1. China has provided vaccine assistance to 53 developing countries and has exported and is exporting vaccines to 22 countries. After the first delivery of COVID-19 vaccine to Pakistan, COVID-19 vaccine assisted by China to Cambodia and Laos has arrived in the two countries. China will also deliver more vaccines to other countries one after another. 

2. Japan’s Ministry of Health and Labor: in 2020, the number of births in Japan fell 2.9% from the same period last year to 872700, a record low for five consecutive years; the number of deaths was 1.3845 million, down 0.7% from a year earlier for the first time in 11 years. 

3. After the Spring Festival holiday, local food prices in South Korea ushered in a new round of all-round rise. The price of vegetables has increased greatly, of which the price of green onion has doubled from the same period last year, the price of tomatoes and onions has increased by more than 80%, and the price of rice has also risen by nearly 20% compared with the same period last year. The South Korean government said that it will release an additional 60,000 tons of rice reserves to the market in the near future, and actively support domestic vegetable farmers to increase vegetable production; at the same time, depending on the rise in grain prices, reduce import tariffs on some crops; through flexible response plans to maximize price stability.

4. The Economist Intelligence Unit has released its latest forecast for ranking the world’s major economies. Compared with 2019, the ranking of the world’s top four economies remained unchanged in 2021, followed by the United States, China, Japan and Germany; fifth and sixth, India and the United Kingdom reversed the rankings; in addition, Brazil fell out of the top 10. South Korea is again in the top 10 and ninth. 

5. New York City has determined the exact time for cinemas to restart for the first time since the outbreak of coronal pneumonia. All cinemas will reopen on March 5 at the earliest. To prevent the epidemic, all cinemas in New York City, like other already open cinema areas in New York State, will only allow 25% attendance, and no more than 50 people will be allowed in each large screening hall of the cinema. 

6.The outbreak of bird flu in Europe has led to a rise in egg prices in many European countries. Poland, the EU’s largest poultry producer and sixth-largest egg producer, has culled about 5 million poultry, including a large number of laying hens. Wholesale egg prices in Poland rose by 18% to 20% at the end of January. In addition, egg prices in France, Germany and other EU member states have also risen to varying degrees.

7. [US Securities Regulatory Commission] starting from February 25, 2021, the US Securities Regulatory Commission fee (charged for selling orders only) will be reduced from 0.00221% to 0.00051%.

8. The latest forecast of the Economist Intelligence Unit’s ranking of the world’s major economies has changed significantly under the influence of multiple factors such as the COVID-19 epidemic. Compared with 2019, the ranking of the world’s top four economies remained unchanged in 2021, followed by the United States, China, Japan and Germany, while India fell out of the top five and was overtaken by the UK. According to current trends, India’s economy will once again surpass that of the UK, at least until 2026. India is the major economy hardest hit by the epidemic, and up to 200 million people are likely to fall back into poverty.

9.Japan Institute of Real Estate Economics: in 2020, the average selling price of newly built apartments in Japan rose 3.8% year on year to 49.71 million yen, reaching an all-time high for four consecutive years. Affected by the epidemic, Japanese real estate companies stopped sales during the state of emergency, so the number of new apartment sales in Japan fell 15.2% year-on-year to 59900 units in 2020, the lowest since 1976. Despite falling sales, years of rising land prices and rising labor costs have supported high house prices.