China and the World: Yuan for All

Economist
The yuan is not yet fully convertible and will not be for several years, which limits China's influence.

N.B.A. Signs Deal With Chinese Internet Giant

Richard Sandomir
New York Times
The N.B.A. will receive $500 million, with $200 million more expected through a revenue-sharing arrangement between the league and Tencent, a social media powerhouse. 

Nearly 40% of Inspected Products on Chinese Ecommerce Sites are Fake, Government Says

Charlie Custer
Tech in Asia
Buyers should order either from the site itself or from an official third-party shop.

A Softer Touch on Soft Power

David Bandurski
China Media Project
Soft power has become strategically important for China because cultural productivity and influence are now regarded as important components of comprehensive national power.

Chinese Sports Authorities Map Out Measures in Fight Against Corruption and Match-fixing

Xinhua
Chinese sports authorities have vowed to stamp out corruption and match-fixing.

Caixin Media

01.27.15

China Boots Up an Internet Banking Industry

Premier Li Keqiang recently launched a new era for banking in China by ceremonially pressing the "confirm" button for a 35,000 yuan loan issued to a Shenzhen truck driver.Li's gesture on January 4 on behalf of Shenzhen Qianhai WeBank...

Bobby Jindal & China’s Louisiana Methanol Plant

Al Jazeera
A Chinese tycoon whose natural gas firm's environmental and labor rights record is under fire in the Chinese press is parking assets in a multibillion dollar methanol plant in Louisiana.

Conversation

01.26.15

Does Size Matter? (In the U.S. and Chinese Economies, That Is...)

Taisu Zhang
Last week, President Obama’s State of the Union Address touted a U.S. economic recovery. Meanwhile, China’s economic growth is slowing and Ma Jiantang, head of the National Bureau of Statistics, has said that China’s economy, contrary to overseas...

Sinica Podcast

01.26.15

Inside the Property Revolution

Jeremy Goldkorn & Luigi Tomba from Sinica Podcast
Luigi Tomba, expert on municipal government in China, fellow at the Australian Centre on China and the World, and author of the book The Government Next Door: Neighborhood Politics in Urban China, is this week's Sinica Podcast guest. Since 2005...

China to Pay Price for ‘Closed-Internet’ Policy |

George Chen
South China Morning Post
Thinking everything will look good by blocking online access may sound too simple and naive.

Death Threats and Dawn Raids: Welcome to China’s Anti-Graft Drive

Shai Oster
Bloomberg
On one side is Peking University Founder Group, a state-owned company that partnered with Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN) in a separate securities joint venture whose chairman has disappeared.

Who’s Afraid of China’s Economy Slowing? Not Alibaba’s Jack Ma

Nadia Damouni
Reuters
"If China still keeps 9 percent growth of the economy there must be something wrong. You will never see the blue sky. You will never see quality. China should pay attention to the quality of the economy," he said in a question-and-answer...

China’s Wanda Cinema Stock Surges in Market Debut

Clifford Coonan
Hollywood Reporter
Wanda has earmarked $200 million of the proceeds from the IPO to expand its exhibition network to 260 theaters and 2,300 screens by the end of next year.

Obama’s Top Asia Adviser: Goal is for Complete Trade Pact in 2015

David Brunnstrom
Reuters
Evan Medeiros, senior director for Asia at the U.S. National Security Council, asked about the Trans-Pacific Partnership, said: "We are confident we can and we will get it done."

Don’t Worry About China Slowdown, Premier Li Tells Davos

Bonnie Cao, Zijing Wu, and Xin Zhou
Bloomberg
China will avoid a hard landing and is focused on ensuring long-term medium-to-fast growth, Premier Li Keqiang told global leaders in Davos.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership Can Help the U.S. Counter China’s Expansion

The Washington Post Editorial Board
Washington Post
We’ve faulted President Obama for his less-than-full-throated support of free-trade agreements that enjoy the nominal backing of his administration. There was no such cause for complaint about his State of the Union address Tuesday night, however,...

China’s Scramble for Africa

Richard Javad Heydarian
Al Jazeera
In a remarkable departure from its long history of low-profile foreign policy, especially since Deng Xiaoping took over China's leadership in the late 1970s, Beijing has recently committed up to 700 combat troops to South Sudan in the hopes of...

Caixin Media

01.20.15

Good Times Are Over for Local Governments

Two pieces of recent news have piqued the public's interest. First, local governments reported their latest debt figures to the Ministry of Finance. The numbers have not been made public, but sources say many officials reported large amounts in...

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.

As Growth Slows, China Pins Hopes on Consumer Spending

Alexandra Stevenson
New York Times
The economy increased by 7.3 percent in the last quarter of 2014 and 7.4 percent for the full year, the country’s National Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday. While many countries would welcome such growth, the rate fell short of the government’s...

The Dragon and the Gringo

The Economist
Economist
Time was when cash-strapped Latin American governments would turn to the IMF for the bitter medicine of its bail-outs. No longer. Over the past dozen years the supercycle of rising commodity prices has swelled the region’s coffers, while even the...

China Arrests 60,000 in ‘Unprecedented’ 100-Day Drug Crackdown

Eric Baculinao
NBC News
China's top anti-drug official said the mass arrests had "sown terror" among drug criminals, according to a report Thursday in China's state-run newspaper Legal Daily. Liu Yuejin told the newspaper that he had called on China...

Macau Sex Ring Bust Shows China Expanding Crackdown on Graft

Liza Lin
Bloomberg
Police in the former Portuguese colony arrested Alan Ho, handcuffing him and covering his head with a black hood, for allegedly operating a prostitution ring out of the casino complex of his uncle, Stanley Ho.

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...

Environment

01.15.15

China-Latin America Summit ‘A Missed Opportunity’ on Low-Carbon Energy

The first major meeting of Chinese and Latin American leaders agreed closer cooperation on trade, investment, and industry, but is more likely to usher in deals on oil and gas rather than renewable energy, analysts said in response to a summit that...

One Among Many

The Economist
Economist
Across Africa, radio call-in programs are buzzing with tales of Africans, usually men, bemoaning the loss of their spouses and partners to rich Chinese men.

Eating Alone in China

Fan Jiayang
New Yorker
The first time I ate at a restaurant by myself, I live-tweeted the experience. “Hot-potting alone!” I enthused, posting a photo I’d taken of a burbling electric pot, ringed by plates of enoki mushrooms, plump squares of tofu, and green-bean-infused...

Sources: Nicolas Cage’s ‘Outcast’ Has Chinese Release Date Delayed Again

Clifford Coonan
Hollywood Reporter
There have been a host of theories about why Outcast is being delayed. Some distribution sources said in September that YFG was unhappy with the number of screens made available for the film.

Xi Calls for More Anti-Corruption Efforts Despite Achievements

Xinhua
Xinhua
Misconduct may have abated but had not vanished, he said, and although counter-corruption mechanisms had been developed, they were not perfect and temptations still existed.

The Abject Misery of Flying in China

Atlantic
On Friday, irate passengers forced open the emergency door of their airplane as it sat on a snowy runway. That was only the latest sign of trouble in Chinese air travel.

Why China Will Become a Global Military Power

Oriana Skylar Mastro
Lawfare Blog
To some, China is likely an expansionist country akin to Germany before WWI. Others argue that China’s assertive behavior in its regional offshore island disputes is simply a manifestation of the Chinese Communist Party’s focus on domestic stability...

Myanmar-China Trafficking: Sold by Father for $1000

Jonah Fisher
BBC
Along the Chinese border, it is not just drugs being traded—Burmese women and children are being bought and sold.

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...

Infographics

01.09.15

Think Renting in Your City is Bad? Try Beijing

David M. Barreda from Sohu
Compared with the numbers of a few years ago, first and second tier cities in China have an oversupply of stock on the housing market. Additionally, restrictions on multiple-home purchases are easing and “expected to be eased completely,” according...

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-...

Conversation

01.08.15

What Does Hong Kong’s Post-Protest Report Signal For Relations with Beijing?

David Schlesinger, Joseph Cheng & more
This week, we saw the release of the official government “Report on the Recent Community and Political Situation in Hong Kong.” It concluded: "It is the common aspiration of the Central Authorities [in Beijing], the [Hong Kong Special...

Want to Hire a Private Car in China? There Will Be No App for That

Bonnie Cao and Huang Zhe
Bloomberg
“Banning private cars from using the apps will put passengers at ease,” the ministry said. “But apps for premium car services have an innovative service model and play a positive role in meeting the high-end and differentiated transportation market...

China Wants Taxes Paid by Citizens Living Afar

Keith Bradsher
New York Times
As Chinese individuals and companies head overseas in greater numbers, the country’s tax authorities are starting to follow.

Environment

01.07.15

A Post-Mortem on Jack Ma’s Hunting Trip

from chinadialogue
In 2014, just before the U.S. IPO of his company Alibaba, Jack Ma became caught up in a debate sparked by a hunting trip he took to the U.K.. My colleagues and I at chinadialogue had an idea: rise above that debate and look at the facts.The U.K...

China Strives to Be on African Minds, and TV Sets

Bree Feng
New York Times
While China imposes strict controls on foreign-produced entertainment at home, it is also eager to see its cultural products embraced abroad. And in Africa, Chinese television shows have become immensely popular — at least according to the Chinese...

China Cities Crack Down on Illegal Cabs Using Car-Hailing Apps

Bonnie Cao
Bloomberg
The Chinese capital will impose fines of as much as 20,000 yuan ($3,200) each on 41 unauthorized vehicles that offered rental services via the apps, CNR said Jan. 7.

Embattled Venezuela Says it Has Secured $20 Billion Lifeline from China

Jim Wyss
Miami Herald
The money is good news for a country that is being rattled by inflation of 64 percent, a contracting economy, shrinking foreign reserves and sporadic food shortages.Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/...

Sinica Podcast

01.06.15

The Sinica Podcast’s Second Annual Call-In Show

Kaiser Kuo & Jeremy Goldkorn from Sinica Podcast
If you’ve been following all of the news and gossip involving China for the last year, join Kaiser and Jeremy as they take call-in questions and talk insider politics on everything from the ongoing anti-corruption campaign to the question of coming...

Tencent Launches China’s First Online-only Bank

Gabriel Wildau
Financial Times
WeBank, a joint venture led by Chinese gaming and social network group Tencent Holdings, became the first private bank to start operations under a pilot, after the banking regulator granted licences to six such institutions last year. Its name comes...

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...

Other

12.30.14

A Look Back at 2014

It’s hard to believe, but ChinaFile is almost two years old. It’s been an exciting year for us, and, as ever, an eventful year for China. It was a year of muscular leadership from Xi Jinping, who has now been in office just over two years and who...

Caixin Media

12.30.14

Nephew of Disgraced Official Ling Jihua Involved in Tangled Web of Businesses

The investigations into Ling Jihua, Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and his two brothers, Ling Zhengce and Ling Wancheng, have shed light on a powerful family that had a grip on both government resources...

Caixin Media

12.22.14

Wild Stock Market Is Detrimental to Reform Efforts

Chinese leaders' pledge to strengthen risk control at last week's Central Economic Work Conference could not be more timely, given the frenzied exuberance in the stock market.In a statement released after three days of meetings, 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.

Opinion: In Response to Sony Hack, U.S. Should Focus on China Not North Korea

Jason Healey
Christian Science Monitor
Mr. Obama’s punt is not a big surprise as there simply are no good options for responding to North Korea. How do you calibrate a “proportional response” when not countering a military attack but one that targets freedom of expression?

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.

China's Economy Is worth $300 Billion More than It Thought

Geoffrey Smith
Fortune
China just discovered an economy the size of Malaysia’s hiding down the back of the sofa.

Sinica Podcast

12.19.14

Cooperation or Exploitation

Kaiser Kuo, Jeremy Goldkorn & more from Sinica Podcast
Exactly how exploitative are Chinese development activities on the African continent? What exactly is motivating the various resources-for-development deals inked by African governments over the last decade, and what strategies are these governments...

Media

12.18.14

Hong Kong, the Resilient City

David Wertime
The tents have folded. After 75 days of camping on the street, braving police crackdowns, occasional civilian attacks, and the city’s (admittedly mild) winter chill, Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protesters have cleared out. As promised, police moved in...

Beijing Cannot Count on Easy Money to Sustain Its Economic Miracle

Ruchir Sharma
Financial Times
Just three months ago the main Chinese stock market was dormant. Since then it has surged 30 per cent and has started to show signs of the manic trading that normally does not appear until a bull market has been gathering steam for years.

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.

Maldives to Officially Join China's Maritime Silk Route Policy

Xinhua
Global Times
"With projects such as oil exploration and bridge construction in the agenda for discussion, the meeting will benefit economies of both countries. This is a great achievement to us as well," Minister of Economic Development Mohamed Saeed...

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...