Conversation
11.30.17
The Beijing Migrants Crackdown
After a fire in a Beijing apartment building catering to migrant workers killed at least 19 people on November 18, the city government launched a 40-day campaign to demolish the capital’s “unsafe” buildings. Many Beijing residents view the campaign...
ChinaFile Recommends
11.30.17U.S. Seeks to Deny China Market Economy Status in WTO
Financial Times
The Trump administration has opposed China’s bid for recognition as a “market economy” in the World Trade Organization, citing decades of legal precedent and what it sees as signs the country is moving in the opposite direction under Xi Jinping.
ChinaFile Recommends
11.30.17Chinese Manufacturing Expanded More Than Expected in November
CNBC
China reported on Thursday that factory activity expanded at a quicker pace in November, with the official manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index coming in at 51.8 — topping expectations.
ChinaFile Recommends
11.29.17Trump Starts Probe into Aluminum That China Calls Protectionist
Bloomberg
The Trump administration, invoking powers the U.S. hasn’t used in more than a quarter century, began a probe into Chinese aluminum imports that could lead to tariffs.
ChinaFile Recommends
11.29.17China Fintech Lending Boom Fuels Risks of Data Theft Black Market in User Details Thrives as Apps Require Borrowers to Grant Access to Phones
Financial Times
The rise of online consumer loans in China has spawned a thriving black market in stolen user data.
ChinaFile Recommends
11.28.17US Charges 3 Chinese Nationals with Hacking, Stealing Intellectual Property from Companies
CNN
The charges being brought in Pittsburgh allege that the hackers stole intellectual property from several companies, including Trimble, a maker of navigation systems; Siemens, a German technology company with major operations in the US; and Moody’s...
ChinaFile Recommends
11.28.17For China’s High-Flying Tycoons, a Precarious Balance
NPR
Flush with credit, LeEco expanded aggressively overseas. But the company overextended itself, its credit began to dry up — and by May, it had to lay off most of its workers in the U.S.
Conversation
11.27.17
What Does Mugabe’s Resignation Mean for China?
On November 15, soldiers placed the 93-year-old Robert Mugabe under house arrest. Mugabe had ruled Zimbabwe since the country gained independence in 1980. On November 21, he resigned after 37 years in power. China, Zimbabwe’s largest foreign...
ChinaFile Recommends
11.27.17Chinese Premier Backs More Investments in Eastern Europe
ABC
At a summit of 16 countries in the Hungarian capital, Premier Li Keqiang said efforts such as China’s “new Silk Road” initiative to expand trade across Asia, Africa and Europe, should be a boon to the countries that were formally part of the...
ChinaFile Recommends
11.27.17Chinese Premier Backs More Investments in Eastern Europe
At a summit of 16 countries in the Hungarian capital, Premier Li Keqiang said efforts such as China’s “new Silk Road” initiative to expand trade across Asia, Africa and Europe, should be a boon to the countries that were formally part of the...
ChinaFile Recommends
11.27.17Early China Indicators Signal That Economy Cooled This Month
Bloomberg
Confidence among China’s sales managers and steel producers waned in November, matching the mood among international investors, while sentiment among small businesses improved, according to the earliest available indicators.
ChinaFile Recommends
11.27.17Business Is Booming Between China, Japan and South Korea — the US Should Get in on It
CNBC
China, Japan and South Korea account for a quarter of the world’s output of goods and services. Their combined trade surplus is currently running at an annual rate of $400 billion. They can recycle that trade income to finance, with interest, most...
The China Africa Project
11.21.17
A New Generation Looks at the China-Africa Relationship
Independent filmmakers Jidi Guo and Philip Man join Eric and Cobus to discuss their new documentary about how a new generation is responding to China’s growing influence in Kenya. This is the first documentary produced by the Shanghai-based pair,...
ChinaFile Recommends
11.21.17Skype Vanishes from App Stores in China, Including Apple’s
New York Times
For almost a month, Skype, the internet phone call and messaging service, has been unavailable on a number of sites where apps are downloaded in China, including Apple’s app store in the country.
ChinaFile Recommends
11.21.17China to Fend off Bubble Risk with Tighter Property Rules
CNBC
The authorities said they would stop funds being illegally funneled into property and that capital flow would be more forcibly balanced between real estate and other industries.
ChinaFile Recommends
11.21.17Chinese Social Media Giant Is Worth More Than Facebook
CNN
Tencent shares closed more than 2% higher in Hong Kong on Tuesday, valuing the social media and gaming giant at around $522 billion, according to FactSet. Facebook is currently worth a little over $519 billion.
ChinaFile Recommends
11.21.17China's Revealing Spin on the ‘Sharing Economy’
New York Times
China is the first country to frame “sharing economy” as a “national priority.” It fits with the image that Beijing wants to project: warm, generous, egalitarian.
ChinaFile Recommends
11.20.17Rosneft Deal Boosts Russia-China Relationship
Financial Times
Russia’s state-run oil group Rosneft has agreed to supply its new partner CEFC China Energy with almost 61m tonnes of oil over the next five years, strengthening the most high-profile corporate link in the burgeoning relationship between Moscow and...
ChinaFile Recommends
11.20.17China on pace for Record Solar-Power Installations
Bloomberg
China, the world’s biggest carbon emitter, is poised to install a record amount of solar-power capacity this year, prompting researchers to boost forecasts as much as 80 percent.
ChinaFile Recommends
11.17.17China's Soccer Push Puts a Storied Team under Murky Ownership
New York Times
When the Chinese businessman Li Yonghong bought A.C. Milan, the world-famous Italian soccer club, virtually nobody in Italy had heard of him.
ChinaFile Recommends
11.16.17Chinese Investors Are Stealthily Pouring Money into India
CNBC
If you go by official Indian government figures, Chinese direct investments into the country this century hit a paltry $1.6 billion in March 2017.
ChinaFile Recommends
11.14.17Amazon to Sell Part of Its Cloud Business in China
Wall Street Journal
Amazon.com Inc. said it would sell computing equipment used for its cloud services in China to its local partner, Beijing Sinnet Technology Co., in a move analysts said underscores the increasingly chilly atmosphere for foreign companies here.
The China Africa Project
11.10.17
Chinese Investment is Reshaping Africa’s Manufacturing Sector
Author Irene Yuan Sun argues in her new book that Africa is poised to become the world’s next manufacturing hub, boosted by Chinese investment and production expertise. With costs steadily rising in the People’s Republic of China, more and more...
Viewpoint
11.10.17
Bathed in the Xi Jinping Bromance
Sitting in a grand salon of the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square and awaiting the official arrival ceremony of President Trump was to be taken back to that period of Sino-Soviet amity when Stalin was Mao’s “big brother” and the Chinese...
ChinaFile Recommends
11.10.17Apec Summit: Trump and Xi Offer Competing Visions for Trade
BBC
US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping have set out starkly different visions for the future of global trade in speeches at a summit in Vietnam.
ChinaFile Recommends
11.10.17These Are the 37 Major Deals US Firms Signed with Chinese Entities during Trump's Visit
CNBC
The Commerce Department has revealed the 37 major deals signed between U.S. and Chinese companies during President Donald Trump's trip through Asia, totaling more than $250 billion.
ChinaFile Recommends
11.07.17Bitcoin Proves Hard to Kill in China
Financial Times
Chinese investors are still trading bitcoin and buying initial coin offerings, suggesting authorities in Beijing are struggling to clamp down on cryptocurrencies just weeks after announcing that public exchanges would be shut down.
Viewpoint
11.07.17
Sticking to the Script, Trump Seems to Internalize It
Slowly we are stitching our way across Asia on Donald J. Trump’s great five-nation oriental hegira. After a punishing 2:00 a.m. departure from Yokota Air Force Base outside Tokyo, we arrived this morning at Osan Air Base outside of Seoul, a reminder...
Conversation
11.02.17
Trump Goes to Asia
Chinese officials like to talk about practicing “win-win” diplomacy. Their American counterparts sometime joke that this means China wins twice. From November 3 to November 14, Donald Trump will visit Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines,...
ChinaFile Recommends
10.25.17Tesla Strikes Deal with Shanghai to Build Factory in China
Wall Street Journal
Electric-car maker Tesla Inc. has reached an agreement to set up its own manufacturing facility in Shanghai, according to people briefed on the plan, a move that could help the company gain traction in China’s fast-growing EV market.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.25.17China Shuts Down Tens of Thousands of Factories in Unprecedented Pollution Crackdown
NPR
In the gritty industrial town of Yiwu, workers prepare jeans to be dyed in a vivid range of colors.Two months ago, this factory — and this entire city, located in China's eastern province of Zhejiang — was a much quieter place. Inspection crews...
ChinaFile Recommends
10.24.17China Lifts Ban on Stinky Cheese
New York Post
Authorities imposed the embargo in September because the stinky cheeses were made with strains of bacteria banned in China.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.20.17China’s Skewed Sex Ratio Makes President Xi’s Job a Lot Harder
Quartz
As odd as it sounds, China’s economic policy is being held hostage by its heavily skewed sex ratio.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.19.17China’s "Rogue Aid" to Africa Isn't as Much or as Controversial as We Thought
Quartz
A decade ago, a New York Times columnist coined the term “rogue aid” to describe China’s financial assistance in the developing world: nontransparent, nondemocratic, and above all self-interested. Since then, the label has stuck.
Viewpoint
10.17.17
Stein Ringen: ‘The Truth About China’
Democracies have found it difficult to deal with the great dictatorships. So now with China. The first difficulty is to recognize just what we are up against, and to avoid wishful thinking.In his first five years, Xi Jinping has reshaped the Chinese...
ChinaFile Recommends
10.17.17How China's Financial Cracks Could Spread
Wall Street Journal
Can financial turmoil in China play havoc with the rest of the world? It has already happened.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.16.17Is Xi a Threat to Foreign Businesses in China?
Bloomberg
In a speech at this year’s annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Xi Jinping said choosing protectionism was akin to “locking yourself in a dark room.” But his rhetoric doesn’t square with reality, multinationals say.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.16.17China’s Huawei Could Overtake Apple This Year in Smartphones, Top Analyst Says
CNBC
In the second quarter of this year, Huawei held a 11.3 percent market share, shipping 38.5 million units, IDC data show. Apple meanwhile shipped 41 million iPhones and had a 12 percent market share in the same period.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.16.17In China, Trading Begins on WeChat
Bloomberg
Regulators elsewhere may be clamping down on the financial industry’s use of private messaging apps, but in the world’s second-largest economy the practice is flourishing.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.16.17China Seeks Dominance of Global AI Industry
Financial Times
While the National Science Foundation in the US has no increase in funding this year, China has promised to “vigorously use governmental and social capital” to dominate the industry.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.16.17China's Pollution Crackdown Is Gaining Momentum
Bloomberg
That political will overlaps with an economic need to rein in surplus production of steel, aluminum and other basic materials after years of over-investment. How and when that capacity gets replaced will be a key factor in the economy’s performance...
Conversation
10.16.17
What to Watch at China’s Party Congress
The Chinese Communist Party’s 19th Party Congress, a hugely important political meeting usually held once every five years, will begin on October 18 in Beijing. Like many events involving China’s ruling party, the most important decisions and...
ChinaFile Recommends
10.13.17China September Exports up 8.1%, Imports up 18.7% as Trade with North Korea Slides
CNBC
China reported strong trade data on Friday just days ahead of a major Communist Party Congress.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.12.17China’s Tightening Grip on Tech Giants: DealBook Briefing
New York Times
If the Chinese government goes through with a plan to gain board seats at some of its country’s top technology players, will that cause problems when those companies go hunting for deals overseas?
Video
10.11.17
The Town at the Heart of China’s Black Market in Ivory
from Environmental Investigation Agency
Last year, in response to mounting criticism for its key role in the steep decline in the world’s elephant population, China announced that it would ban ivory trading and shutter all of the country’s 177 licensed ivory processing companies and...
ChinaFile Recommends
10.11.17China Treats Its Foreign Aid Like a State Secret. New Research Aims to Reveal It.
Washington Post
Since the turn of the century, China has become an unavoidable global provider of foreign assistance, funding everything from opera houses in Algeria to tobacco farms in Zimbabwe.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.10.17China Hastens the World toward an Electric-Car Future
New York Times
There is a powerful reason that automakers worldwide are speeding up their efforts to develop electric vehicles — and that reason is China.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.10.17While U.S. Moves toward Coal, China Bets Big on Solar
CBS News
In southern China, the country flipped the switch on the world's largest floating solar installation - built on top of a lake created by an abandoned coal mine. Projects like these helped China double its solar capacity last year. It is now...
ChinaFile Recommends
10.09.17‘Blade Runner 2049’ Secures China Release Date (Exclusive)
Hollywood Reporter
A disappointing North American debut has placed added pressure on the major Asian territories where the film has yet to open, led by the massive China market.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.09.17Breakingviews - China's Oil Giants Brace for Electric Car Crash
Reuters
China’s push into new energy vehicles (NEVs) – including battery-powered and hybrid cars – could curb demand for black gold. Sinopec and PetroChina will be hardest hit. The policy will also add to downward pressure on global crude prices.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.09.17Accelerating Fintech in China
TechCrunch
China’s expeditious adoption of fintech is generating profits not only for startups, but also the companies investing in them. Sitting in the headquarters of FinPlus, a fintech venture capital firm and accelerator, its CEO, Mosso Lau, said, “There...
ChinaFile Recommends
10.09.17This Year's Oscar Contenders from China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan Are the Perfect Lens into the Places They're From
Quartz
The Oscar nominations coming from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China have not attracted much buzz internationally, but each region’s submission touches on issues in that capture the ambitions, desires, and insecurities of its people. Taken as a trio, they...
The China Africa Project
10.09.17
New Documentary Portrays Nuanced View of Africans’ Experience Living in China
When filmmakers Zhang Yong, Hodan Abdi, and Fu Dong set out to make a new documentary on the African migrant experience in China, they were determined to ensure that their own voices and experiences came through in the story. Until now, most if not...
Conversation
10.06.17
Is China the Future of Bitcoin, or Its Past?
China often dominates the market for Bitcoin, a virtual currency managed by a decentralized network of computers: at points over the last few years, China may have accounted for more than 75 percent of Bitcoin trading. Energy subsidies there make it...
ChinaFile Recommends
10.04.17Chinese Theaters Are Shortchanging U.S. Film Studios, MPAA Audit Finds
Los Angeles Times
Some Chinese theaters are shortchanging U.S. film studios whose movies are shown in the world’s most populous country, according to a person familiar with an audit conducted by the Motion Picture Assn. of America.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.04.17Ivanka Trump’s Business in China Shrouded in Secrecy as Public Trade Data Disappears
Independent
It is no secret that the bulk of Ivanka Trump's merchandise comes from China. But just which Chinese companies manufacture and export her handbags, shoes and clothes is more secret than ever, an Associated Press investigation has found.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.04.17In China, Cryptocurrency Sales Persist in the Shadows
Wall Street Journal
Three days after Chinese regulators outlawed cryptocurrency fundraising in early September, a woman met with half a dozen individuals at a Beijing golf club to pitch a digital-currency investment opportunity.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.03.17The Curious Career Paths of China’s Public-Sector Bosses
Financial Times
The official heroes of China’s state-sector reform program range from dedicated anti-graft investigators, who have purged dozens of allegedly corrupt executives over recent years, to strategically minded administrators determined to create a stable...
ChinaFile Recommends
10.03.17Exclusive: One Ford, Two Systems - U.S. Carmaker Revamps China Strategy amid EV Push
Reuters
U.S. automaker Ford Motor Co (F.N) is overhauling its China plans as its global “One Ford” strategy is holding it back in the world’s biggest auto market, two high-ranking company insiders told Reuters.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.02.17As Sanctions Bite, North Korean Workers Leave Chinese Border Hub
Reuters
Almost 100,000 overseas workers, based predominantly in China and Russia, funnel some $500 million in wages a year to help finance the North Korean regime, the U.S. government says.