國有保安設備公司不得與歐盟調查人員合作。

北京的每一項舉措都使其與美國和歐洲的對抗更進一步。

聚焦國家安全

為因應外國政府徵收的關稅和其他限制，中國決策者一直在建構日益完善的出口管制、反制措施和貿易懲罰機制。

國務院新規將這項努力擴展到中國企業的海外活動，並概述了當中國投資受到限制時，北京可以如何對外國公司和個人進行報復。

這些規定也賦予當局新的權力，可以審查尋求海外投資機會的中國企業，並對其進行國家安全審查，將投資分為鼓勵、限製或禁止三類。

律師表示，此舉的部分動機是為了防止中國在具有競爭優勢的領域中的資金、人才和知識財產權流出。

在華外資企業擔心，這項措施的解讀可能過於廣義，甚至涵蓋其在中國的業務數據。這些企業必須向國際監管機構提供數據，作為調查或投資審查的一部分。

十年前，中國也曾收緊對外投資，打擊其所謂的「非理性」交易，這些交易通常由企業巨頭尋求收購Waldorf Astoria酒店等標誌性資產。但當時的干預措施旨在降低國內金融風險，主要涉及銀行監理機構對公司資產負債表的審查。

新的框架則有所不同。它的重點是國家安全，而且協調性更強。

（待續）

從行山到火鍋，中國孤獨的消費者催生了價值74億美元的陪伴經濟

Recently Reuter reported the following:

From hiking to hotpot, lonely consumers in China fuel a $7.4 billion companionship economy 

Reuters - By Sophie Yu and Casey Hall

June 1, 20265:03 PM PDTUpdated 6 hours ago

BEIJING, June 2 (Reuters) - On the stone steps leading up Mount Tai, one of China’s best-known peaks, hikers can book and ‌pay for “climbing buddies” to walk with them, carry bags and take photos for a few hundred yuan.

The increasingly popular service is part of a broader “companionship economy” emerging in China, which includes paid partners for running, sightseeing and even eating out at hotpot restaurants – a meal traditionally shared with friends.

Providers, often students or ​young gig workers, advertise on social media with promises of “emotional value”, conversation and practical help, turning what was once an ​experience or favour among friends into a bookable – and payable – service.

While there is no official data about ⁠the size of the companion economy, estimates cited by state media said it was worth around 50 billion yuan ($7.4 billion) in 2025.

The ​trend reflects broader shifts in China’s urban lifestyles and service economy. Researchers and state media have described growing demand for “emotional consumption” as young ​people live and work farther from family networks, face longer working hours and have a harder time maintaining traditional social ties.

China's prolonged youth unemployment has coincided with - and contributed to - a growing reliance on gig and flexible work among young people, as graduates and job seekers turn to delivery, ride‑hailing and ​other online platform work in the absence of stable jobs. Official data shows China has more than 200 million so-called flexible workers.

PAYING ​FOR COMPANY

After leaving the army in 2022, Chen Wenxin founded a hiking-companion company, with a focus on the eastern province of Shandong.

“I have always been ‌a hiker ⁠and have a lot of hiking experience," Chen said. "I noticed rising demand in the hiking escort service, then decided to try my hand in the field.”

His team has expanded from fewer than 10 workers to about 370 now. He said the company charges 800 yuan ($116) for daytime climbs on Mount Tai, the highest point in Shandong.

Psychotherapist Sami Wong, managing director of research firm 3Drips Psychology, said the appeal ​of paid companions is partly about ​certainty and control in a ⁠social environment that can otherwise feel like a lot of effort and high-risk.

Meeting people requires emotional labour and investment, she said, and “the outcome is very uncertain,” which creates anxiety. Paid companionship can help ​customers avoid the sting of rejection.

“When you pay for this service you always get a 'yes',” Wong ​said.

Tang Junxing, 24, a ⁠junior at a university in the southern Chinese city of Guilin, said he earns pocket money as a travel companion. The side gig started when a university professor asked him to be her driver on a week-long road trip.

“That’s when I realised you can actually make money ⁠by accompanying ​people on trips and driving for them,” he said. Tang says he typically ​earns 3,000 to 5,000 yuan a month.

“Most of my clients are women and their core need is emotional value, someone who makes them feel good and makes the ​trip easy,” he said.

Translation

從行山到火鍋，中國孤獨的消費者催生了價值74億美元的陪伴經濟

北京，6月2日（路透社）—在通往中國著名山峰之一泰山的石階上，行山者可以預訂並付費僱用「登山夥伴」陪同他們登山、幫手提包、拍照，費用僅需幾百元人民幣。

這項日益流行的服務是中國正在興起的更廣泛的「陪伴經濟」的一部分，該經濟還包括付費結伴跑步、觀光，甚至一起去火鍋店吃飯 - 火鍋是傳統上與朋友一起享用的。

這些服務提供者通常是學生或年輕的兼職人員，他們在社群交體上做廣告，承諾提供「情感價值」、聊天和實際幫助，將曾經是朋友間的一次體驗或人情上幫忙變成了一種可以預訂並付費的服務。

雖然目前尚無關於陪伴經濟規模的官方數據，但根據官方媒體引述的估計，到2025年，其規模約為500億元人民幣（74億美元）。

這一趨勢反映了中國城市生活方式和服務業的更廣泛轉變。研究人員和官方媒體指出，隨著年輕人遠離有家庭聯繫和支持的生活和工作，面臨更長的工作時間和更難維繫傳統的社會關係，人們對「情感消費」的需求日益增加。

中國長期存在的青年失業問題，恰逢年輕人越來越依賴散工和彈性就業，加劇了這一趨勢。由於缺乏穩定的工作，畢業生和求職者紛紛轉向送外賣、叫車和其他線上平台工作。官方數據顯示，中國擁有超過2億所謂的彈性就業者。

付費陪伴

Chen Wenxin於2022年從軍隊退伍後，創辦了一家遠足陪伴公司，主要業務集中在山東省。

Chen先生說: 「我一直是個行山愛好者，也累積了豐富的遠足經驗」;「我注意到遠足陪同服務的需求不斷增長，於是決定在這方面嘗試一下」。

他的團隊已經從最初的不到10人發展到現在的約370人。他說，公司提供在山東最高峰泰山進行日間攀登的服務，收費800元人民幣（約116美元）。

心理治療師、研究公司3Drips Psychology的總經理Sami Wong女士表示，付費陪同服務的吸引力部分在於，它能提供確定性和可控性，而這種確定性和可控性在社交環境中往往讓人感到費力且高風險。

她說，結識新朋友需要付出情緒勞動和投入，“結果卻非常不確定”，這會讓人感到焦慮。付費陪同服務可以幫助顧客避免被拒絕的痛苦。

Wong 女士說: “當你付費享受這項服務時，你總能得到一個 ‘可以’” 。

24歲的Tang Junxing是桂林一所大學的大三學生，他說自己靠當旅行伴侶賺零用錢。這份兼職始於一位大學教授邀請他當她一週自駕遊的司機。

他說:「那時我才意識到，原來陪別人旅行、開車也能賺錢」。Tang表示，他通常每個月能賺到3000到5000元。

他說:「我的客戶大多是女性，她們最主要的需求是情感上的慰藉，希望有人能讓她們感到舒適，讓旅程輕鬆愉快」。

So, recently the so called “companionship economy” is emerging in China. China's prolonged youth unemployment has coincided with - and contributed to - a growing reliance on flexible work among young people. Official data shows China has more than 200 million so-called flexible workers. Apparently, this will relieve the unemployment situation among young people in China.