Much of China and many Chinese have become wealthy. But just a few decades ago, remembers author Zhang Lijia of “Socialism Is Great!”: A Worker’s Memoir of the New China Spring Festival was the only moment in the year where food was abundant. At her website, she looks with a nostalgic view at those poorer times.Read More →

China has become a politicized society, and countries and businesses can only ignore politics at their own peril. That is one of the key messages of political analyst Shaun Rein’s book The War for China’s Wallet: Profiting from the New World Order, and at the China Economic Review, he explains how that – in his view – works.Read More →

Chinese New Year is ahead and economists have their predictions about the country’s economy ready. Much of their gloomy prospects (Over-investment, too much debt, bubbly markets, faked data, Ponzi-like financial structures) depends on their location, observes business analyst Shaun Rein, author of The War for China’s Wallet: Profiting from the New World Order, according to Bloomberg. Those located in China tend to get the uptick in the economy better than those observing China from afar.Read More →

Western observers wrongly assume that China’s rigid censorship is stopping the country from being innovative. As China is becoming a leader in global innovation, that misunderstanding should be dealt with, says China veteran and former Baidu communication director Kaiser Kuo to Time about Baidu’s CEO Robin Li.Read More →

Is China going to replace the US as the global superpower in the near future? No, says China watcher Kaiser Kuo in SupChina. “Even if China and the U.S. continue to grow at roughly their current rates, China’s per capita GDP won’t have overtaken that of the U.S.”Read More →

Author Ian Johnson of The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao meets controversial artist Qiu Zhijie for the New York Review of Books.Before the interview, Ian Johnson puts Qiu and their first meetings into perspective. Here is the introduction of the interview.Read More →

Economists seldom all agree when it comes to China’s economic future, but there is a widespread optimism about the expected country’s performance for 2018, tells leading economist Arthur Kroeber, author of China’s Economy: What Everyone Needs to Know®, to the South China Morning Post.Read More →

Daoism is key to understand today’s China, says journalist Ian Johnson, author of The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao. to ABC News. “You can provide values, an escape for people, or turn inward to piety, but you cannot challenge the Government. You can’t be an alternative source of values or the Government will turn against you.”Read More →

When opening and reform of China took off, Western visitors were received as saviors. But that attitude has changed dramatically, writes Chinese-American Kaiser Kuo at SupChina. “While I full-throatedly decry this kind of anti-foreignism, I think at some level it’s entirely natural, and I’m actually thankful that it’s kept mostly in check,” he says.Read More →

Ant Financial, Didi Chuxing and Xiaomi made it to the top-3 Chinese unicorns in 2017 on a list of 120 most successful unicorns in Greater China, announced the Hurun Greater China Unicorn 2017 Index last week. Beijing is leading the pack, says Hurun founder Rupert Hoogewerf, followed by Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou. Keeping up with the amazing growth is tough, Hoogewerf tells AsiaVenturepedia.Read More →

Getting rid of legal barriers is key for using innovation in real life, and Beijing approved the first regulations in China on self-driving cars, writes lawyer Mark Schaub at the China Law Insight. He elaborates on the details. “We expect more regions to follow Beijing’s lead and compete for innovation in this key sector,” he adds.Read More →