Executive Summary: Pursuit of artificial general intelligence (AGI) is a top-priority project within the Party’s increasingly centralized technology planning apparatus. Its success would both close the gap with U.S. firms and bind AGI models to Party-state governance, shaping how intelligent systems are aligned, deployed, and... MORE

Executive Summary: Tibet’s Yarlung Tsangpo hydropower project, which broke ground in July, is set to become the world’s largest hydrpower installation. Officials see it as a key pillar of the PRC’s energy sovereignty and a step toward implementing the “total national security concept” and the... MORE

Executive Summary: Smart home device manufacturers in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) benefit from efforts by Beijing to export data infrastructure and governance standards along with “Internet of Things” (IoT) devices. Manufacturers like Xiaomi, TCL, and Skyworth maintain strong links with the PRC government... MORE

Executive Summary: This August, 62 experts from the fields of science and technology, philosophy and social sciences, and basic research were invited to take a vacation and meet with senior officials in Beidaihe as part of an annual tradition that dates back to at least... MORE

Executive Summary: Beijing views control over the platforms, standards, and data flows of the Internet of Things (IoT) era as a source of lasting structural leverage, and has spent more than a decade positioning itself at the center of this emerging system. The PRC’s share... MORE

Executive Summary: Hong Kong launched a new stablecoin regime on August 1, continuing its cautious embrace of emerging financial products nearly three years after declaring its intention to become a digital assets hub. In anticipation of the new regime, July saw a flurry of fundraising... MORE

Executive Summary: Beijing’s maritime strategy hinges on expanding what it calls the “blue economy,” which is increasingly integrated with broader strategic ambitions under the rubric of becoming a “strong sea power.” Central government policies and five-years plans call for deeper cross-regional integration to support the... MORE

Executive Summary: The PRC is exporting an integrated system of smart devices, data infrastructure, and governance standards. Through industrial policy, state-backed overproduction, and strategic data asymmetry, Beijing is building a global IoT architecture designed to embed PRC standards, influence, and governance into the connected environments... MORE

Executive Summary: A series of investigations and arrests across Eurasia has revealed a rise in international call center fraud operations, underscoring the increasingly transnational nature of cybercrime in the region. Russian-language cybercrime has historically avoided targeting Russia or members of the Commonwealth of Independent States,... MORE

Executive Summary: Xi Jinping has elevated Command Innovation to the core logic of the People’s Republic of China’s economy—superseding traditional growth drivers by fusing “self-reliant” strategic-industrial planning with direct financial control. This engineered system gives Beijing new leverage over how capital is deployed and who... MORE