China's economy, trade and politics shape markets and policy everywhere. Our researchers look at its growth, its industries and its relationship with the rest of the world.
6 articles
LatestMarkets
China’s leading AI models are approaching US performance despite a vast gap in measured private investment. The divergence suggests that financing structures, computing constraints and diminishing returns matter as much as headline spending.
7 min read
Evergrande founder Hui Ka Yan's life sentence has renewed scrutiny of a property crash that has dragged down growth, confidence and consumer spending across the world's second-largest economy.
Global private equity made zero new deals in mainland China in the first seven months of 2026, even as it raised record Asia funds for Japan and India. The retreat is structural, not cyclical, and none of the forces driving it are in reverse.
For decades China was constrained by what it could produce. It is now constrained by what its households will buy, and the surplus it exports instead is reshaping trade policy across the world.
A $200 million upfront payment, with milestones potentially taking the deal's total value to $1.9 billion, gives AstraZeneca exclusive rights to develop and commercialise an experimental COPD treatment outside China. More importantly, it highlights a broader shift in how Big Pharma is sourcing innovation.
China's factories are shipping more than they have in years, driven by an AI-fuelled tech boom. Yet second-quarter growth still slowed to 4.3%, its weakest in decades outside the pandemic, a reminder that strong exports don't always mean a strong economy.