Opinion

China’s steady progress: a beacon of certainty in an uncertain world
20Dec By Yusara AskariNo Comments

China’s steady progress: a beacon of certainty in an uncertain world

The recent Central Economic Work Conference, held recently in Beijing, reviewed and analyzed China's economic performance for this year and outlined key policy measures for the upcoming year. This conference not only set the course for China's economic development but also provided the world with a clear vision of stability, innovation, and growth opportunities. By strengthening confidence, leveraging its strengths, and addressing challenges proactively, China will continue to maintain its economic momentum, ensuring strong and consistent progress during the opening stage of the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030). Not long ago, Ningbo-Zhoushan Port in east China's Zhejiang province saw its annual container throughput surpass 40 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) for...
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Institutional reforms can help unlock savings
19Dec By Yusara AskariNo Comments

Institutional reforms can help unlock savings

China's economy has transformed from lengthy periods of shortages to one of surpluses, said Wu Xiaoqiu, dean of the National Academy of Financial Research at Renmin University of China. Wu was speaking to Seashell Finance, a financial news outlet of Beijing News, about ways to stimulate consumption in times of "surpluses". Below are excerpts of the interview. The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily. Back in the 1980s, the country's focus was on how to address shortages in supply. By turning the planned economy into a market economy, the country established incentive mechanisms and unleashed productive forces. But the toolbox designed to address supply shortages in the past is no longer suitable for the current circumstances, as overcapacity is widely seen in many...
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Fortress America is back, and it’s costing us
19Dec By Joanne SerriehNo Comments

Fortress America is back, and it’s costing us

On the verge of World War II and in the early Cold War, isolationists promoted the idea of walling off the country from the prospect of “foreign wars” and entanglement in alliances that would inevitably draw us into conflict. This “Fortress America” concept was xenophobic, anti-immigrant, nationalistic and, honestly, more than slightly paranoid about the enemies both “without” and “within.” Fortunately, other countervailing views that promoted engagement with the world, especially in the postwar rebuilding of Europe and Japan, carried the day. Alas, it appears that the darker forces of our nature predominate again. In the 11 months that Trump has held office, he has dismantled nearly all forms of foreign assistance, aside from those to boost American-made weapons systems, and dropp
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Asia United Steel has begun construction of a steel plant in Kazakhstan
12Dec By Nectar GanNo Comments

Asia United Steel has begun construction of a steel plant in Kazakhstan

The enterprise in the Kazybek Bek industrial zone will produce up to 1.2 million tons of steel and create about 600 jobs Construction of Asia United Steel’s steel plant has officially begun in the Kazybek Bek industrial zone in the Almaty region of Kazakhstan. This was announced in a press release on the government’s website. The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by regional leaders, representatives of local authorities, foreign investors, and project organizations. Regional authorities emphasized the strategic importance of the project for industrial development and strengthening the country’s economic potential. The project will be implemented in three stages and is expected to create about 600 new jobs. After commissioning in 2027, the plant will be able to pr
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China’s top political advisor meets delegation of A Just Russia party
10Dec By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

China’s top political advisor meets delegation of A Just Russia party

Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, meets with a delegation of A Just Russia party led by Sergey Mironov, head of the party, in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 8, 2025. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin) BEIJING, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- China's top political advisor Wang Huning met with a delegation of A Just Russia party led by Sergey Mironov, head of the party, on Monday in Beijing. Wang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said t...
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Trump confronts the EU with its greatest fear: Political interference from its biggest ally
8Dec By Joanne SerriehNo Comments

Trump confronts the EU with its greatest fear: Political interference from its biggest ally

The United States has launched a cultural and ideological war against liberal Europe The era of harmony in transatlantic relations is over. For Donald Trump’s United States, Europe — with its project of values and defense of the rules-based multilateral order — is an adversary. One that must be steered back onto the illiberal and reactionary path dictated by Trumpism and followed by its European allies: the ultra-right-wing, national-populist, and Eurosceptic Trojan Horses who seek to undermine the European Union from within. Washington, which refers to these groups as “patriotic” political parties and formations, aims to promote them in its new national security strategy. This promise of interference, of meddling in European sovereignty, might sound more like something autocracies
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“Imran Khan Is Alive”: Lawmaker Says Regime Pressuring Him To Leave Pakistan
30Nov By Yusara AskariNo Comments

“Imran Khan Is Alive”: Lawmaker Says Regime Pressuring Him To Leave Pakistan

Earlier this week, several social media handles from Afghanistan claimed that Imran Khan had been murdered inside Rawalpindi's jail. Refuting the rumours about Imran Khan's death, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Khurram Zeeshan on Saturday said the former Prime Minister is alive and currently lodged in Adiala jail. He added that Khan is being kept in isolation as a tactic to pressure him into leaving Pakistan. Speaking to ANI from Pakistan, Khurram Zeeshan, who is affiliated with Imran Khan's party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), said the regime in the country is threatened and scared of Imran Khan's popularity, which is why they have not allowed any pictures or videos of him to be released. Earlier this week, several social media handles from Afghanistan claimed t...
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Assessing China’s Fourth Plenum: Policy continuity, personnel turmoil
27Nov By Grace TsoiNo Comments

Assessing China’s Fourth Plenum: Policy continuity, personnel turmoil

hina’s recently concluded Fourth Plenum juxtaposed extensive purges and personnel turnover with policy continuity, as we discussed prior to the plenum. The plenum lasted from October 20 to October 23, concluding with the Chinese Communist Party leadership purging 10 members of the Central Committee, which, before the plenum, comprised the party’s top 205 officials, including 42 members of the military high command. On the policy side, this plenum was especially consequential because the party leadership provided its recommendations for the 15th Five-Year Plan (FYP), which will guide China’s development from 2026-2030. The plenum’s recommendations will feed into the final draft of the FYP, which will be formally approved by China’s National People’s Congress, its titular legislature, d
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Power shift to China delays new global rules
18Jan By Joanne SerriehNo Comments

Power shift to China delays new global rules

The once-laughable notion of selling solar power in the Middle East is now a rich vein for China to strengthen its presence in the region Amid geopolitical rivalry between China and the United States, including US sanctions on Chinese clean technology (cleantech), Beijing seeks to strengthen its presence in the Middle East, a region that has traditionally been in Washington’s sphere of influence. What regional actors seem to expect from China is assistance in the development of their green energy sectors. Estimates suggest the Middle East receives 22-26 per cent of the total solar energy on Earth. As such, it sees China as a desirable partner, knowing that the world’s second-largest economy can produce enough solar cells, electric vehicles and lithium-ion batteries for the regio
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Business collaboration might restore US-China relations under deal-maker Trump.
18Jan By Nectar GanNo Comments

Business collaboration might restore US-China relations under deal-maker Trump.

China can take a lesson from 1980s Japan, which defused bilateral frictions by strategically pivoting towards direct investment in US manufacturing As US president-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office on January 20, a pivotal moment in US-China relations is unfolding. One day before his inauguration, TikTok faces a shutdown under legislation requiring its Chinese parent ByteDance to divest or cease its US operations. Trump’s declaration last month that the United States and China “can together solve all the world’s problems” signals a reset in bilateral relations. He showed he was open to practical cooperation in his first term, notably with the phase-one trade agreement, which established frameworks for financial services and intellectual property protection, and expanded
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