CBBC went to the Labour and Conservative party conferences earlier this month. Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles (chair) joins the China Business Brief to give his readout on how both parties are developing their respective foreign and economic policies vis-a-vis China and what businesses can expect in the near-term future from a new government under Prime Minister Liz Truss.  The views expressed in the China Business Brief podcast are those of invited contributors and not necessarily those of the China-Britain Business Council (CBBC). We do not accept any liability if the podcast is used for an a ..read more

A lot has happened in China over the course of the year so far, much of which has been in anticipation of next month's Party Congress. Andrew Seaton (CEO, China-Britain Business Council) joins Joe Cash for a refresher, as China watchers the world over turn their attention to next month's meeting and wonder whether it might bring about any change to the zero Covid policy, the economic troubles the market is experiencing, and how China engages with the wider world.  The views expressed in the China Business Brief podcast are those of invited contributors and not necessarily those of the Chi ..read more

Worries about the health of the Chinese economy are mounting. Despite the respectable growth of 4.8% for the first quarter of this year, several indicators suggest that it is starting to come under considerable strain. Last month’s economic data showed an economy that is struggling in the face of multiple headwinds: April’s Purchasing Manager Index (PMI) – which measures the Chinese manufacturing sector – dropped to 47.4, the lowest figure since the start of the pandemic, while export data weakened to just 3.9%, the slowest monthly growth since June 2020. Getting the economy back on track will ..read more

China can be a complex and challenging market for new exporters. While the country holds huge potential for small and medium sized (SMEs) companies from across a wide range of sectors, for sure, getting your company in front of China’s 1.4 billion consumers will first require you to get to grips with a raft of market barriers and its regional diversity. And this can be tricky.  Kiran Patel, CBBC's Senior Director - Commercial, speaks to Joe Cash on some of the ways successful SMEs in China have overcome these hurdles, particularly now travel to and from the country is difficult.  The ..read more

China’s political leaders have just completed their big annual meetings known as the ‘Two Sessions’ or LiangHui. The meetings are important every year, in that they demonstrate Beijing’s priorities for the economy in the year ahead. This year’s event was particularly notable for the government's emphasis on stability, despite the meetings taking place against a backdrop of China facing its worst Covid outbreak since the early days of the pandemic in January 2020 and a difficult external environment following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Jeff Astle, APCO's Managing Director in Shanghai, joins ..read more

China's policymakers have been busy upgrading the country's cybersecurity regime. Over the last couple of years, the Cybersecurity Law (2016) has evolved and been joined by a whole host of accompanying legislation, including the Personal Information Protection Law and the Data Security Law of last year. In short: Beijing has made clear that data must be regulated and that it falls on companies to ensure that they are toeing the line. Many of the country's tech giants have already fallen foul of such legislation, but China's new cybersecurity regulatory regime is about so much more than meting ..read more

2021 was a tumultuous year in EU-China relations. It began with both sides celebrating the agreement of a new investment deal. Its end was marked by the worst crisis in relations between Brussels and Beijing since 1981—with Lithuania imitating the Dutch diplomats that came before and recalling its representatives as Vilnius' bilateral relationship with Beijing soured and was downgraded. The EU and China also imposed tit-for-tat sanctions on several officials and Members of the European Parliament. Annus horribilis comes to mind. But Brussels' man in Beijing, Ambassador Nicolas Chapuis, is opti ..read more

2021 was supposed to be a big year in Chinese financial and professional services policy. Following the agreement in principle of the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment late last year, analysts and financiers alike expected financial liberalisation to be high on the agenda as Brussels and Beijing sat down to ratify the deal over the course of this year. But while the openings that foreign banks had hoped for appear someway off, and China's markets have become more controlled under the guise of 'Common Prosperity', British banks have continued to do well in the market throughout 202 ..read more

Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles (Chair, China-Britain Business Council) speaks to Joe Cash on how his distinguished career within the British foreign service prepared him to join the ongoing debate on the UK's future economic relationship with China.  The views expressed in the China Business Brief podcast are those of invited contributors and not necessarily those of the China-Britain Business Council (CBBC). We do not accept any liability if the podcast is used for an alternative purpose from which it is intended, nor to any third party in respect of this podcast ..read more

This week on the China Business Brief, the China-Britain Business Council’s in-house policy team talk through some of the meanings that have been assigned to the Chinese government’s goal to achieve Common Prosperity. As Torsten Weller (CBBC’s UK-based policy analyst) explains, the term finds its origins in 1950s Maoist China but has come a long way since then and undergone a metamorphosis of late. From the recent crackdowns on the country’s big tech companies to tax-evading celebrities, the term appears to have found widespread application since being revealed to have been the topic of a meet ..read more