Making headlines at the 2024 Rio G20 Summit, Xi Jinping pledged to reshape global agri-trade. He committed to boosting PRC imports from developing countries to over US$8 trillion by 2030. This aspirational shift, then amplified in 2025 by the tsunami of US tariffs under Trump 2.0, signalled Beijing’s intent to diversify supply and reposition PRC agri-trade ties with the Global South.
food & agriculture
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30 May 2025
The PRC elderly care sector faces dual challenges: a shortage of care workers and constantly rising costs. Mass production of humanoid robots by 2025 was urged by MIIT in 2023. Many local governments earmarked funds for related R&D.
R&D
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28 May 2025
Successive cohorts of PRC university graduates passed 10 million for the years 2022–25, becoming the majority of candidates for urban jobs. Yet despite high unemployment among young adults, firms struggle to recruit qualified ‘talent’. To solve the mismatch, Beijing is rethinking tertiary education.
education
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22 May 2025
In the current fiscal woes, Beijing’s zero-base budgeting ambition shoots for a sustainable fiscal future. The aim is better allocation, not austerity. The model seeks to send money where most needed, while cutting waste, working with, not against stimulus action. This fiscal experiment, perhaps the most far-reaching yet under Xi, seeks to modernise how local areas spend—habits set in stone for decades.
economy
governance
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15 May 2025
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grains, gains, and guardrails in PRC–LatAm ties
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PRC medtech breaks through
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Beijing reshapes higher ed for strategic industries
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end in sight for ‘base+’ budgeting?
monitoring
recent commentary
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growth modelNPC legislative agendadraft legislation and trendsexternal law...read more15 May 2025
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ag bankingfarm upscalingnon-tariff barriersag market accessag industrialisationag subsidiesag riskfood security strategyfood consumptionfeeddairymeat...read more15 May 2025
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wait-and-see fiscal approach after tariff de-escalation
growth modelcentral budget...read more14 May 2025
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new rules for central environmental inspections
watersoilecological civilisationprotected area systemenvironmental lawbiodiversityrubbish and solid waste pollutionmarine environmentforestswildlife...read more13 May 2025
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Ren Zepingmacroeconomist and Vice President of the China Private Economy Research Association, Chief Economist at Zhongyuan Bank YuWa Population Research
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Tu XinquanUIBE (University of International Business and Economics) WTO Research Institute director
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