Infographics

02.14.13

Who Supplies Apple? (It’s Not Just China)

Last month, Apple Inc. released its updated list of suppliers. This report says it includes “the major manufacturing locations of suppliers who provide raw materials and components or perform final assembly on Apple.” ChinaFile used this data to...

Beijing Slams U.S. Sanctions on Chinese Companies

Teddy Ng
South China Morning Post
Beijing has denounced U.S. sanctions imposed on four Chinese companies and one individual last week for allegedly breaching a U.S. law designed to hamper the development of weapons of mass destruction by Iran, North Korea or Syria.

In China, A Vast Chasm Between the Rich and the Rest

Sim Chi Yin
New York Times
The passing coal miners in remote Shaanxi Province took one look at our marooned Audi and walked on, leaving us stuck on the sleet-covered mountain road. As dusk fell, I managed to mingle with some young migrant workers, and trek with them through a...

Conversation

02.08.13

Rich, Poor and Chinese—Does Anyone Trust Beijing to Bust the Corrupt?

Andrew J. Nathan, Susan Shirk & more
Andrew Nathan:The new Chinese leadership under Xi Jinping seems to be making some bold opening moves with its attacks on corruption and the announcement on February 5 of plans to reduce the polarization of incomes.  Does this mean Xi is...

(Photo essay) Migrant Nation: Liu Jie Docuements China’s Ongoing Transformation

Liu Jie
Time
In 2011, Liu Jie, a Chinese photographer based in Beijing, visited and photographed more than 20 villages in the Chinese countryside, documenting one of the more silent but equally poignant externalities of the Chinese economic miracle: the...

China to Make State Firms Turn Over More Profits

Liyan Qi
Wall Street Journal
China unveiled guidelines on its long-awaited income redistribution plan by saying it would boost income for the poor, tighten its grip on illegal income and ask state companies to contribute more profits to the government.

Foxconn Plans Chinese Union Vote

Kathrin Hille and Rahul Jacob
Financial Times
Foxconn, the contract manufacturer whose biggest customer is Apple, is preparing genuinely representative labour union elections in its factories in China for the first time, a powerful sign of changes in the workshop of the world demanded by an...

Five Predictions for China’s Auto Industry in the Year of the Snake

Michael Dunne
Wall Street Journal
In 2012, Chinese accounted for more than three out of four Buicks sold globally.  And many of the design elements of the current Buick lineup originated in China.

China Burns Half of Coal Consuption Worldwide, US Figures Show

Adam Vaughn
Guardian
US government figures shows that China overtook the US as the world's biggest carbon emitter in 2007 and became world's largest energy consumer in 2010

Eastern Promise in LIttle Africa

Kit Gillet
Globe and Mail
Chasing their slice of China’s raging appetite, tens of thousands of African traders are settling uneasily in the ghettos of Guangzhou.

Media

01.23.13

A Map of Two Chinas

On Friday, China’s National Bureau of Statistics announced that income inequality in the country exceeds a warning level set by the United Nations.China’s publication of its Gini coefficient—a widely used measure of economic equity—drew attention...

Pressures at Home, Tensions Offshore

Bill Bishop
Deal Book
It is tempting to conclude that the increasingly dangerous dispute between China and Japan over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands is driven in part by Beijing’s need to distract its populace from problems at home

China’s Risky Path, from Revolution to War

Cheng Li
Daily Beast
The scenario of abrupt bottom-up revolution occurring in China has recently generated much debate.

China’s ‘Lamborghini’ Coefficient

Didi Kirsten Tatlow
New York Times
According to China's first official Gini coefficient figures in a decade, China today is more equal than in 2003. 

China’s Inequality Index Highlights Urgency for Distribution Reforms

Global Times
Global Times
The first rich-poor index for the past decade paints a far-from-rosy picture of what must be done to bridge the wealth gap.

ODI-lay Hee-ho: China's Overseas Investment

The Economist
Economist
China’s outward direct investment (ODI) exceeded $77 billion in 2012, an increase of 12.6% on the previous year.

Chinese Man Seeking Overdue Wages, Kills Himself, Injures 7 in Explosion

Wang Yuanyuan, editor
Xinhua
A man in south China’s Guangdong Province ignited explosives on his body, killing himself and injuring seven others, official media said.

Economists React: China GDP Growth Hits 7.9% in Fourth Quarter

China Real Time Report
Wall Street Journal
Chinese growth is likely to stabilize around 8% this year after a more than two-year slowdown.

Economists React: China's GDP Growth Hits 7.9% in Fourth Quarter

China Real Time Report
Wall Street Journal
Chinese growth is likely to stabilize around 8% this year after a more than two-year slowdown. 

Analysis: New China Leaders Must

Nick Edwards
Reuters
Xiang Songzuo, the Agricultural Bank of China's chief economist says “stabilizing growth is a pre-condition for delivering on reform.”

Investment into China Declined in 2012

Reuters
Reuters
Analysts said cooling growth in China’s foreign direct investment, or F.D.I., did not suggest that investors’ confidence in the country was waning.

China Hints at Far Wider Welcome to Overseas Investors

Neil Gough
Deal Book
China’s top securities regulator said foreign investment could be allowed to rise tenfold In what would be a drastic liberalization of huge, cloistered capital markets.

Private Equity in China: Which Way Out?

Neil Gough
Deal Book
Three-quarters of private equity deals struck between 2001-12-worth $230 billion-have yet to pay off, a new report shows. 

Media

01.09.13

Why is a Mediocre, Low-Budget Comedy Taking China’s Box Office by Storm?

December 2012 saw hot competition in Chinese cinema. It began with Life of Pi, which was directed by Ang Li, an Oscar-winning director, followed by 1942, a historical movie by director Feng Xiaogang, and The Last Supper, by up-and-coming director Lu...

China Says it Will Overhaul Sprawling System of Reducation Through Labor

Andrew Jacobs
New York Times
China's leaders are signaling plans to alter one of the the most despised cudgels for punishing petty criminals and dissidents.

Media

01.07.13

“Help Me Pay This Bill”: A Short But Incisive Send-Up of Chinese Corruption

It is a social media classic, a send-up of the corruption and profligacy that so often enrage Web users in China. A very short story variously titled “I Did Not Eat For Free” and “Help Me Pay This Bill” has been making the rounds for months on Sina...

Nicholas Kristof: Looking for a Jumpstart in China

Nicholas Kristof
New York Times
The new paramount leader, Xi Jinping, will spearhead a resurgence of economic reform, and probably some political easing as well. Mao’s body will be hauled out of Tiananmen Square on his watch, and Liu Xiaobo, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning...

Caixin Media

01.04.13

Why Are Entrepreneurs So Uneasy?

I’m often asked whether it’s more difficult for a Chinese company to survive now than it was in the 1980s, when I started my business. The two eras are indeed different. Many entrepreneurs with whom I shared the stage at awards ceremonies have since...

Media

01.03.13

How a Run-Down Government Building Became the Hottest Item on China’s Social Web

It is perhaps a sign of the times in China that an image of nothing more than a ramshackle county government building could echo so widely. Since its posting on Sina Weibo, China’s Twitter, hours before New Year’s Eve, the image (see below) has been...

Opinion: Cheap Meth! Cheap Guns! Click Here

Nicholas Kristof
New York Times
How about cracking down on Web sites that sell guns and drugs, while leaving be those that traffic in ideas and information?

China's Central Bank, Aircraft Carrier Style

Dinny McMahon and Carlos Tejada
Wall Street Journal
The People’s Bank of China will issue gold and silver coins celebrating the nation's first aircraft carrier. 

Signs of Changes Taking Hold in Electronics Factories in China

Keith Bradsher and Charles Duhigg
New York Times
Apple, the electronics industry’s behemoth, in the last year has tripled its corporate social responsibility staff, has re-evaluated how it works with manufacturers, has asked competitors to help curb excessive overtime in China and has reached out...

For China’s ‘Great Renewal,’ 8 Trends to Keep an Eye On

Bill Bishop
Deal Book
The Bo Xilai scandal, an economic downturn and the leadership switch from Hu Jintao to Xi Jinping made 2012 one of China’s most eventful years. It is hard to imagine that next year will be as exciting, but there will be change.

Buy, Sell, Adopt: Child Trafficking in China

Mark McDonald
New York Times
In the past two and a half years, according to government statistics, some 54,000 children have been rescued from traffickers.

Yiwu's Purveyors of Christmas Tat Give China a Dose of Ho-Ho-Ho

Leo Lewis
Times & Sunday Times
China’s Christmas lights used to be only in Shanghai and Beijing, but now brisk sales are going to small provincial city shops. 

Sinica Podcast

12.22.12

China Versus the SEC

Jeremy Goldkorn, Patrick Chovanec & more from Sinica Podcast
An ongoing battle between the American Securities and Exchange Commission and China over whether Chinese accounting firms can release accounting information required by U.S. law or whether these constitute “state secrets” is pushing China and the...

China's Motorways: Get Your Kicks on Route G6

The Economist
Economist
China is building a motorway across the Tibetan plateau. For some, reaching Lhasa by road is the ultimate dream.

Infographics

12.19.12

A Comparison of China’s and America’s Richest People

CNPolitics, a Chinese-language news website, recently released this infographic examining the differences between China and America’s wealthiest individuals as reported by Forbes Magazine. As the site notes, China’s relatively recent economic rise...

Features

12.18.12

College Graduates Compete for Jobs Sweeping Streets

from Tablet
Tong Peng spent six months discovering his bachelor’s degree was “worthless” before deciding to apply for a job as a street sweeper.He graduated from college in Harbin in June, 2012, not expecting to find it so tough to find work with a college...

Books

12.17.12

Socialism Vanquished, Socialism Challenged

Nina Bandelj, Dorothy Solinger (editors)
Socialism Vanquished, Socialism Challenged examines the twenty-year aftermath of the 1989 assaults on established, state-sponsored socialism in the former Soviet bloc and in China. Editors Nina Bandelj and Dorothy J. Solinger bring together prominent experts on Eastern Europe and China to examine the respective trajectories of political, economic, and social transformations that unfolded in these two areas, while also comparing the changes that ensued within the two regions. The volume features paired comparisons, with one chapter on the countries from the former Soviet bloc and one on China for each of the following themes: the reinstitutionalization of politics, the recasting of state-society relations, the reform of economic systems, changes in economic behavior, and transformations of social institutions. Despite differences in the specific substantive focus and disciplinary grounding among individual chapters, all chapters share a concern with the fate of the state in postsocialism. They elaborate on topics such as the transformations of the old socialist state and its nature, activities and roles; civil society before and after 1989; the ways in which the state has, or has not, acted to encourage new forms of economic behavior; and the state's responsibility for societal trends, whether in family formation, in protest or in inequality. Taking a unique approach to understand twentieth-century socialism on a global scale, Socialism Vanquished, Socialism Challenged uncovers insights about political models and economic patterns that have emerged in the grand project of the transition from socialism. —Oxford University Press

China May Delay Plan to Reform Income Distribution

Feifei Shen
Bloomberg
Analysts are focused on how quickly China’s new leaders will implement economic changes to spur a shift to a consumerism. 

Sinica Podcast

12.14.12

China 3.0

Kaiser Kuo & Jeremy Goldkorn from Sinica Podcast
Today on Sinica, join us for a discussion on economics, politics, and geopolitics with Mark Leonard from the European Council on Foreign Relations. Our specific focus is China 3.0, the council’s recent compendium of essays on contemporary Chinese...

Don’t Underestimate China’s Luxury Market

Michael J. Silverstein
Harvard Business Review
China’s luxury market — and the global phenomenon of “trading up”— are well known. Yet when China's consumer markets recently experienced short terms blips, several doubters promptly questioned the pace of their long term growth. 

Rectification of Names, 鸿海 Division

James Fallows
Atlantic
Now you might be thinking: Oh, no! Another Chinese company whose name I have to remember and that I have to care about. Calm down. As people who operate in China know, and as one "by the way" clause in the story points out, Hon Hai...

China Trade Slowdown Shows Xi Must Fuel Consumption

Zheng Lifei and Zhou Xin
Bloomberg
The new Communist leaders must reduce China’s reliance on exports to sustain expansion as the country faces a wealth gap that runs a risk of fomenting social unrest.

Signals in China of a More Open Economy

Edward Wong
New York Times
Xi Jinping, the new Communist Party head, visited Shenzhen in south China, a symbol of the embrace of a state-led capitalism.

Chinese Survey Shows a Higher Jobless Rate

Tom Orlick
Wall Street Journal
A new survey shows that the real unemployment rate in China is double the official level, and layoffs rose sharply among migrant workers in the past year, underlining a challenge for China's new leaders to maintain growth. The survey...

Caixin Media

12.07.12

China’s Dream Team

Stephen S. Roach
The country’s recent leadership transition was widely depicted as a triumph for conservative hardliners and a setback for the cause of reform—a characterization that has deepened the gloominess that pervades Western perceptions of China.In fact,...

Xi Jinping heads to Shenzhen on first inspection trip

Fiona Tam and He Huifeng
South China Morning Post
It is a move political observers say pays tribute to the famous southern tour of Deng Xiaoping in 1992 and sends a signal of commitment to deepening reform. A Shenzhen propaganda official said Xi, who will succeed Hu Jintao as president in...

China GDP: If Not 10%, Then What

Rahul Jacob
Financial Times
Standard Chartered economist says China's GDP is likely to grow 7% over the next five years without big interim reforms.

Mongolia Finds China Can Be Too Close for Comfort

Charles Hutzler
Associated Press
In a global rush to get rich off China, Mongolia works to ensure that Chinese investment doesn't become Chinese dominance.

From Bubble to Muddling Through

Bill Bishop
Deal Book
Two measures of manufacturing activity, the official Purchasing Managers Index and the HSBC Purchasing Managers Index, both rose above 50, which indicates expansion, for the first time in months. All is not rosy though, as this roundup of...

My First Trip

12.03.12

A China Frontier: Once the Border of Borders

Orville Schell
In 1961, when I first arrived in Hong Kong as an aspiring young China scholar, there was something deeply seductive about the way this small British enclave of capitalism clung like a barnacle to the enormity of China’s socialist revolution. Because...

China Overtaking U.S. as Global Trader

Joe McDonald and Youkyung Lee
Associated Press
In just five years, China has surpassed the U.S. as a trading partner for much of the world.  The first story in new Associated Press series on "China's Reach."

Mr. China Comes to America

James Fallows
Atlantic
Near the end of this year’s second presidential debate, Candy Crowley of CNN pointed out that iPads, iPhones, and other globally sought-after Apple products are all made in China. What would it take, she asked both Mitt Romney and Barack...

French Firms Must Fight China for Stake in Africa -- Moscovici

Joe Bavier
Reuters
Finance Minister says France must go on the offensive and fight the growing influence of China for a stake in Africa's markets.

Is Capital Flight Taking Place in China?

Tan Shibo and Chen Long
Institute for New Economic Thinking
Some analysts argue that China's tremendous capital outflow implies many people are losing confidence in China’s economy.

Reports

11.27.12

Is China Over-Investing and Does it Matter?

Il Houng Lee, Murtaza Syed, Liu Xueyan
Luo Xiaoyuan
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Now close to 50 percent of GDP, this paper assesses the appropriateness of China’s current investment levels. It finds that China’s capital-to-output ratio is within the range of other emerging markets, but its economic growth rates stand out,...

Caixin Media

11.26.12

When Tradition is Flattened by Policy

A “tomb-flattening policy” in Henan province has sparked intense controversy, with millions of tombs reportedly destroyed by local authorities in a quest to turn graveyards into farmland.The policy can be seen as a historical extension of land-...