Supply Chain

Trump’s China trip opens doors for US business

Trump’s Beijing visit showed that despite years of rivalry, many top US firms still see China as vital to future growth, supply chains and AI ambitions.

Caixin Global

[Video] US–China tech ties revealed at Xi’s power banquet

A carefully curated guest list at the high-profile state banquet during the Trump-Xi summit placed American and Chinese tech titans side by side, revealing not just diplomatic optics, but a supply chain that remains deeply intertwined despite rising geopolitical tension. ThinkChina’s Yi Jina finds out more.

Yi Jina

Deflation: Beijing’s blind spot or its strategy?

China’s deflation reflects both weak demand and deliberate industrial strategy. But the model depends on consumption eventually catching up, raising questions over sustainability and regional spillovers for Southeast Asia. Researcher Genevieve Donnellon-May explains.

Genevieve Donnellon-May

Can India-Taiwan ties withstand backlash over Indian migrant workers?

While Taiwan looks for ways to diversify its labour pool with Indian workers high on that list, civil society and the opposition have come in with scaremongering tactics that may jeopardise Taiwan’s steady relations with India. Academic Ghulam Ali weighs in on the issue. 

Ghulam Ali

The West’s industrial policy double standard

For decades, industrial policy was discouraged in developing economies, even as China’s state-led model reshaped global supply chains. Now, with the US and Europe embracing massive interventions, the old orthodoxy looks less like principle than self-interest. Academic Guanie Lim examines how the discourse on industrial policy has shifted.

Guanie Lim

Can the Gulf-South Asia corridor rewire global trade and energy flows?

The Strait of Hormuz crisis has driven alternative routes, strengthening energy supply chains and boosting cooperation across the Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia, while expanding cross-border trade — so the outlook is not entirely bleak despite disruption at Hormuz, says Chinese academic Peng Nian.

Peng Nian

Tit for tat: Beijing builds legal arsenal against Western sanctions and jurisdiction

US warning to Chinese banks over Iran-linked transactions triggered a swift response from Beijing, which rolled out new regulations to counter sanctions and extraterritorial legal pressure. Lianhe Zaobao associate China news editor Sim Tze Wei examines this tit-for-tat escalation now extending into the legal sphere.

Sim Tze Wei

Fear of long war hits China’s Gulf investors hard

China’s Gulf investment outlook is under pressure as expectations of a drawn-out Iran conflict grow, with analysts saying a narrow ceasefire window will determine whether risk appetite recovers or further deteriorates. Lianhe Zaobao associate China news editor Sim Tze Wei reports.

Sim Tze Wei

Capital realism: A divided world, more connected than ever

Global trade is not fragmenting into isolation but entrenching new forms of interdependence. As rules diverge, connections multiply, deepen, and become harder to unwind, argues the Milken Institute’s Robin Hu.

Robin Hu

China holds the cards: Fertiliser, fuel and the Middle East crisis

As the war in the Middle East continues, China finds itself at an advantage in terms of fertilisers and fuels, and it is up to China to decide what to do with these trump cards. Lianhe Zaobao associate China news editor Sim Tze Wei looks at the factors at play.

Sim Tze Wei

Hormuz chokes: China’s ‘world supermarket’ Yiwu feels the pain

One month on, the war in Iran rages on and the Strait of Hormuz remains a chokepoint for trades around the world. Lianhe Zaobao journalist Meng Dandan hones in on the impact on merchants from Yiwu, Zhejiang province — often dubbed the “world’s supermarket”.

Meng Dandan

The illusion of independent AI: How the US and China control the machines

The clash over Anthropic reveals a deeper reality: frontier AI is inseparable from state power. While Washington reacts and Beijing plans, both are tightening control, driving a split into rival AI ecosystems. SMU academic Liang Chen shares his analysis.

Liang Chen