China annual political meetings passed without any great upheaval, but not all is well for president Xi Jinping, writes veteran journalist Ian Johnson, author of The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao in the New York Review of Book. No legal reforms, no successor, and then there is the economy.Read More →

Journalist Ian Johnson discusses his forthcoming book The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao on the return of religion in China. Chinese want now to do more than only make money, he says. They are looking what brings us together. What makes China tick?Read More →

After the first raving reviews of Zhang Lijia’s book Lotus: A Novel on prostitution in China, interviewers dive into her research and how her novel relates to real people. At ChinaReadings Mike Cormack takes a look at (among others) the photographer Zhao Tienlin.Read More →

In China most women enter the prostitution on their own free will. The government is criminalizing them, forcing them into a submissive position. What can be done? Author Zhang Lijia of Lotus: A Novel on prostitution researched the sex trade in China, and possible solutions and discusses government approaches.Read More →

China is becoming fast one of the most innovative markets, explains Shanghai-based managing director William Bao Bean of the Chinaccelerator. Fintech and mobile will leave their marks on 2017, he explains to a non-Chinese audience. While startups have a hard time to find funding, 9% of the startups in Shenzhen get one million US dollar in funding. In stead of joining foreign multinationals, young Chinese prefer now an entrepreneurial career.Read More →

Recent rumors about better relations between China´s central government and the Vatican has put attention to the small but influential following of the Vatican in China. Author Ian Johnson of the forthcoming book The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao elaborates at the NPR.Read More →

The sudden death of George Michael triggered off found memories in Beijing, where Michael´s band Wham! was one of the first to hit the stage after China started to open up in the 1980s. “They certainly had in impact on China, says Kaiser Kuo, now himself a rock legend in China, to Reuters.Read More →

Sino-American China veteran and rock star Kaiser Kuo will return to China in February and March 2017 for several visits. It will be the first time for him to visit after he left his job as communication director at internet giant Baidu earlier this year. He will visit Shanghai for a speech in the third week of March 2017.Read More →

Journalist Howard French, author of the forthcoming book Everything Under the Heavens: How the Past Helps Shape China’s Push for Global Powerdiscusses with Jeff Wasserstrom China´s mindset as a geopolitical power and its problem to reinvent itself in developing a new, true Chinese story during the upcoming era of US president Donald Trump.Read More →

Victoria Secret took on China online, but has now decided to open its first offline retail flagship store in Shanghai. They move very cautiously, says retail expert Ben Cavender in AdAge, and they have a fair chance of getting it right in one of the most difficult retail markets in the world.Read More →