China's Economy

Mind the gap: China’s megaproject promises fall short of reality in Southeast Asia
Mind the gap: China’s megaproject promises fall short of reality in Southeast Asia
In Bangkok in 2010, Chinese and Thai authorities were discussing a dream: the possibility of working together on a high-speed rail project, which would be Southeast Asia’s first…
Shipping and the great shrinking waterways
Shipping and the great shrinking waterways
How low can the Yangtze go? Although Asia’s longest river is making a slow recovery from the late-2022 drought that stopped some of the traffic up the “golden waterway” that…
Don’t let China veto Australia’s ties with Taiwan
Don’t let China veto Australia’s ties with Taiwan
Conflict over Taiwan would be calamitous. It risks sparking a US–China war, imperilling millions of lives on both sides of the Strait, and destroying Taiwan’s hard-won liberal…
Beijing’s interest in the Middle Corridor
Beijing’s interest in the Middle Corridor
Reports of Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili’s recent visit to China and his meeting with President Xi Jinping suggest that Beijing remains interested in the…
Australia must play the geoeconomics game, or risk being side-lined
Australia must play the geoeconomics game, or risk being side-lined
Last month, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon stated geopolitics is now the biggest global risk to the economy. Australian business leaders on the receiving end of Chinese economic…
China does not need currency manipulation to boost its exports
China does not need currency manipulation to boost its exports
China’s economic troubles are prompting concern that the government might weaken its currency in an attempt to export the economy out of trouble. That would see China increasingly…
Is China finally getting serious about hukou reform?
Is China finally getting serious about hukou reform?
Across July and August, the province of Zhejiang and China’s central government announced significant changes to the country’s hukou – household registration – system. These…
China’s troubles may well get worse before they get better
China’s troubles may well get worse before they get better
China hoped its economy would rebound quickly after the lifting of its draconian zero-Covid policies late last year. But ten months on, China’s economic recovery is sputtering…
China’s slowdown is nothing to celebrate
China’s slowdown is nothing to celebrate
US President Joe Biden recently referred to China’s economy as a “ticking time-bomb”. While his administration might like to think the increase in US restrictions on trade and…
Berlin’s economic “de-risking” model could be Europe's answer to the Taiwan question
Berlin’s economic “de-risking” model could be Europe's answer to the Taiwan question
On 13 July, Germany released its China strategy white paper. The 64-page document highlighted the European power’s acceptance of a “systemic rivalry” with the People’s Republic of…