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The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is China’s globe-spanning plan for infrastructure construction and development. The Chinese government describes it as a effort “to enhance regional connectivity and embrace a brighter future together.” More skeptical voices would describe it as a textbook exercise in debt trap diplomacy, straddling developing countries with unsustainable debt to create leverage over them. The truth is likely somewhere in between, says Jonathan Hillman, director of the Reconnecting Asia Project at CSIS. In this episode, we chat with Hillman about the details of BRI, possibilities for reform, and ways that the United States and its allies can compete with it. Jonathan Hillman’s recent book: The Emperor’s New Road: China and the Project of the CenturyReconnecting Asia’s interactive BRI trackerRead more articles about the economic aspects of the US-China relationship at the China Business Review.

With the election getting down to the wire, Anna Ashton, senior director of government affairs at the US-China Business Council, gives us her quick take on the Republican and Democratic approaches to addressing concerns related to China. Further reading: Anna Ashton: Republicans and Democrats Release Separate Sweeping Proposals for Managing the US-China Relationship Allie Klein: How a Biden Administration Might Approach Trade with China

National security concerns have come to the forefront of US policy toward China, including when it comes to issues formerly considered to be confined to the trade sphere. Ajay Kuntamukkala, Partner at Hogan Lovells, walks us through what tools the United States has at its disposal to address what it sees as threats from China.

Chinese students in the United States contribute around $15 billion a year to the American economy. But Chinese students now face a range of hurdles, from visa restrictions to currency fluctuations to the fallout of increased bilateral tensions. We speak with Peggy Blumenthal, an expert at the Institute of International Education, about the importance of Chinese students in the United States. Read more articles about the US-China relationship’s business and economic aspects in the China Business Review. Learn more about USCBC’s work on our website.

Hot and cold rhetoric surrounding the Phase One deal has sent mixed signals about the future of the US-China trade relationship. With Phase One now officially in effect for six months, I spoke with our own USCBC analysts Jack Kamensky, Pearson Goodman, and Alison Schonberg to get a read on whether China has been living up to its commitments or not. Claire Reade, senior counsel at Arnold & Porter and former assistant USTR for China affairs, also gives her take on the strongest and weakest parts of the agreement, as well as what industry can do to withstand political headwinds. Further reading: Claire Reade: Trade May Still Be the Ballast in US-China Relations—At Least for Now (CSIS) Alison Schonberg: Phase One Purchases Lag as Trade Slowly Bounces Back from COVID-19 USCBC: Phase One Commitment Tracker

From its role as a punching bag in the presidential race to it being the target of executive, legislative, and judicial actions, China looms large in American politics. In 2020, that presence is overwhelmingly a negative one. Recent polling from Pew shows that 73% of Americans hold an unfavorable view of China, compared to a meager 22% who hold a positive view. China hasn’t always been such a lightning rod in US politics. To understand how we got to this moment and what we can expect going forward, we speak with Sheena Chestnut Greitens, an Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Austin and non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and Anna Ashton, Senior Director of Government Affairs at the US-China Business Council. Relevant links Clips of Christopher Wray: China’s Attempt to Influence US Institutions: A Conversation with FBI Director Christopher Wray Clips of Mike Pompeo: Communist China and the Free World’s Future Theme music by Tours, under CC BY 3.0 Other music by Podington Bear under CC BY-NC 3.0

Beijing’s decision to propose a new national security law for Hong Kong has reignited debates over the city’s future. We figured two people who would be able to provide some insight are James McGregor, Chairman of APCO Worldwide, and Mark Clifford, Executive Director of the Asia Business Council. In a fairly wide-ranging conversation, James and Mark touch on the legal, political, and economic aspects of the national security law and the future of Hong Kong. Read more articles on the China Business Review USCBC: Four Implications of Revoking Hong Kong’s Special Status with the United States

The road to economic recovery after COVID-19 will look quite different for China compared to its response during the last global financial crisis. Houze Song is a research fellow at the Paulson Institute’s think tank, MacroPolo. He characterizes China’s approach so far as “relief first, stimulus second.” Read more articles on the US-China relationship on the China Business Review.

Between the combined effects of US and Chinese tariffs, and the economic fallout of COVID-19, company supply chains are facing historic challenges. But are those supply chains moving? The recently released Reshoring Index from Kearney, a management consulting firm, is trying to answer that question by analyzing trade flows. Their report showed a sharp decline in manufacturing imports from China. We spoke with Patrick Van den Bossche, one of the report’s authors, about what the paper tells us about global supply chains. Links:  Read the The Reshoring Index from Kearney. Learn more about USCBC on our website. Read more articles about the US-China relationship’s business and economic aspects on the China Business Review.  

Since COVID-19 began hitting hard in the United States, Congress has already proposed several pieces of legislation that target China. At the same time, China, the United States, and several other countries have erected barriers to the trade of personal protective equipment (PPE) that is critical in containing the virus’ spread. Senior Director of Government Affairs at the US-China Business Council Anna Ashton breaks down what this means for the US-China relationship and whether there is any merit to the PPE argument.  

As the COVID-19 situation in China has begun to stabilize, some people are considering heading back to China. What does that process look like? We wanted to get a more human perspective of what it can be like, so we gave Chris Miller a call. He’s a business advisory services manager working in our Shanghai office and he recently flew back to China from the US. His personal experience adds some interesting color to the story of what returning to China is like. Obviously, regulations are changing rapidly and what was true for him might not necessarily be true for travelers today, but his story still provides the outlines of what one might expect. Read more articles on the business and economic aspects of the US-China relationship on the China Business Review.

What is behind the uptick in legislation related to China? More than 252 proposals in the 116th Congress so far, to be exact. Anna Ashton, senior director of government affairs at the US-China Business Council, provides a glimpse into the forces driving China policy in Congress. Read more articles about the US-China relationship in our digital magazine.   Our theme music is from Ryan Andersen under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license. Other music in the episode is by Podington Bear under a CC BY-NC 3.0 license.

As the number of deaths from the novel coronavirus reaches the 2,000s, what does the future look like for China and the rest of the world? Is the turning point for the infection rate around the corner? This week, we speak with Dr. Yanzhong Huang, Senior Fellow for Global Health at the Council on Foreign Relations. The China Business Review Podcast is a companion to our digital magazine of the same name. Read more articles about business, economics, and the US-China relationship on the China Business Review.   Our music is by Podington Bear under (CC BY-NC 3.0).

The relationship between the United States and Hong Kong is in a period of increased scrutiny. The passage of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act has brought the trajectory of the US relationship with Hong Kong into focus within the context of broader questions about the US-China relationship. This week, we take a deep dive into what we know about recent Hong Kong-related legislation, what the political implications are, and what the business impacts look like. Guests: Shelley Su: Shelley is a senior consultant at Crowell & Moring International, where she advises trade associations and leaders of major American companies operating in the Asia Pacific on US-China economic relations and US government relations strategies. Andrew Blasi: Andrew is a director at Crowell & Moring International, where he guides the development and management of large-scale, multi-sectoral partnerships around the world. He supports collaboration between the public and private sector across a range of complex areas, such as ethical business practices, structural reform, and fostering innovation. Chynna Hawes: Chynna is a manager with USCBC Government Affairs working on congressional outreach and legislative tracking. Prior to joining USCBC, Chynna worked in the communications industry in Shanghai, helping major multinationals and Fortune 500 companies promote and protect their reputations in the China market. Useful resources: Read more articles about the US-China relationship and pressing business issues on the China Business Review. Learn more about Crowell & Moring International on their website. Learn more about the US-China Business Council on our website.

After a year and half of waiting and speculating, China’s Central Committee wrapped up its fourth plenary session at the very end of last month. Once the secretive, closed-door meeting finished, the results were shared with the public through a communique and press conference. But what was in the text? What can we can learn from those documents? And what other details can we look for to learn more about concrete implementation processes? To answer these questions, we turned to Mingda Qiu, who is a research associate with the Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Resources:  Five Takeaways from China’s Fourth Plenum (China Business Review) Red Flags: Why Was China’s Fourth Plenum Delayed? (CSIS) China Business Review (there’s always more to read here!) Our music is by Ryan Andersen

China’s fintech firms are now expanding globally. But why and how did the fintech boom happen in China in the first place? As it turns out, it’s a lot more than QR codes. Martin Chorzempa, research fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics unpacks this and more. Further reading: Who Likes Facebook’s Libra Currency? Not the Chinese  (Martin Chorzempa) Fintech in China: What Lies Ahead (Knowledge@Wharton) China Doesn’t Yet Have a Grip on P2P Lending Risks (Martin Chorzempa)

From 2008 to 2018, China’s nonfinancial corporate debt grew from $4.56 trillion to nearly $20 trillion. The IMF estimates that zombie firms constituted almost one tenth of all nonfinancial corporate debt in China in 2016. To learn more about what zombie firms are and what we can learn from them, we spoke with Tianlei Huang, a research analyst at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Read more on the China Business Review! Articles from Tianlei Huang on SOE debt: China Is Only Nibbling at the Problem of “Zombie” State-Owned Enterprises Tracking China’s Debt-to-Equity Swap Program: “Great Cry and Little Wool”

The social credit system is one of the more controversial and widely discussed topics in China coverage today. But how does this individual social credit system differ from the social credit system for companies? And how does it actually work? We talk with Angela Deng, a Manager of Business Advisory Services at the US-China Business Council to break down the corporate social credit system. Angela explains how the system works, the challenges China faces in completing and launching the system, and how companies should prepare for its rollout. In-depth coverage for USCBC members: How China’s Social Credit System Will Impact Companies Read more articles about every aspect of the US-China commercial relations on the China Business Review! Our music is by Ryan Andersen. 

Media narratives about 5G are often couched in the language of a race, or clouded by concerns of national security. But what exactly is 5G? To understand the terms of the debate we spoke with Naomi Wilson. Naomi is the Senior Director of Policy for Asia at the Information Technology Industry Council, a global advocacy and policy organization for companies in the innovation and technology space. Read more about the US-China relationship on the China Business Review!

Chinese investment in the United States has fallen from a peak of $46.5 billion in 2016 to only $5.4 billion in 2018. At the same time, Chinese investment and construction has also fallen on a global scale. What’s driving this and is it likely to continue for the foreseeable future? We talk with Derek Scissors, Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and the author of the China Global Investment Tracker. Read more on the China Business Review! Our music is by Ryan Andersen.