China veteran Kaiser Kuo looks at the lessons the West can learn from China, and how the China debate needs a much-needed reshuffle, a major essay at the Ideas Newsletter. “The question is whether we will meet it with the rigorous self-examination that has historically enabled democratic renewal, or retreat once more into the comforting myths that have blinded us to both our weaknesses and our rivals’ strengths,” Kuo writes.Read More →

China is going to be the likely winner in the trade tensions the second-largest economy in the world has with the US, Shanghai-based business analyst Shaun Rein, author of The Split: Finding the Opportunities in China’s Economy in the New World Order, explains at ScanX. “While the situation remains fluid, Rein’s analysis suggests that China may be better positioned to weather the current trade tensions.”Read More →

Financial and political analyst Victor Shih, author of Factions and Finance in China: Elite Conflict and Inflation, discusses the current state of China’s real estate and why it has taken so long for China’s leadership to deal with this crisis. The bottoming-out process of the industry is not yet complete, he says at TaiwanPlus.Read More →

Gabor Hock, an intercultural leadership coach and author of Dragon Suit: The Golden Age of Expatriate Executives In China (2023), looks back at his China career over the past 25 years and wonders whether China is still welcoming expats in 2025 as much as it did in 2000 on his weblog.Read More →

Arthur Kroeber, author of  China’s Economy: What Everyone Needs to Know, discusses the state of China’s current economy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on September 9. “So there are a lot of problems. It’s not vibrant from a consumer standpoint. But from a productive standpoint, there’s a lot that’s going right,” he says, according to Social News XYZ.Read More →

Financial analyst  Victor Shih dives into China’s fiscal policies. Most of the country’s expenditure has traditionally been only for a marginal percentage on consumption, but on government investments. So, while consumption has gone down, the way to push the economy ahead is not to encourage consumption, but government spending, he argues. He turns against the current government policy of austerity at local governments; it should move in the opposite direction, he argues at the Asia Society, Northern California chapter.Read More →

Branding expert Ashley Dudarenok follows brands from China as they are successfully taking on their global competitors. But global brands are not sitting idle, as rivals from China march on, she says in the Jing Daily. Stories about Luckin Coffee, Anta, Li-Ning, Perfect Diary, Haier, Midea, BYD, and Labubu.Read More →

The number one mistake the West has about China is that China wants to replace the US as the leading global force, says China veteran Kaiser Kuo in an extensive interview in the Smart Cookies Episode. But that is only one of many misunderstandings.Read More →

Leading economist Arthur Kroeber, author of China’s Economy: What Everyone Needs to Know®, explains at CNBC why China can walk away from a trade agreement with the US if they do not like it, although its economy is not very bright at this stage. He does not expect to see any great push to improve consumption or the economy at large, as the leadership is happy with the current modest growth.Read More →

China’s consumers are dramatically changing their spending habits, says business analyst Shaun Rein at CNBC. They might not spend on EVs and real estate, but they are sitting on massive savings and will spend when they see the value. Why is Legoland winning the fight for the Chinese consumer, while Starbucks is losing it? Why do they enjoy holidays in mainland China, rather than Thailand or Europe?Read More →

Many observers wrongly see the current trade war between China and the US as a Cold War 2.0, says political analyst Arthur Kroeber, author of China’s Economy: What Everyone Needs to Know® in an interview with Dwarkesh Patel. If American politicians started this war without seeing the difference from a cold war, it might be tough to bring it to an end, he adds.Read More →