Analysis
Diverse voices, unique insights on key issues shaping China’s engagement throughout the Global South.
analysis
How a U.S. Sanctions Waiver Will Squeeze China’s Access to Cut-Rate Iranian Oil
China, the world's top crude importer, has been the main buyer of oil from OPEC producer Iran in recent years, but will face competition and higher prices after the U.S. issued a 30-day sanctions waiver on Iranian oil. Beijing, ...
analysis
Trump’s Mideast Muddle Could Play Into Xi’s Hands at Planned Summit
By Peter CATTERALL China will be in a stronger position to extract concessions from Donald Trump when the U.S. president finally visits Beijing after becoming entangled in his Middle East war, analysts say. Trump ...
Iran Conflict Could Flip China’s Deflation Into ‘Bad Inflation’
By Kevin Yao and Liangping Gao China's long fight with deflation risks morphing into something harsher, with economists warning the war in Iran could spark "bad inflation" at a time when chronically weak consumption and fading external demand ...
The Limits of China’s “Wait and See” Approach in the Iran War
By Lukas Fiala Lots of ink has been spilled about the war in Iran and its implications for China in the Middle East and the Global South at large. One narrative suggests that despite oil market disruptions and political instability across ...
The Panama Model: How Weak Institutions Become Weapons in the U.S.-China Competition
In February 2026, Panama expelled Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison from its ports after 29 years, seizing millions of dollars in assets under a presidential decree issued less than a month after the Supreme Court ruled the concession unconstitutional. Nearly one year earlier, Panama’s government began negotiations to ...
A crude oil tanker berths at the crude oil terminal at the port in Qingdao, in China’s eastern Shandong province on March 19, 2026. (Photo by CN-STR / AFP)
China, the world's top crude importer, has been the main buyer of oil from OPEC producer Iran in recent years, but will face competition and higher prices after the U.S. issued a 30-day sanctions waiver on Iranian oil. Beijing, which has also been ...
Trump’s Mideast Muddle Could Play Into Xi’s Hands at Planned Summit
By Peter CATTERALL China will be in a stronger position to extract concessions from Donald Trump when the U.S. president finally visits Beijing after becoming entangled in his Middle East war, analysts say. Trump ...
Iran Conflict Could Flip China’s Deflation Into ‘Bad Inflation’
By Kevin Yao and Liangping Gao China's long fight with deflation risks morphing into something harsher, with economists warning the war in Iran could spark "bad inflation" at a time when chronically weak consumption and fading external demand ...
From Beijing to Brussels, Energy Crisis Triggers Global Shift Away from Oil Dependence
By Anna Hirtenstein and Kate Abnett The energy shock from the Iran war has policymakers around the globe rethinking ways to reduce long-term dependence on oil and gas imports, with proposals to expand nuclear energy and renewables, grow strategic stockpiles and ...
China E-Mobility Weekly Digest: Hormuz Debacle Could Reshape Africa’s Electric Vehicle Revolution
This is a free preview of the upcoming Africa EVs Weekly Digest, part of the new CGSP Intelligence service. As the war in the Middle East triggers one of the worst oil shocks in history, e-mobility business models are ...
China’s Fuel Export Ban to Further Tighten Asia Supply
China's ban on exports of diesel, gasoline and jet fuel is poised to exacerbate fuel shortages and further boost prices for Asian industry and transportation buyers already grappling with tightening supplies caused by the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. ...
Trump Asks China to Delay Xi Summit as Iran War Rages
By Danny Kemp and Beiyi Seow U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday he had asked China to delay his summit with Xi Jinping by around a month while he deals with the war in the Middle East. ...
How a Small Chinese Solar Company Found Success in Africa
A beauty salon in a small southern Kenyan town is dimly lit by a few lights. There’s no streetlighting here in Mtito Andei, so those lights are how customers make their way. The salon’s owner is Rehema Yusuf, a mother of ...
How the Strait of Hormuz Disruption Exposed Southeast Asia’s Fragile LNG Strategy
Conflict in the Middle East has only intensified over the past two years. The recent disruption of the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most critical energy chokepoint, has sent shockwaves across Southeast Asia, a region heavily dependent on fossil fuel imports. ...
How China Is Wooing Paraguay’s Political Class Away From Longtime Ally Taiwan
By Daniela Desantis and Lucinda Elliott When Paraguayan opposition lawmaker Leidy Galeano returned from an all-expenses-paid tour of six Chinese cities late last year, she was convinced Paraguay risked missing out on major economic gains by sticking with longtime ally Taiwan over Beijing - ...
What China’s Friends Can Actually Expect From Beijing
In recent months, amid U.S. military interventions in Venezuela and Iran, questions about how China responds to threats facing its “allies” – if they can be described as such – have resurfaced with increasing frequency in policy circles worldwide, including across the Global South. ...
China’s Leaders Project Stability Despite Middle East War
By Mary YANG China's leaders wrapped up nine days of annual legislative meetings in Beijing on Thursday, projecting an image of domestic stability seemingly unaffected by the war in key trading partner Iran. Officials ...
The Chinese Cable That Could Trip up Chile’s New Leader
By Paulina ABRAMOVICH Chile's new president, Jose Antonio Kast, faces a tough choice in his first weeks in office. Will he bow to U.S. pressure to nix a project to link China and Chile ...