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Saudi Minister Leads High-Level Investment Delegation to China

Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Investment, Khalid Al-Falih, is in Beijing with a high-powered delegation to discuss new trade and investment cooperation. China is Saudi Arabia’s largest trading partner, and Chinese foreign direct investment by stock increased 28.8% last year, while investment inflows jumped by 164%. ...

China-Central Asia Weekly Digest: China Brings E-Commerce, EVs & Health Closer to Consumers

This is a free preview of the upcoming China-Central Asia Weekly Digest, part of the new CGSP Intelligence service launching in late 2025. This week's developments demonstrate China's expansion into consumer-facing sectors across Central Asia, moving beyond infrastructure projects into direct ...

China Rejects U.S. Commander’s Comments on South American Influence

On Monday, China’s Foreign Ministry rejected comments by the head of the U.S. Southern Command, which oversees South America, that China is exporting authoritarianism to the region. Navy Admiral Alvin Holsley visited Argentina last week for the South American Defense Conference, ...

Indonesia Mulls Joint Patrol with Vietnam in South China Sea

Indonesia said it is weighing the possibility of carrying out coordinated coast-guard patrols with Vietnam in parts of the South China Sea also claimed by China, signaling closer maritime cooperation between the two Southeast Asian neighbors while risking friction with Beijing. ...

Xi Says China, Russia Ties ‘Most Stable’ in Turbulent World

President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday that China's ties with Russia are the "most stable, mature and strategically significant" among major world powers, state media reported. During a meeting with Vyacheslav Volodin, chairman of Russia's Duma, or lower house of parliament, ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

Weighing the Value of “Values”

I was in Berlin this week for a conference on the EU’s relationship with Africa in the context of the continent’s growing ties with external actors, many of whom Europe finds acutely worrying.
The conference eerily landed on the second anniversary of the October 7 attack in Israel. I was in Berlin two years ago as well. In the weeks after the attack, one could see how Western powers’ ...

China Says ‘Shocked’ by Israel Strike on Gaza Hospital

China said on Tuesday it was "shocked" by an Israeli strike on a Gaza hospital in which five journalists were among at least 20 people killed. "We are shocked and condemn the fact that medical personnel and journalists have once again ...

Stop Calling the Lobito Corridor a U.S. Gambit Against China

There’s a lazy but geopolitically irresistible allure in branding Angola’s Lobito Corridor as a U.S. bid to blunt China’s influence in Africa and the region’s mineral supply chains. I get why the framing sticks: it’s neat, dramatic, and easy to sell. ...

U.S. Bids to Trump China in DR Congo Mining Rush

The United States wants to secure its supply of strategic minerals in conflict-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, hoping to challenge China's near-monopoly on the lucrative sector. While the strategy has been in the works for years, Washington has doubled down on ...

China’s Belt and Road Recalibration: Why Kazakhstan is the New Metals Frontier

Despite widespread expectations that China’s engagement with Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries would slow, recent data tells a different story. According to a new report from the Griffith Asia Institute, Chinese involvement in the 150 BRI countries surged in the first half of 2025, reaching ...

Bolivia Candidate Vows to Scrap China, Russia Lithium Deals

By José Arturo Cárdenas and Gonzalo Torrico Bolivian right-wing presidential hopeful Jorge Quiroga on Monday vowed to scrap billion-dollar lithium extraction deals struck by the outgoing government with Russia and China if elected leader. "We ...

China’s Delivery Titans Export Their Ugliest Rivalry to Brazil

Two of China’s biggest delivery giants are exporting not just their business models but also their worst habits. In Brazil, Didi’s 99Food and Meituan’s Keeta have turned a promising overseas expansion into a spectacle of lawsuits, exclusivity deals, and copycat branding so absurd that instead of toppling ...