
Latest China Brief Articles

Year-End CCP Politburo Meetings Stress Political Loyalty—and Hint at Potential Shake-Ups in the Party Bureaucracy
Introduction The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Politburo held two official meetings in December 2020, both of which were publicized after the fact by official summaries presented in government outlets. The first of these was a “collective study” session held in the first half of the... MORE

Behind Xi Jinping’s Declaration of Victory Over Poverty
Introduction The Chinese state news organization Xinhua announced on November 23 that nine counties in Guizhou had been lifted out of absolute poverty, marking the removal of all counties from China’s national list of most impoverished counties (Xinhua, November 24). About a week later, Chinese... MORE

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s Limited Role In Easing Tensions Between China and India
Introduction Recent clashes between India and China over the Line of Actual Control (LAC) have created a potential existential crisis for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The dispute flared up in May of this year, escalating in June and resulting in the first deaths of... MORE

Understanding the Financial Picture Behind Ant’s IPO Suspension
Introduction Jack Ma’s good days have gone, at least for now. The IPO suspension of Chinese tech giant Alibaba’s Ant Group, merely two days before its scheduled dual listing on the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges drew global attention. Some argued that the IPO... MORE

Is the RCEP China’s Gain and India’s Loss?
Introduction On November 15, fifteen nations in the Indo-Pacific region — including China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and the ten ASEAN members Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines — signed the world’s largest trade agreement. Known as... MORE

Early Warning Brief: Beijing’s Blunt Message to President-elect Joe Biden
Introduction The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has sent a polite but blunt message to the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Joseph R. Biden, urging the resumption of high-level ties while at the same time showing off China’s military and economic might. In his belated... MORE

Dual Circulation’s Implementation Necessitates A Crackdown on Fintech
Introduction Rumors swirled about a crackdown on the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba following an incendiary speech given by its founder Jack Ma in late October, which criticized global banking standards and the Chinese regulatory system (TechNode, November 9). The suspension on November 3 of the... MORE

Huawei’s Global Advancement of Alternative Internet Protocols
Introduction Huawei, the large international telecommunications company headquartered in Shenzhen, China, made headlines in May 2020 with its development of a “NEW IP Framework.” The technical document proposed a new framework for a “future Internet protocol” to address shortcomings of the original Internet Protocol’s (IP)... MORE

Sino-Russian Cooperation in Outer Space: Taking Off?
Introduction China and Russia are the two most influential space players besides the United States. Whereas in the past NASA was Moscow’s partner of choice, many influential Russians now look to China as their main future partner. Sino-Russian cooperation regarding global positioning and navigation satellites,... MORE

Tibet Railway Network Speeding Up to the Indian Border
Introduction The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is set to begin construction on a strategic stretch of railway between Ya’an city in the southern province of Sichuan and Nyingchi (Linzhi) city in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR, also commonly referred to as Tibet). The Ya’an-Nyingchi... MORE