This Nuclear Power Deal With China Is One of the Maddest Ever Struck

Polly Toynbee
Guardian
The grand kowtow continues its humiliating progress today, but beggars can’t be choosers.

Britain 'Sucking up' to China Is a National Humiliation, Says PM's Former Adviser

Patrick Wintour
Guardian
Steve Hilton denounces lavish treatment of President Xi Jinping, saying UK should consider sanctions on China ‘not rolling out red carpet’.

The Real Story Behind China’s Alleged Conquest of African Farmland

Deborah Brautigam
Quartz
“A common perception is that China is supporting Chinese enterprises to acquire land abroad as part of a national food security strategy.”

Prince William to Give Ivory Trade Speech as China's President Xi Arrives

BBC
The Duke of Cambridge is to deliver a speech on the illegal ivory trade for broadcast on Chinese state TV.

A Remote Corner of China Wants Access to the Sea. The Obstacle Is North Korea.

Anna Fifield
Washington Post
You can almost smell the sea air from here, at the point where China, Russia and North Korea meet.

China to Build $5 Billion High-Speed Rail Line in Indonesia

Rieka Rahadiana
Bloomberg
China Railway International Co. Ltd and a consortium of Indonesian state companies will build the rail line from Jakarta to Bandung.

Vietnam Accuses Chinese Vessel of Sinking Fishing Boat

Associated Press
Vietnam said that a Chinese vessel rammed into and sank one of its fishing boats near disputed islands in the South China Sea.

Chinese Admiral Visits Iran, Wants Closer Defense Cooperation

Ben Blanchard
Reuters
China wants to deepen military ties with Iran.

Xi’s Visit to Kick Off a Golden Age of China-UK Relations

Shi Zhiqin and Lai Suetyi
Diplomat
A state visit next week is expected to spark a new era in bilateral ties.

Why China Doesn’t Mind Being Left Out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership

Allison Jackson
Global Post
In case you hadn’t heard, the Trans-Pacific Partnership is a really big deal— unless you're China.

China and Europe May Team Up to Snub TPP

Nyshka Chandran
CNBC
The world's largest trade deal in recent decades may wind up creating high school-esque cliques on the international stage.

Books

10.07.15

Unmade in China

Jeremy R. Haft
If you look carefully at how things are actually made in China—from shirts to toys, apple juice to oil rigs—you see a reality that contradicts every widely-held notion about the world’s so-called economic powerhouse. From the inside looking out, China is not a manufacturing juggernaut. It’s a Lilliputian. Nor is it a killer of American jobs. It’s a huge job creator. Rising China is importing goods from America in such volume that millions of U.S. jobs are sustained through Chinese trade and investment. In Unmade in China, entrepreneur and Georgetown University business professor Jeremy R. Haft lifts the lid on the hidden world of China’s intricate supply chains. Informed by years of experience building new companies in China, Haft’s unique, insider’s view reveals a startling picture of an economy which struggles to make baby formula safely, much less a nuclear power plant. Using firm-level data and recent case studies, Unmade in China tells the story of systemic risk in Chinese manufacturing and why this is both really bad and really good news for America. —Polity Press{chop}

U.S. Allies See Trans-Pacific Partnership as a Check on China

Jane Perlez
New York Times
The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal was welcomed as a win for the United States in its contest with China for clout in Asia.

Japan's Abe Says TPP Would Have Strategic Significance If China Joined

Linda Sieg and Kaori Kaneko
Reuters
"It would contribute largely to our nation's security and Asia-Pacific regional stability, if China joined the system in the future."

Trans-Pacific Trade Deal a Setback for China

Mark Magnier and Mitsuru Obe
Wall Street Journal
TPP marks a victory for Japan and other U.S. allies in the battle with China over shaping the future of global commerce.

Children of the Yuan Percent: Everyone Hates China’s Rich Kids

Christopher Beam
Bloomberg
The fuerdai, China’s second-generation rich kids, are the most loathed group in the country.

Jack Ma to US: Quit Worrying So Much About China

Everett Rosenfeld
CNBC
"You American people worry too much about the China economy," Ma said at the annual Clinton Global Initiative meeting.

Asia's Richest Man Li Voices Support For China's Leadership

Farah Master
Reuters
Li said he resolutely supported China's path to reform and opening up.

Osborne Praised for 'Not Stressing Human Rights' in China

BBC
The Global Times praised Mr Osborne's "pragmatism regarding his China policy".

What Is China’s 'New Normal'?

Robert Peston
BBC
What a difference two years make, in China.

Missing From The U.S.-China Tech Summit Class Photo: Uber, Google, And Women

Josh Horwitz
Quartz
Business leaders from some of the biggest global names in technology gathered in Seattle for a meeting with Xi Jinping.

China's Xi Promises Better Investment Climate, Cyber War Deal Seen

MICHAEL MARTINA, ERIC M. JOHNSON AND...
Reuters
Seeking to warm bilateral ties and project a sunny climate for U.S. business, Xi Jinping vowed to cut restrictions on foreign investment.

Boeing to Sell 300 Jets to China Firms, Set Up China Plant: Xinhua

FANG YAN AND MATTHEW MILLER
Reuters
Boeing Co is becoming the first U.S. firm to clinch a business tie-up in the country since Chinese president Xi Jinping began a U.S. state visit.

Boeing to Sell 300 Jets to China Firms, Set Up China Plant: Xinhua

FANG YAN AND MATTHEW MILLER
Reuters
Boeing Co is becoming the first U.S. firm to clinch a business tie-up in the country since Chinese president Xi Jinping began a U.S. state visit.

Let’s Face It, China Runs U.S. Monetary Policy Now

Rana Foroohar
Time
What’s happening in China right now has limited the ability of the Federal Reserve Bank to do what’s right for the American economy.

Nuclear Technology - China's Next Great Export?

Carrie Gracie
BBC
China will be part of building the next generation of UK nuclear power stations.

Working for A Chinese Boss Is Great, Ordinary Americans Explain in This Slick New Pro-China Video

Zheping Huang
Quartz
The video is called “When China met Carolina”.

China Says Investigating U.S. Woman Suspected of Spying

Megha Rajagopalan
Reuters
An American woman suspected of spying is being investigated.

Warner Bros. Strikes Deal to Make Chinese-Language Films

Jackie Wattles
CNN
China's movie market is thriving.

China Tries to Extract Pledge of Compliance From U.S. Tech Firms

PAUL MOZUR
New York Times
Beijing has summoned American tech companies to a forum in Seattle next week.

China's Xi Says Economy Resilient, Has Huge Potential: State Radio

Judy Hua and Jake Spring
Reuters
China's economy is resilient and has the capacity to maintain a long-term medium-to-high growth rate.

Obama and China: Trying to Play Well With A Close Frenemy

David Nakamura
Washington Post
Obama plans to welcome Xi with the highest level of diplomatic pageantry for a foreign leader.

Caixin Media

09.15.15

Stock Market Volatility Is Not a Harbinger of Collapsing Growth

It would be a sad end to an amazing story. An economic miracle—one that lifted 300 million people from poverty and shifted the world's economic center of gravity—collapsing under the weight of risky investments and a financial crisis.This seems...

Sinica Podcast

07.27.15

Beijing’s Great Leap Forward: Microbrew in China

Kaiser Kuo & Carl Setzer from Sinica Podcast
Great Leap Brewing is an institution. As one of the earliest American-style microbreweries in China, not only has the company rescued us from endless nights of Snow and Yanjing, but it has also given us something uniquely Chinese with its assortment...

Airbus Wins $18 Billion China Deal, Plans Jet-Completion Site

Andrea Rothman and Helene Fouquet
Bloomberg
Airbus Group SE wins an order from China for 75 A330 jets worth $18 billion as it finalizes an agreement to open a facility for fitting out and painting the plane.

Caixin Media

05.19.15

Why Xinjiang’s Economy Is Sputtering

It has been almost one year since a terrorist bombing in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang region, shocked the nation and brought economic woes and social conflicts in the largely Uighur-populated area into the spotlight again.I arrived by train...

Excerpts

02.25.15

The Sun Kings

Mark L. Clifford
In 1992, Shi Zhengrong completed his doctorate and found himself an expert in a field that wasn’t quite ready for him. He’d studied physics at Australia’s University of New South Wales, focusing on crystalline technology, the basic scientific...

Is Chinese Corporate Behavior Improving in Africa?

Eric Olander, Cobus van Staden & more
The list of grievances against Chinese companies operating in Africa is long and varied, from violations of labor rights to environmental destruction to widespread allegations of corruption. Although it is hard to tell how many companies are truly...

Sinica Podcast

02.16.15

Business and F*cking in China

Kaiser Kuo, Jeremy Goldkorn & more from Sinica Podcast
This week's show starts with us grilling James on "what you have to do to be part of Chinese business culture" and descends from there into stories of the sort of booze-and-ketamine-fuelled business deal-making that seems to consist...

Reports

02.11.15

It’s Time to Peak

Ecofys
World Wildlife
Without additional efforts, global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will continue to increase by 3.7 – 4.8 °C, a level well beyond the 2 °C temperature rise limit widely agreed among scientists and governments across the world as a limit above which...

Postcard

02.04.15

The Bro Code

James Palmer
Turning down an after-dinner invite to a brothel is always a social minefield. But the city’s Party Secretary, a 50-something man with baby-soft hands, had been gently fondling my thigh underneath the banquet table for the past 45 minutes, making me...

Food Detectives on a Tough Case

Peter Andrey Smith
New York Times
Behind the immaculate gray walls of the Customs and Border Protection’s laboratory here stands a cabinet containing three plastic vials filled with a sticky, yellowish substance. Honey, or so an importer has claimed.

Alibaba Is Planning a Big Move to Win U.S. Business

Edwin Chan, Paul Carsten and John...
Business Insider
Anchored by Alipay, the dominant Chinese electronic payments system that works closely with Alibaba and is controlled by its executives, the world's largest Internet retailer is using the calling card of China's consumers to attract U.S...

From ‘Made in China’ to ‘Made in Africa’

Eric Olander & Cobus van Staden
A growing number of Chinese companies are looking to outsource production overseas in a bid to lower costs and meet Beijing’s increasingly stringent environmental laws. Ethiopia and South Africa are among the beneficiaries of this new trend as...

Environment

01.09.15

China’s Polluters Hit with Biggest-Ever Fines

from chinadialogue
Two days before a new environmental law came into effect, six polluting companies in Jiangsu were ordered by the province’s highest court to pay 160 million yuan ($26 million) in restoration costs for illegally dumping almost 25,000 tons of chemical...

Media

01.08.15

What Will Happen to Uber in China?

Ride-sharing app Uber has expanded around the world at a blistering pace, launching in a new city every one or two days. At first glance, China would appear the ideal fit for the Silicon Valley startup. Most urban residents in the world’s second-...

China to Boost Support for NGOs That Sue Environment Polluters

Feifei Shen
Bloomberg
The nation will work to reduce court charges for NGOs in public non-profit environmental litigation, according to a statement on the website of China’s Supreme People’s Court. Defendants will be required to pay court costs when plaintiffs win...

Beijing’s Art Scene Raises Its Profile

Vanessa Able
New York Times
On a recent Sunday afternoon in the sunken terrace of Beijing’s sleek Opposite House Hotel, an art event was in full swing. The wine was chilling, the dumplings steaming and a few dozen locals and foreigners were looking on with curiosity as the...

In China, a Rapid Jump to Mobile Advertising

Alexandra Stevenson
New York Times
Liu Xuelong, a television and documentary producer in Beijing, hasn’t used his television in years. He gets all of his entertainment on his iPhone 6 Plus, where he also taps a plethora of apps to buy plane tickets, pay bills, talk with clients.

China Said to Probe U.S. Claims of North Korea Role in Sony Hack

Keith Zhai and Ting Shi
Bloomberg
The dispute between the U.S. and North Korea is escalating after hackers forced Sony to pull a comedy movie about the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, exposed Hollywood secrets, and destroyed company data.

Israeli Tech Startups Attract Chinese Investors

Orr Hirschauge
Wall Street Journal
As China scours the world for tech investments, it is increasingly flocking to Israel for the next big thing.

Diversity the New Game for Macau as Gambling Revenues Tumble

Tiffany Ap
South China Morning Post
When inaugural chief executive Edmund Ho Hau-wah threw the liberalisation dice that took Macau's flagging gaming industry into the 21st century in 2002, few could have predicted its stellar rise to become the top city for global gaming, leaving...

China Shocked by Fatal Riot in Madagascar

Didi Tang
Huffington Post
"We hope the Madagascar government will take necessary measures to properly handle the attack at the Morondava sugar plant and to erase the ill impact this incident has brought to the country's international image and its ability to...

China’s Baidu Set to Partner with Uber and Reportedly Invest up to $600M

Jon Russell and Catherine Shu
TechCrunch
If Baidu does put money into Uber, it will be a significant expansion of its international portfolio of products and investments. Baidu has focused on emerging markets, including Southeast Asia, Egypt and Brazil, where it recently acquired e-...

Patent Fiction

The Economist
Economist
“What has long been predicted has now become a reality: China is leading the world in innovation.” So declares a press release promoting a new report by Thomson Reuters, a research firm, called “China’s IQ (Innovation Quotient).”

China Flexes Its High-speed Rail Muscles by Rolling out 32 New Routes in One Day

Lily Kuo
Quartz
China has lofty expectations of becoming a global leader in high-speed rail technology, with projects in over a dozen countries, as well as plans to more than double its own domestic network of high-speed rail, which is already the world’s largest.

Warm West Coast Reception for China’s Web Czar (Chillier in Washington)

Paul Mozur
New York Times
Mr. Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Facebook, pointed to the book, “Xi Jinping: The Governance of China” last week while giving a tour of the company’s office to Lu Wei, the de facto head of Internet policy in China.

Chinese Online Giants Eating Into U.S. Dominance of Digital Media

Clifford Coonan
Hollywood Reporter
China now accounts for two of the six companies with the highest online media revenues and four of the 10 fastest-growing, according to a report from the global research and advisory company Strategy Analytics.

Why Beijing’s Troubles Could Get a Lot Worse

Anne Stevenson-Yang
Barron’s
Anne Stevenson-Yang: China, for all its talk about economic reform, is in big trouble. The old model of relying on export growth and heavy investment to power the economy isn’t working anymore.

Environment

12.05.14

The Great Lake in Danger

Wilfredo Miranda Aburto & Carlos Herrera from Confidencial
Southwest of the Maderas volcano, where the Rivas coast is a line fading into the distance, Lake Cocibolca’s inmensity is on prominent display: breezes softly comb stretches of water that are seemingly endless. Sonar has marked this as the deepest...