‘China’s Search for a Modern Identity Has Entered a New and Perilous Phase’
In 1980, writing the last paragraph of the last chapter of Coming Alive: China After Mao, I declared that China was moving “from totalitarian tyranny to a system more humane, part of a struggle by this nation to free itself from a straitjacket...
Living by the Rivers
from Yuanjin PhotoIf the stories in this edition of Depth of Field share a common thread—apart from their distinguished photographic storytelling—it’s their interest in the flux and churn of life in China in 2019, where nothing seems fixed and pressure of constant...
China’s Shift to a More Assertive Foreign Policy
from Carnegie ChinaShi points to two important turning points in China’s shift to a more assertive foreign policy: the 2008 global financial crisis, which made it clear that China’s economic development was an important engine for global growth; and Xi Jinping’s...
Devising a New Formula for Global Leadership
from Carnegie ChinaYan asserts the U.S.-China relationship is experiencing structural disruptions, the resolution of which will have a lasting impact on the two countries. He says the tensions in the U.S.-China relationship are primarily due to the narrowing gap...
End of an Era
Since the 1990s, Beijing’s leaders have firmly rejected any fundamental reform of their authoritarian one-party political system, even as a decades-long boom has reshaped China’s economy and society. On the surface, their efforts have been a success. Political turmoil has toppled former communist Eastern Bloc regimes, internal unrest overtaken Middle East nations, and populist movements risen to challenge established Western democracies. China, in contrast, has appeared a relative haven of stability and growth.
China's Revealing Spin on the ‘Sharing Economy’
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.
In Saudi Crown Prince’s Crackdown, Echoes of Xi’s China
If Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s bid to speed economic reforms by rounding up rivals in graft raids sounds familiar, that’s because China has been doing it for years.
What’s the Takeaway from the 19th Party Congress?
The day after the Party Congress ended on October 24, Xi Jinping strode across the stage of the massive Great Hall of the People with the six newly announced members of the 19th Politburo Standing Committee, the body that rules China. What might...
The Curious Career Paths of China’s Public-Sector Bosses
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...
Chris Buckley: The China Journalist’s China Journalist
from Sinica PodcastChris Buckley is a highly regarded and very resourceful correspondent based in Beijing for The New York Times. He has worked as a researcher and journalist in China since 1998, including a stint at Reuters, and is one of...
In Rare Move, Chinese Think Tank Criticizes Tepid Pace of Reform
These withering findings on China’s reforms come from a startling place: from within the government itself.
Unlikely Partners
Unlikely Partners recounts the story of how Chinese politicians and intellectuals looked beyond their country’s borders for economic guidance at a key crossroads in the nation’s tumultuous 20th century. Julian Gewirtz offers a dramatic tale of competition for influence between reformers and hardline conservatives during the Deng Xiaoping era, bringing to light China’s productive exchanges with the West.
China’s Top Economic Official Braces for Possible Trade War
Liu He has struggled to overcome resistance to a program of measured economic liberalization and more open markets that he argues is critical to China’s long-term economic health
China Adds Curbs on Pulling Money Out of the Country
New restrictions added as authorities seek to prevent a flood of capital outflows from destabilizing the financial system
U.S. Chides China on Steel Glut, Treatment of Foreign Companies at Annual Talks
The U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Beijing is overshadowed by growing trade friction and the dispute over the South China Sea.
Reaganomics Finds Friends In High Places In China
In response to worldwide demands that China manage its economy better, Xi Jinping has proposed what he calls “supply-side structural reform.”
Xi Jinping’s Remedy for China’s Economic Gloom Has Echoes of Reaganomics
President Xi Jinping has begun pushing a remedy that sounds less like Marx and Mao than Reagan and Thatcher.
China’s Obsolete Economic Strategy
China has changed dramatically over 30 years, and command-and-control economic management will not produce the results of the past.
Does the Renminbi’s Elevation to Global Currency Matter?
On November 30, the International Monetary Fund approved the Chinese renminbi, also known as the yuan, as one of the world’s leading currencies, underscoring the country’s rising global financial importance. What’s behind the decision and what...
This Explains Why China Is Taking So Long to Reform Its Economic System
The new leadership is turning back to old measures to stimulate growth.
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...
The China Economy: What Lessons for Africa?
When African policy makers scan the globe in search of inspiration on how to structure their economies, that search often leads to...
China Shares Brush New Low Since Depth of Selloff
Shanghai Composite closes down 4.3%, a fraction above July 8 low.
Is China About to Plunge the World Into Recession?
On Aug. 18, China’s stock market plummeted by a vertigo-inducing 6.2 percent in one day of trading,...
China’s Naked Emperors
By trying to control the market China's rulers show that despite 25 years of success they have no idea what they’re doing.
China’s Economy: A Slower Slowdown
It's been nearly six months since China began easing monetary policy and there's little sign of a rebound in growth.
The Urgency of Continuing with Reform
Concern about the middle-income trap has grabbed public attention again. The minister of finance, Lou Jiwei, recently said at Tsinghua University that China had a “50-50 chance” of sliding into it in the next five to 10 years. However, many...
The Urgency of Continuing with Reform
The best way to side step the much-discussed middle-income trap is to forge ahead with changes to the growth model.
China is Still Rising, Just More Slowly
Embracing China's "new normal" or why the economy Is still on track.
Shambaugh China Essay in Shambles
Shambaugh's deep flaw is that he looked at China with a bias, completely ignoring the positive aspects.
Is China Really Cracking Up?
On March 7, The Wall Street Journal published an opinion piece by David Shambaugh arguing that “the endgame of Chinese communist rule has...
China Lowers 2015 Economic Growth Target to Around 7 Percent
The growth target is lower than the 7.4-percent economic growth in 2014, its weakest annual expansion since 1990.
All Eyes Will Be On China This Week
China's economy, the second largest in the world, gets a spot check this week with a barrage of data due that should indicate how successful Beijing has been in supporting growth.
China Ponders Slow-Growth Dilemma
Leadership may have to sacrifice reform agenda to maintain 7.5% economic-growth target.
Nudging China Toward Governance Reform
Three recent items of news deserve attention. First, revisions to the budget law were passed late last month. Second, in a speech this month marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the National People's Congress, Party General Secretary...
China Real Estate Falls Back to Earth
One of the world’s longest-running bull markets finally seems to be stalling, with broad consequences for China’s economy and possibly its politics as well.
Why India Will Soon Outpace China
India’s decentralized, often chaotic economic model has been seen as inferior to China’s authoritarian, top-down model. A reappraisal of that view may soon be in order.
China's Half-Year Report Card on Economic Reform: Slow, Safe and Steady
Incremental steps promise to reach enough critical mass to sustain reform momentum and help the world's second-largest economy shift down fairly smoothly after decades of red-hot...
China’s Offshore Leaks: So What?
Two recent stories by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists detailed China’s elite funneling money out of China to tax havens in the Caribbean. We asked contributors to...
China Reveals Members of New Leading Group on Reform
The highly publicized nature of the meeting implies that the Party intends for the group to play a prominent role in future reforms.
Economic Shifts in U.S. and China Batter Markets
An index of Chinese manufacturing growth released on January 23 showed that the most important cog in the country’s economy, the world’s second-largest, was contracting for the first time in six months.
What Posture Should Joe Biden Adopt Toward A Newly Muscular China?
Susan Shirk:
United States Vice President Joseph Biden is the American political figure who has spent the most time with Xi Jinping and has the deepest understanding of Xi as an individual. Before Xi’s selection as P.R.C....
Xi Jinping Refills an Old Prescription
The reforms called for by the Third Plenum of the Eighteenth Party Congress have been, like so much else in China over the past few decades, part of an ongoing Chinese...
China’s Party Platter of Overhauls
There is hope that the Third Plenum, an important meeting in the life cycle of each five-year Party Congress, could bring real change in the spheres of real estate, banking, state-owned enterprises and currency.
What the Heck is China’s ‘Third Plenum’ and Why Should You Care?
China’s economy is already two-thirds the size of the economy of the U.S., and it’s been growing five times as fast. But now, China’s economy is beginning to slow and is facing a raft of difficult problems. If China’s leaders don’t address these...
Can China Keep Growing at 8% Annually?
China’s economy grew by 7.8% in the third quarter, its fastest pace since the end of 2012. For most world leaders heading into a party conclave, this would be triumphant news, but now the debate is over how far Xi can and should go to...
Can State-Run Capitalism Absorb the Shocks of ‘Creative Destruction’?
Following are ChinaFile Conversation participants’ reactions to “China: Superpower or Superbust?” in the November-December issue of...
China Urges Economic Policy Implementation to Spur Rebound
China’s central government called for “unrelenting” implementation of its economic policies and reform measures to consolidate the nation’s recovery from a two-quarter slowdown and improve the quality of growth.
China Past Due: Facing the Consequences of Control
In the midst of it all, the Chinese people increasingly expect a different kind of relationship with their government – one of citizens and not subjects. They want their rights respected and their preferences heard.