Good evening. Last week, the People’s Bank of China announced that its digital currency, the digital yuan, had been used in $982 billion worth of transactions — a four-fold jump from the year before. Our cover story this week looks at Beijing’s efforts to get the digital yuan off the ground and what it might mean for the U.S. dollar, international transactions, and China’s fintech giants. Elsewhere, we have infographics on the recent changes in China’s beer market; an interview with Yuan Yang on China’s gender and rural-urban divides; a reported piece on the roadblock facing China’s self-driving vehicles; and an op-ed about the problem with “overcapacity” in China’s automotive industry. If you’re not already a paid subscriber to The Wire, please sign up here.
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Gaining Currency
Is China’s digital yuan finally taking off? China was the first major economy to launch a central bank digital currency and, despite several setbacks, is starting to see results. Rachel Cheung reports.
The Big Picture: China’s Luxury Liquor
Craft beer flavors are growing more popular in China, while foreign brewers see turbulence in the market. This week’s infographics look at changes in China’s beer market — the world’s largest by sales.
A Q&A with Yuan Yang
Born in Sichuan, Yuan Yang moved to the UK at the age of four. She started her career as a journalist at The Economist and spent eight years at the Financial Times, where she became the deputy bureau chief in Beijing. She was recently elected as the Labour MP for Earley and Woodley, in the south of England. Just before entering parliament, her new book, Private Revolutions: Four Women Face China’s New Social Order, came out, which draws on stories she collected during her time reporting in China. In this week’s Q&A with Rachel Cheung, she talks about her book, the end of optimism for the younger generations, and being the first Chinese-born British MP.
Yuan Yang
Illustration by Kate Copeland
The Roadblock Facing China’s Self-Driving Vehicles
How China’s autonomous driving companies fare in foreign markets will depend on whether they can soothe concerns over how they handle data. Rachel Cheung reports.
The Problem With “Overcapacity” in China’s Automotive Industry
In this week’s op-ed, John Paul Helveston, Paul Triolo and Jonas Nahm argue that the debate over China’s auto exports is bedeviled by narrow definitions and mis-measurement that risks encouraging the wrong policy response.
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