The Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics provides thought leadership for the policy community about China's economy. Retweet ≠ endorsement
Washington, DC
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Codels to China and Taiwan have dropped significantly. Isabella McCallum and Ryan Featherston analysed the decline in US congressional visits, the causes and potential impacts on US relations with China and Taiwan. Read their analysis here: csis.org/blogs/trustee-china…
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Congressional travel to China has collapsed since the pandemic, and travel to Taiwan is now falling sharply as well. As the cohort of members with firsthand experience shrinks, fewer in Congress know China directly at precisely the moment it matters most. Ryan Featherston and Isabella McCallum examine the consequences of this decline: csis.org/blogs/trustee-china…
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Overall effective US tariffs levels on trading partners. Read Scott Kennedy and Claire Reade's full commentary on the legal challenges for the new Section 301 tariffs, and the tariff's likely effectiveness. csis.org/analysis/section-30…
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China's domestic demand weakened in July. As Scott Kennedy demonstrated, efforts to increase domestic consumption since the pandemic have had limited impact. Listen to Scott's full remarks: piped.video/watch?v=FJKzkt46…
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With energy prices rising due to the Iran war, Chinese solar companies are seeing a boost in sales abroad. This uptick is a hopeful trend for beleaguered firms struggling with low prices and intense competition. Michael Davidson and Sandy Qian found that the challenging industry environment was likely to make Chinese solar firms more resilient. Read their full analysis here: csis.org/analysis/chinas-sol…
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EV sales in China dropped significantly this year after China ended consumption based subsidies, including a sales tax exemption on EV purchases. As Scott Kennedy showed in his past analysis of EV subsidies in China, sales tax exemptions grew into a significant portion of overall subsidies for the industry. csis.org/blogs/trustee-china…
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Read @KennedyCSIS and Claire Reade's assessment of the latest Section 301 tariffs: csis.org/analysis/section-30…
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There is a lot of debate on how China should boost domestic consumption. Most of this discussion centers on household consumption, but Ryan Featherston notes that past policies aimed to boost both household and business consumption: "This dual focus on consumers and firms is much more in line with a typical, supply-side oriented model of policy making..." csis.org/blogs/trustee-china…
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China's Ministry of Commerce published a position paper rejecting international allegations of industrial overcapacity. As Scott Kennedy explains, China does have a similar domestic debate, with different terminology: ”内卷/involution“, referring to excessive competition. csis.org/blogs/trustee-china…
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New solar installations in China are dropping as the sector grapples with supply-side imbalances. While China has seen record levels of solar installations the last 5 years, solar still accounts for less than 10% of the primary energy mix. Read more here: csis.org/analysis/new-carbon…
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South Korea's relationship with its two biggest trading partners, China and the US, is changing. Markets for Korean exports are shrinking, and imports from China to Korea are rising. South Korea is adapting by shifting to a new growth model as an AI ecosystem power. Read Navin Girishankar's full report on this shift: csis.org/analysis/export-nat…
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Starting Soon: Online round table discussion on China and the Section 301 Investigations: The Legal, Economic, and Diplomatic Issues. Join the conversation here: csis.org/events/china-and-se…
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Despite a record breaking roll out of renewable energy, coal is still the dominate source of energy in China. Chinese industry could shift to renewable energy more quickly as firms adapt to the EU's newly in force Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).
Read more about this potential shift in Ilaria Mazzocco and Ray Cai's June report: csis.org/analysis/new-carbon…
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As the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) comes into effect, local governments in China are helping firms prepare for the new carbon accounting rules. See the chart of assistance programs in @Mazzocco_Ilaria and Ray Cai's report for details: csis.org/analysis/new-carbon…
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China is cracking down on delayed payments to small and mid-sized enterprises, a downstream effect of local government debt challenges. Special bond proceeds are being directed toward clearing supplier arrears, which underscores the scale of the problem. This chart from Logan Wright's CSIS report Grasping Shadows traces how that bond mechanism developed to fill the gap in local revenues. csis.org/analysis/grasping-s…
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The EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism currently covers materials like steel and aluminium, and could expand to include secondary goods like washing machines. As this chart from @Mazzocco_Ilaria and Ray Cai's new CSIS report shows, industry dominates China's energy consumption, while coal remains the country's primary energy source. Chinese exporters targeting the EU market will need to adjust quickly.
Read more here: csis.org/analysis/new-carbon…
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"Many Western drug makers see little incentive to move away from Chinese suppliers, said Scott Kennedy...That feeling is mutual.
China’s pharmaceutical industry also remains highly dependent on partnerships with global companies, he added: “That indispensability creates interdependence that should lead both sides to be extremely careful about weaponizing their respective advantages.” foreignpolicy.com/2026/06/08…
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Place-based policy has long been a mainstay of China's industrial policy toolkit. This includes several AI pilot zones established by the government.
Read more here: csis.org/blogs/location-ever…
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"China has ramped up clinical trials, including for both domestically created novel drugs and for generic candidates first developed elsewhere. In addition, as others have shown, China is now the source of 30 percent of new innovative drugs produced globally."
Learn more about China's high-tech drive here: csis.org/analysis/chinas-hig…
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One of the key factors behind the changing dynamics of the U.S.-China relationship is China's increasing technological sophistication. In many technologies, China is now a peer competitor.
Learn more in 10 charts: csis.org/analysis/chinas-hig…
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Watch @KennedyCSIS on CBS news discuss the last week's summit - specifically what was discussed on Iran and tariffs.
Watch here: piped.video/watch?v=zcfDDOhB…
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@KennedyCSIS spoke with @BBC news about what to expect from Trump's visit to China - what the priorities are for each side and how the the six week delay may have shaped the agenda.
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OUT NOW: Ahead of the Trump-Xi summit this week, @KennedyCSIS looks back at what’s changed since Trump’s first and last visit in 2017 and explains why China is more confident in its ability to manage relations with the U.S..
Watch here: piped.video/Ja_pJ2_Iz14
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Striking chart worth resurfacing: in 2014, "lack of ability" and "lack of effort" topped the list of why Chinese respondents thought people were poor. By 2023, "unequal opportunity" and "unfair economic system" had taken their place.
Revisit our Big Data China feature: bigdatachina.csis.org/is-it-…
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BYD's sales fell for an eighth straight month in April, but overseas sales of passenger vehicles and pickup trucks was up 35%. Learn about how Chinese EVs from companies like BYD are reshaping emerging economies.
Read more here:csis.org/analysis/global-ev-…
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Since 2018, battery projects have helped drive a record wave of industrial spending that has seeded new manufacturing clusters across the South and Midwest.
Learn more about the state of the U.S. battery industry in a new report from our colleagues @CSISEnergy: csis.org/analysis/new-phase-…
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"In contrast to pharma, EVs, and other successes, China’s efforts at making its own commercial aircraft should be counted so far as a failure. The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) finally delivered its first narrow-body airliner, the C919, in late 2022, but it has been slow to ramp up production."
Read more about China's innovation triumphs and struggles here: csis.org/analysis/chinas-hig…
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As the war with Iran nears the end of its second month, take some time to learn about how global energy disruptions are affecting China from our China Pulse video series: piped.video/watch?v=1KnhLCi1…
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Our research found that output from the Wassenaar Arrangement dropped precipitously after the passage of Export Control Reform Act in 2018.
Learn more about what's driving this shift in a recent commentary from our program and @CSIS_Trade: csis.org/analysis/reining-ex…
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"Representatives from Chinese firms not only show up to standards meetings in large numbers, increasingly hold leadership positions, and put forward many proposals, but the number of accepted contributions from Chinese sources has also risen dramatically."
Read more here: csis.org/analysis/chinas-hig…
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@KennedyCSIS writing on China's participation in the 3GPP consortium, a key body which develops and maintains telecommunications standards:
"Chinese experts have gone from being passive observers to active leaders, heading more of 3GPP’s working groups than representatives from any other country."
Read the main takeaways from the Power of Innovation report in a 10 charts commentary: csis.org/analysis/chinas-hig…
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"Representatives from Chinese firms not only show up to standards meetings in large numbers, increasingly hold leadership positions, and put forward many proposals, but the number of accepted contributions from Chinese sources has also risen dramatically."
Learn more about China's advances in technical standards: csis.org/analysis/chinas-hig…
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"China is ahead of the United States in infrastructure as well as knowledge and technology outputs; slightly behind in business sophistication, human capital and research, and creative outputs; and further behind in market sophistication and institutions."
Learn more about China's innovation drive in a new commentary from @KennedyCSIS breaking down the findings of his Power of Innovation report: csis.org/analysis/chinas-hig…
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Vietnam's leader To Lam is set to visit China next week. Learn more about how U.S. trade tensions have led to greater trade and economic integration between China and Vietnam by revisiting our China Pulse video from earlier this year: piped.video/watch?v=fySpqQpJ…
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Watch the latest iteration of our China Pulse video series where Senior Fellow and Deputy Director @Mazzocco_Ilaria and Associate Fellow @RyanFeath break down how the war in Iran is affecting China's energy security.
Watch here: piped.video/watch?v=1KnhLCi1…
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As China thinks about how to rebalance growth towards consumption one challenge will be an increasingly pessimistic public who view their society as more and more unfair.
Revisit our Big Data China feature looking at the changing evaluations of inequality in China: bigdatachina.csis.org/is-it-…
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China approved its latest five-year plan earlier this month at its annual two sessions. Learn more about the decisions made by watching @KennedyCSIS break down his main takeaways as a part of our China Pulse video series.
Watch here: piped.video/watch?v=FJKzkt46…
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"China’s solar industry is reshaping its export strategy. Chinese exports have faced a rising wave of tariffs and other nontariff barriers due to concerns over dumping and unfair competition in multiple regions that are trying to develop their own industries...Even as trade barriers rise, export capacity keeps expanding, with firms diversifying into new markets to navigate the shifting global landscape."
Read the full brief from Michael Davidson and Sandy Qian here: csis.org/analysis/chinas-sol…
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China's exports have continued to surge in the first two months of 2026. To learn what happened in 2025 revisit our China Pulse video on where China's exports went and what it means for the U.S.
Watch here: piped.video/fySpqQpJDAE?si=_F9b…
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A group of mostly private Chinese firms are driving solar innovation, accounting for over 75 percent of China's total patent applications in the sector. Market volatility has led to intense competition among these firms reshaping the competitive landscape in the industry.
Learn more in a new brief from Michael Davidson and Sandy Qian: csis.org/analysis/chinas-sol…
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Watch the most recent iteration of our China Pulse video series where Michael Davidson and @Mazzocco_Ilaria break down the what the upheaval in China's solar industry means for the rest of the world.
Watch here: piped.video/watch?v=4kfc8LSy…
And read the brief here: csis.org/analysis/chinas-sol…
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"China was initially a follower when first-generation solar technologies emerged...China’s innovation cycles [now] far outpace the rest of the global solar sector, rapidly advancing across first-generation sub-technologies—and the pace of turnover continues to accelerate."
China's solar industry is undergoing a period of intense upheaval that is likely to forge a more resilient industry. Read more in a new brief from Michael Davidson and Sandy Qian: csis.org/analysis/chinas-sol…
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Are China's leaders refining a successful strategy or just trudging along? Don't miss the latest iteration of our China Pulse video series where @KennedyCSIS shares his initial takeaways from China's annual legislative session.
Watch here: piped.video/watch?v=FJKzkt46…
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OUT NOW: @RyanFeath looks at China's changing IP landscape in a new Trustee China Hand Blog as part of a series building on the new Power of Innovation Report.
Read the blog here: csis.org/blogs/trustee-china…
Read the full report here: csis.org/analysis/power-inno…
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WATCH NOW: @KennedyCSIS goes over the takeaways from his new report — The Power of Innovation in the latest iteration of our China Pulse video series.
Watch here: piped.video/watch?v=KP8Q2Wmf…
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China achieved record exports while selling less to the U.S. and more to the rest of the world. @Mazzocco_Ilaria and @RyanFeath dig into the data and the consequences for China in the latest iteration of our China pulse video series:
Watch here: piped.video/watch?v=fySpqQpJ…
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The Trustee Chair wishes everyone a Happy Spring Festival! 🐎🧧
Cheers to strength, speed, and success in the Year of the Horse.
恭贺新春 · 马年大吉
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As the U.S. imports fewer products directly from China other countries like Vietnam are emerging as alternative hubs for final assembly.
Learn more about how U.S.-China trade shifted last year by watching the latest iteration of our China Pulse video series: piped.video/watch?v=fySpqQpJ…
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As momentum builds for China's 15th Five-Year Plan, one word is set to dominate the discourse in Beijing and beyond: involution (neijuan, 内卷).
Master the concept and its policy implications by reading @KennedyCSIS's analysis below: csis.org/blogs/trustee-china…
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OUT NOW: @Mazzocco_Ilaria discusses why Chinese EVs are causing trade disputes in much of the West and why some countries are now cutting deals in a new iteration of our China Pulse video series.
Watch here: piped.video/watch?v=eoapG4vA…
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