With their domestic profits narrowing and production capacity expanding, China’s firms are continuing to widen their overseas footprints in search of new, more lucrative markets. In this series, we examine China Inc.’s next phase of “going global” and the complex, challenging international environment its companies have chosen to enter. The “Made in China” label has evolved considerably in recent decades. Mostly found affixed to low-cost goods of relative simplicity in China’s early years as a...

More than 30 mainland-listed consumer goods and tourism companies have rolled out offers to shareholders – ranging from substantial discounts to complimentary tickets to attractions they manage – in a bid to stimulate sales amid slowing consumption and mounting economic challenges. Among those pushing the initiative was packaged food maker Zhengzhou Qianweiyangchu Food, which announced on Monday that investors holding at least 100 shares were entitled to 200 yuan (US$28.31) worth of products....

With their domestic profits narrowing and production capacity expanding, China’s firms are continuing to widen their overseas footprints in search of new, more lucrative markets. In this series, we examine China Inc.’s next phase of “going global” and the complex, challenging international environment its companies have chosen to enter. On a busy roadside in Riyadh, K-pop music – popular among the city’s youth – pulses from the speakers of Javis Wang’s bubble tea shop. His stores have...

Shanghai has launched a crackdown on online content that talks down the property market, as the sector remains mired in a prolonged downturn and two leading data providers pull back on releasing updated sales figures for China’s top developers. The Shanghai branch of the Cyberspace Administration of China said it had instructed platforms including RedNote and Bilibili – often dubbed China’s answer to Instagram and YouTube – to remove content deemed to be spreading misleading or alarmist...

China’s average life expectancy hit a record 79 years in 2024, edging closer to developed-nation levels as the country grapples with a deepening demographic crisis and scrambles to improve aged-care resources. In discussing the all-time high, which broke the 2023 record of 78.6 years, National Health Commission (NHC) head Lei Haichao reiterated on Monday that the country’s newborns should be expected to live an average of 80 years by 2030 – a key metric in President Xi Jinping’s “Healthy China”...

As the United States renounces its climate commitments, a chain reaction of wavering pledges and scaled-back investments by other donors and multilateral institutions has followed. This trend raises the stakes for everyone else, underscoring the urgency of closing the financing gap for climate adaptation and mitigation in the developing world. Fortunately, China has increasingly been projecting itself as a source of alternative, low-cost funding for climate and sustainability projects across the...

Global business sentiment towards China improved in the third quarter of 2025, led by a sharp rebound among US companies, but growing concerns in Japan over tensions with Beijing over Taiwan are dragging on the overall outlook, according to a Morgan Stanley report. The US investment bank’s AlphaWise Global MNC China Sentiment Index rose three points to 31, placing sentiment in the “slightly positive” range and signalling a gradual recovery in confidence towards operating and expanding in...