The purpose of global free trade agreements is to create comprehensive rules of the road that transcend borders, lower trade barriers, and create new opportunities for market access and innovation. Signed on March 8, 2018, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is one such agreement. Currently signed by 11 Pacific-Rim countries, CPTPP covers a range of trade areas, including a significant focus on ecommerce, reflecting the growing importance of digital trade to global economic growth.    The role of data policy The rapid proliferation o ..read more

On January 15, 2020, the United States and China signed the Phase One trade agreement, signaling a thaw, at least temporarily, in the bilateral trade relationship.  As part of the agreement, China committed to purchase a significant amount of US goods and services over 2020 and 2021, as well as make a number of reforms in intellectual property, agriculture, and financial services that would benefit American companies. Two years later, most of the commitment deadlines have passed, but bilateral tariffs remain at nearly an all-time high. At this juncture, the China Business Review asked U ..read more

In recent months, the Chinese government has taken aim at the online gaming industry. Through restricting playing time for minors, imposing curfews, and encouraging content reviews, regulators are solidifying the transition from viewing the industry as an area with strong growth potential to a serious threat to China’s social dynamics. Gaming is increasingly viewed as threatening social cohesion and safety, leaving China’s internet giants and burgeoning gaming industry in a vulnerable position.  In aggregate, these measures present a new vision for gaming in China defined not by profitab ..read more

The COVID-19 pandemic, and the subsequent shutdowns and economic fluctuations, sent global supply chains into disarray in 2020. Although the economy has seen the beginnings of a recovery, the pandemic will have a lasting effect on how multinational companies manage their supply chains. With companies and governments putting a greater emphasis on supply chain resilience and security, the China Business Review spoke with Dr. Sara Hsu, an author and private consultant to US-based firms who helps executives pinpoint and address Chinese supply chain risks. CBR: To what extent are the US and Chines ..read more

The three-child policy, raising China’s birth cap from two children per mother to three and encouraging Chinese couples to have more children, sparked widespread societal pushback when it was unveiled in May. Young urbanites argued that the current cost of child-rearing makes having one child seem impossible, let alone three. These costs are intensified, they say, by things like skyrocketing real estate prices in major cities and expectations of providing extensive extracurricular and enrichment activities for children, aimed at ensuring a coveted college acceptance and a pathway to upward mo ..read more

In early May, China’s social media landscape buzzed with disturbing details of an emerging mail-order pet craze trending since at least January. Local animal rights activists published videos online revealing dozens of small crates containing puppies and kittens, thirsty and starving, neatly arranged outside of a dingy Chengdu depot. City authorities addressed the illegal activity by, astonishingly, returning to sender; never mind that they botched the return address. Current Chinese law prescribing the treatment of animals is intended to ensure sanitation and disease prevention in food produc ..read more

Semiconductors are a critical element of all electronic devices, including those used within communications, healthcare, computing, automobiles, and weaponry. Production of this tiny yet powerful technology is segmented across the globe. As a result, it is easily subject to disruption, be it economic or geopolitical. Semiconductor policy offers a rare window into how China is navigating supply chain dependence and complex interconnection.  China imports more than $300 billion in semiconductors annually and holds between 15 and 20 percent of global semiconductor capacity. Despite clear d ..read more

Digital health sits at the intersection of healthcare, emerging technologies, and data processing, all of which are of high importance to China’s long-term political, social, and economic objectives. The most prominent example of rapid digital health development in recent years is telemedicine. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic rendered many in-person treatment options untenable, forcing many providers to shift to digital solutions and kicking the industry’s development into overdrive.  According to a survey conducted last year, while only about one-in-four Chinese patients had used teleme ..read more

The Heihe-Tengchong Line is an imaginary division that slices China into two roughly equal land masses. Chinese geographer Hu Huanyong created this line in 1935 to illustrate that the vast majority of people—94% by recent estimates—live in the eastern half.  A region replete with industrial hubs, free trade zones, and megacities, it isn’t surprising that over 1.3 billion Chinese citizens reside to the right of Hu’s invisible line. Yet, while the east offers many of the best opportunities for jobs, education, and economic advancement, its population density is threatening many of th ..read more

Fifty states, fifty stories of trade relations with China. What distinguishes these stories from the national narrative, which is increasingly marked by wariness and even hostility toward China, is a pragmatic desire to keep trade flowing, preferably growing, while the federal government figures out the meaning of terms like “strategic competitors.” States are the terrain where rubber meets the road when it comes to trade policy. Get the trade policy right, and state economies benefit. Getting it wrong means job and tax revenue losses. For example, according to a recent study commissioned by ..read more