State-Owned Enterprise

PwC’s Evergrande crisis deepens with record Hong Kong settlement and criminal probes

Evergrande’s fraud has caught up with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Hong Kong, bringing major fines, client exits and criminal probes, and casting doubt over the accounting giant’s future in Hong Kong and mainland China.

Caixin Global

04 May 2026

The rise and fall of China’s ‘fentanyl king’ in corruption-fuelled bankruptcy

Once hailed as China’s “fentanyl king”, Ai Luming built a pharmaceutical empire from humble beginnings, only to see it unravel in a web of debt, failed financial bets and corruption scandals. Ai’s dramatic rise and fall expose the risks and realities facing China’s private sector in an era of tightening regulation and shifting fortunes.

Caixin Global

04 Jul 2025

[Vox pop] Do Chinese workers get enough benefits?

While headlines often focus on China’s intense work culture, what about the benefits that come with the job? Across industries and company types, workers in China are navigating different systems of perks and expectations. ThinkChina’s Lu Lingming and Yi Jina get people from different regions of China to share their thoughts.

Lu Lingming, Yi Jina

09 May 2025

China writes first legal rulebook to strengthen its vital private sector

Faced with the urgent need to restore business confidence amid mounting economic headwinds, China is fast-tracking its first authoritative law on the private economy, slated to receive a crucial third legislative review this month.

Caixin Global

25 Apr 2025

What drives China’s economic engagement in Timor-Leste?

Findings from researcher Jackson Huang’s recent visit to Timor-Leste suggest that while Chinese economic engagement with Timor-Leste is often viewed as part of a broader “grand strategy”, the reality on the ground shows that local economic needs, market conditions and pragmatic considerations drive many aspects of the relationship beyond political agendas.

Jackson Huang

05 Nov 2024

China’s pension plan faces prospect for change or going bust

As the working-age population shrinks and the number of retired workers grows, the younger population is increasingly burdened by a system where current employee contributions fund payments to retirees. China’s pension plan for employees of state-owned and private businesses is now facing the likelihood of major reforms or the prospect of going broke.

Caixin Global

31 May 2024

China's trillion-dollar local government 'hidden debt' dilemma

As China's financial system remains plagued by trillions of dollars in local governments' hidden debt, policy makers may need to take drastic measures to solve the problem.

Caixin Global

22 Sep 2023

China's African ambition comes with mounting challenges

The recent 15th BRICS summit held in South Africa heralded an expanded organisation with new African members. While China seeks to increase its presence and influence on the African continent, it also faces the difficult task of juggling security and development, particularly given that Russia is likewise adamant about safeguarding and expanding its own interests in the area.

Alessandro Arduino

14 Sep 2023

China's property crisis contagion spreads to state-backed developers

With sluggish sales, a growing list of unfinished projects and mounting debt repayments, China's property crisis, which is stretching into its third year, is now spreading to state-owned developers.

Caixin Global

04 Aug 2023

How Chinese private firms can be made more confident of the government's support

Academic Pei Sai Fan notes that the Chinese government's moves to regulate and clean up various sectors in China's economy has led to private enterprises feeling uncertain about what might happen to them in future, especially as declarations of support for the private sector economy seem to be just lip service.

Pei Sai Fan

09 Feb 2023

US sanctions forcing Chinese firms to switch to made-in-China tech

According to a development plan for China's software and information technology (IT) service industry from 2021 to 2025, China is expected to significantly expand its capacity for developing key software and build two to three open-source communities with international influence by 2025. Meanwhile, China's giant state-owned enterprises are also rushing to crank up domestic purchases of innovative IT applications under government pressure.

Caixin Global

30 Dec 2022

China is facing a harsh economic winter

Commentator Chen Kuohsiang notes that even after the 20th Party Congress and talks between Chinese and US Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden during the G20 summit, the Chinese economy is not facing an easy time, not least because of Covid-19 controls, the US's trade restrictions and China's stringent policy on private enterprises.

Chen Kuohsiang

08 Dec 2022