Books written by Chinese President Xi Jinping are shown at the Museum of the Communist Party of China in Beijing. Credit: Yomiuri Shimbun/AP Images
The Chinese government has given global investors a series of unpleasant surprises in recent weeks, with several unexpected announcements causing market sell-offs, primarily in tech stocks. Some have argued that investors should have been better prepared, given that the areas affected — including data privacy, online gaming and private tutoring — have long been of concern to policy makers in Beijing.
But the reality is that central government policy-making has become extremely difficult to predict, dramatically increasing the uncertainties around investing in Chinese stocks. Beijing’s recent actions have proven to be costly manifestations of what can happen when political power is highly concentrated, with the negative effect of sudden changes in policy direction compounded by zealous implementation from bureaucrats — and a phenomenon I call the “magical swords” syndrome.
During Xi Jinping's first term as China’s leader, pundits at home and abroad generally pr
Exclusive longform investigative journalism, Q&As, news and analysis, and data on Chinese business elites and corporations. We publish China scoops you won't find anywhere else.
A weekly curated reading list on China from David Barboza, Pulitzer Prize-winning former Shanghai correspondent for The New York Times.
A daily roundup of China finance, business and economics headlines.
We offer discounts for groups, institutions and students. Go to our Subscriptions page for details.
Increasingly, Democrats and Republicans believe that climate change and China pose a single interconnected challenge. As a result — and for the first time ever — a window is opening for bipartisan cooperation on climate policy. Historically progressive ideas like a 'carbon border adjustment mechanism' now have conservative champions, for instance. But with Washington's main focus on the Warming War with China, can it still save the planet?
A look at China’s electricity grid: how it works, who foots the bill, and how its structure leads to power crunches and expensive prices despite the relative abundance of energy in China.
The academic talks about the changing understanding of Leninist regimes; common misperceptions of the post-Mao era; and what the collapse of the Soviet Union means for China today.
