Our Scans · Wuhan · Weekly Summary

• The production record will not last long, as Lotus has started to deliver the first of its Eletre sports utility vehicles from a new factory in Wuhan, China, as part of a Geely plan to increase annual production to 150,000 by 2028. Business Matters
• A new intelligence assessment from the Energy Department pointing to a Wuhan, China, lab as the origin of covid-19 and a Biden administration warning to Beijing over potential arms sales to Russia have stoked ire in China. The Washington Post
• The laboratory leak theory will continue to garner support as long as the Chinese Government refuses to allow an independent investigation of the institutions conducting coronavirus research in Wuhan. The Lancet
• The sixth-generation Apollo Go self-driving vehicle, costing 60% less than its predecessor, will see its first batch deployed in Wuhan immediately, with a fleet of 1,000 units expected by the end of 2024. NextBigFuture.com
• More partnerships to control migration with non-EU countries are likely to be negotiated in the coming years, while measures to attract foreign talent will be debated to overcome labour shortages and an ageing society. DutchNews.nl
• Although retirement ages are rising in the United Kingdom and other countries, the average number of years people in England can expect to spend both healthy and work from age 50 (Healthy Working Life Expectancy; HWLE) is less than the number of years to the State Pension age. Nature
• Providing women with greater opportunities to start and expand their careers is vitally important, particularly with skills shortages in fields like AI and regions worldwide where ageing populations are shrinking the workforce. BizClik Media Ltd.
• A smaller percentage of Australians will be in work, more Australians will depend on health and care services, and there will be more opportunities in work for under-represented groups to offset the effects of an ageing workforce. ABC (Australia)
• The demographic shift towards an ageing working population could hamper China's economic growth and create social challenges - including building an adequate social welfare system, strengthening health care services, and sustaining long term employment. SpringerLink
• Must cater for long term population vulnerability from global falls in birth rates and ageing populations, which with work and experience changes are creating long-term shifts towards lifelong learning. Campus Review
• The impact of labour shortages is already widely felt across all industries and will continue into 2023 as the effect of ageing populations and a reluctance to take up low paid and unfulfilling employment increase. News
• Whilst the world of work and the nature of employment will look different in 2035, the need for the essential employment skills humans bring to the workplace will continue to be highly prevalent in a world increasingly dominated by technology but also by the needs of an ageing population. Nfer
• The UN Decade of Healthy Ageing is an opportunity to work together to improve the lives of older people, their families, and the communities in which they live. www.decadeofhealthyageing.org
• Whether people in England can work for longer may depend on interventions to improve population health and access to suitable employment, particularly since earlier onset of multiple health conditions is expected in future cohorts of older people. Nature
• As well as mortality rates, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted on both health and employment levels and the impact on HWLE will become clearer as health and employment rates stabilize in the coming years. Nature
• Added to the increase in life expectancy brought about by the Chinese economic transformation of the last four decades, falling birthrates imply that the number of people of working age will continue to decline relative to the number of people too old to work. Ice Trend
• The number of people with disabilities is expected to increase over the coming decades, due to population aging, longer life expectancy, and an increasing number of injuries resulting from natural disasters, among other factors. unoosa.org
• Improving quality of life in the last 5 years of life will enable older people to do what they have reason to value, for example, work, caring or volunteering, as recommended by the World Health Organization in its UN UN Decade of Healthy Ageing strategy. GOV.UK
• Tying future increases in pensionable ages to life expectancy, as some countries are already doing, raises the aggregate employment rate of older people in the OECD by more than 5 percentage points by 2060. OECD
• Greater investment in new technology by UK employers will be needed to compensate for the UK's ageing working population and prevent skills and labour shortages. Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
• Increasing the number of women in work and the quality of the roles available to them will help Japan to cope with the labour shortfalls that its ageing population will ultimately bring about. Global risk insights
• Rapid ageing will be one of the most crucial megatrends affecting Malaysia in the coming decades, raising policy challenges in areas such as employment, income security, health care, and aged care. Free Malaysia Today
• With rapidly changing technology, the speed at which businesses must operate to be competitive in a global economy and with human life expectancy rising steadily, it's clear that lifelong learning will become essential for humans to remain relevant in the workplace. Forbes

Last updated: 26 June 2025