Great Leap Forward

• For several centuries, the Asian nation has been the most populous country in the world.
• Yet attempts to reverse the trend through policy that encourages couples to have more children have proved ineffective.
• In short, China needs immigrants.

More babies or more immigrants?

• In 2022, the Chinese government reported 10.41 million deaths in the country and 9.56 million births.
• If present trends continue, China is expected to lose more than a third of its 1.4 billion population.
• Some projections have the country dropping to a population of 800 million by the year 2100.
• In 2015, the government abandoned the one-child policy, permitting all couples in China to have two children.
• Chinese couples are having fewer children due to the higher living costs and educational expenses involved in having more than one child.

Entering the ‘low fertility trap’

• The total fertility rate in China might go up over the next decade by 0.1 or 0.2 at best, in my opinion.
• And then there is what demographers refer to as the “low fertility trap.” This hypothesis, advanced by demographers in the early 2000s, holds that once a country’s fertility rate drops below 1.5 or 1.4 – and China’s is now at 1.2 – it is very difficult to increase it by a significant amount.
• The argument goes that fertility declines to these low levels are largely the result of changes in living standards and increasing opportunities for women.
• As a result, it is most unlikely that the three-child policy will have any influence at all on raising the fertility rate.
• In 2017, for example, an estimated 10 million people moved from China to live and work in other countries.

Overcoming racial purity

• Also, foreigners are only allowed to purchase one piece of property in China, and it must be their residence.
• In a recent story in The Economist, the reporter notes that Chinese “officials boast of a single Chinese bloodline dating back thousands of years.” And that taps into a seemingly deep-rooted belief in racial purity held by many leaders in the Chinese Communist Party.
• We call ourselves the descendants of the dragon.” The best way to maintain this racial purity, many in China believe, is to limit or prohibit migration into China.
• Immigrants are typically of prime working age and very productive; they also tend to have more babies than native-born residents.

• CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Leap Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:LPTX), a biotechnology company focused on developing targeted and immuno-oncology therapeutics, today reported financial results for the first quarter endedMarch 31, 2022.
• Net Loss was$10.4 millionfor the first quarter 2022, compared to$9.1 millionfor the same period in 2021.
• Research and development expenses were $7.8 millionfor the first quarter 2022, compared to$6.8 millionfor the same period in 2021.
• General and administrative expenses were$2.8 millionfor the first quarter 2022, compared to$2.7 millionfor the same period in 2021.

• CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Leap Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: LPTX), a biotechnology company focused on developing targeted and immuno-oncology therapeutics, today announced that Douglas E. Onsi, President and Chief Executive Officer will present a corporate overview at Raymond James Institutional Investors Conference, being held in Orlando on March 6-9, 2022.
• Leap Therapeutics(Nasdaq: LPTX) is focused on developing targeted and immuno-oncology therapeutics.
• Leap has entered into a strategic partnership with BeiGene, Ltd. for the rights to develop DKN-01 inAsia(excludingJapan),Australia, and New Zealand.
• For more information aboutLeap Therapeutics, visit http://www.leaptx.com or view our public filings with theSECthat are available via EDGAR at http://www.sec.gov or via https://investors.leaptx.com/ .