Globalisation
Economy
The RMB’s offshore revival is real — so are its limits
The RMB has become more useful for trade, treasury management and selected funding transactions within China’s commercial orbit, but this does not mean that it has become a currency that central banks or global investors choose to hold at scale, observes EAI visiting senior research fellow Jason Bedford.
Jason Bedford
01 Oct 2026
Politics
What kind of superpower will China be?
Chinese President Xi Jinping received the red-carpet treatment in Washington. Whether or not this means that China is increasingly seen as the US’s equal, it is becoming harder for China to avoid the term “superpower”. As it navigates this role, interesting is the way it is extending its socialist legal system as a semi-permeable membrane for selective globalisation. Academic Frank N. Pieke explains.
Frank N. Pieke
29 Sep 2026
Politics
Trump-Xi summit: What can the US and China actually agree on?
US and Chinese officials meet in New York to tackle a range of issues, including trade and AI, laying the groundwork for concrete deliverables for the expected Trump-Xi summit in Washington DC. Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Liu Liu tells us more.
Liu Liu
21 Sep 2026
Politics
How China’s role in the global order has changed
Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji’s passing and the commemoration of former Chinese President Jiang Zemin’s centenary calls to mind how China has evolved from the era of integrating with the global economy to shaping the world, notes Lianhe Zaobao associate China news editor Sim Tze Wei.
Sim Tze Wei
20 Aug 2026
Politics
Confucian new tianxia order: Humaneness to restrain nationalism and save globalisation
As the world makes radical swings between nationalism and cosmopolitanism, is there a third way — a Confucian world order ruled by a humaneness-based hierarchy? Academic Tongdong Bai ponders the question.
Tongdong Bai
05 Jun 2026
Politics
Singapore’s leaders see a dangerous new world
As the global order fragments and great power tensions rise, Singapore’s leaders are signalling a new era of strategic vigilance — one shaped by resilience, credibility and long-term survival, observes Lianhe Zaobao editorial consultant Goh Sin Hwee.
Goh Sin Hwee
11 May 2026
Economy
America’s tariff wars are far from over
While the Supreme Court ruling on tariffs has put a dent in President Trump’s strategy and the Middle East crisis adds caution, the US’s tariffs wars are far from over. China and other major surplus economies could be vulnerable to new measures. As trade talks continue and China-US industrial relations stay firmly intertwined, says Chinese academic Tao Zhigang, Chinese companies need to transform to survive.
Tao Zhigang
19 Mar 2026
Economy
China as number three?
The latest OECD projections suggest that India will be the world’s largest economy in the next 40 years or so, with the US stabilising in second and China third. EAI non-resident senior fellow Bert Hofman offers an analysis of the reasons and factors behind this forecast.
Bert Hofman
04 Mar 2026
Politics
The polytunity of the post-2025 world order
In a multipolar world where neither the US nor China is the single hegemon, strides in AI and reconfigured globalisation will dominate global transformation. To best harness change, people need a new mindset, says Professor Yuen Yuen Ang.
Yuen Yuen Ang
29 Jan 2026
Society
Why China’s young people are choosing to leave
Amid the gloomy employment prospects and unpleasant work environment in China, many youths are seeking opportunities overseas. Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Li Kang finds out that even with narrowing migration pathways and expected hardships abroad, Chinese youths are determined to leave.
Li Kang
14 Jan 2026