The recently signed security agreement between the Solomon Islands and the People’s Republic of China (PRC), along with the support of Chinese police to the Solomon Islands government to suppress social unrest in November 2021, highlight the increasing international deployment of PRC law enforcement (China Daily, April 2). This deployment follows several decades of expanding PRC international law enforcement activity, which is intended for extraterritorial enforcement action, seeking th ...

China’s beauty industry has undergone years of rapid growth and even managed to rebound strongly from the pandemic. It’s now the second largest beauty market in the world – after the US – and the fastest growing. Younger and savvier Chinese consumers are pushing beauty brands to innovate and show a willingness to embrace domestic brands over foreign competitors. C-beauty has attracted increasing buzz over social media – but what is it, and what do marketers need  ...

Asia is the world’s fastest-growing market for robotics solutions, and for good reason. As the region’s quickly-growing countries industrialize and begin making more goods than ever, robots help them do so at a comparatively lower cost than doing so with human capital. The region has long been seen as an innovator in the consumer robots space as well. China is now arguably the global leader in the industrial robotics space, while Japan has long been the perennial home of consumer- ...

Simply a list of the best China related podcast's currently running: topics include: tech, internal politics, engagements with other Asian neighbors, foreign policy in general, the Belt and Road Initiative, culture, economics, current trending affairs on social media, society, history and food:     ChinaTalk A weekly conversation exploring China's economy and tech scene. Guests include a wide range of policy analysts, business professionals, journa ...

The COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated development of China’s logistics industry, which was already moving at breakneck speed. For decades, the country has been a crucial node in the supply chain of companies around the globe. And while many customers in other countries only awakened to the convenience of online shopping and delivery during the pandemic, millions of drivers have long been zipping through Chinese cities to deliver parcels of all sizes.   How has the Chin ...

The yuan, or renminbi, China’s currency unit, has been touted as a contender to become a key world reserve currency on par with the greenback and surpassing the euro, yen and British pound. But is this feasible?   Given that China is the biggest trading nation, with around 125 countries counting it as their biggest trade partner, the answer is probably yes.     China’s trade was valued at around US$6 trillion in 2021, according to the countr ...

The Fifth Session of the 13th National People’s Congress and the Fifth Session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (the “Two Sessions”) were held in Beijing as scheduled. From the “Government Work Report” to the proposals of representatives from all walks of life, the semiconductor industry is one of the most important technology topics.     To keep you updated on the key developmen ...

Shares in Alibaba  (NYSE:BABA), NIO (NYSE:NIO), and XPeng (NYSE:XPENG) were surging yesterday. The jump at the market open was the largest that shares in these Chinese companies have seen since 2008. The catalyst for the move is an announcement from the Chinese government that it intends to do four things:    Support overseas stock listings Stabilise capital markets Resolve risks around property developers Speed up the process of reg ...

Almost exactly a year after China’s property-market debt squeeze sparked the first in a wave of defaults by developers, the industry is fighting for survival. Home sales continue to plunge and elevated borrowing costs mean offshore refinancing is off the table for many developers. Global agencies are pulling their ratings on property bonds, while a string of auditor resignations is adding to doubts over financial transparency only weeks before earnings season. An 81% stock plunge in Zhe ...

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is visiting China this week to attend the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics and meet with Chinese leaders.   A spokesman for Pakistan's Foreign Ministry told media last Friday that Khan's visit would reinforce the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries, in addition to advancing the objective of building a closer China-Pakistan bond with a shared future. Khan's trip is his first in nea ...

China has taken two steps closer to a fully cashless economy after two small private Chinese banks announced last month that they would end services related to bank notes and coins, according to a South China Morning Post report Friday (Feb. 4). Beijing-based Zhongguancun Bank will end cash services, including over-the-counter deposits and withdrawals and cash services on ATM machines, in April, while NewUp Bank of Liaoning will end its cash services in March, the report says.    ...

Exports will continue to drive China’s economy for the rest of the year as the domestic market remains sluggish, according to analysts.   Chinese leaders have indicated for many years that they want to move away from exports as the main source of growth and toward domestic consumption for sustainable economic growth, said Mattie Bekink, China director at the Economist Intelligence Corporate Network.    “But that’s certainly not what’s hap ...

Any review of China’s chemical industry in 2021 is dominated by the two big issues the industry had to wrestle with: climate neutrality and Corona. These are the same issues that will dominate the year 2022. The industry as a whole in the People’s Republic is facing enormous challenges and changes — while at the same time there are great growth opportunities for certain sectors. However, the ongoing global epidemic, including in China, continues to create uncertainty. &n ...

Under the Joe Biden administration, a new American grand strategy is coming into view. It is focused on the emergence of China as a peer competitor and organized for long-term strategic rivalry with Beijing to shape the rules, institutions, alliances, alignments and values that undergird world order in the 21st century. For three decades, the United States has watched the rise of China and debated its implications for American interests and the future of the US-led international order. Will C ...

Over the course of the last thirty years, China and Russia have demonstrated that their partnership is resilient and expanding. Any pragmatic leadership in the Kremlin—even a democratic one that seeks to improve ties with the West—will try to maintain stable and friendly relations with China, just as any pragmatic Chinese leadership will do with Russia.       “While not being a military and political alliance, such as those formed during t ...

The 2020-2022 Chinese property sector crisis is an current financial crisis sparked by the financial difficulties of Evergrande Group and other Chinese property developers, in the wake of new Chinese regulations on these companies' debt limits. Following widespread online sharing of a letter in August 2021, in which Evergrande supposedly warned the Guangdong government that it was at risk of experiencing a cash crunch, shares in the company plunged, impacting global markets and leading to ...

Makers of Irish whiskey, Belgian chocolate and European coffee brands are scrambling to comply with new Chinese food and beverage regulations, with many fearful their goods will be unable to enter the giant market as a Jan 1 deadline looms. On 12 April 2021, the General Administration of Customs of China (“GACC”) issued Order No. 248, which sets out new requirements for the registration of qualified foreign food producers that are allowed to export food products to China, effectiv ...

China aims to install more than 30 gigawatts (GW) of new energy storage capacity by 2025, and 100 GW finished by 2030 as part of efforts to boost renewable power consumption, with energy storage and electrochemical storage remaining critical for China’s energy transition and ensuring a stable electric grid system.   New energy storage refers to electricity storage processes that use electrochemical, compressed air, flywheel and super capacitor systems but not pumped hydro,  ...