Analysis
Diverse voices, unique insights on key issues shaping China’s engagement throughout the Global South.
analysis
As U.S. Focus Wavers, Xi Courts the Global South
Chinese President Xi Jinping held separate bilateral meetings with the leaders of Ecuador and Senegal on Friday in what appears to be a concerted effort by Beijing to maintain strong ties with Global South countries, even as major power diplomacy increasingly dominates Beijing's foreign policy agenda.
analysis
The Art of (Watching) War: China’s Fading MENA Moment
By Felix Brender 王哲謙 Amid escalating conflicts across the Middle East since 2023, Beijing has been increasingly silent. Long eager to position itself as benevolent and neutral, China has offered little more than carefully worded statements while the region spirals. It ...
How Paraguay’s Veto Power Could Reshape China’s Trade Future in South America
Amid a flurry of headline-grabbing geopolitical developments, one story has flown largely under the radar: several recent signals from within Paraguay suggest a potential shift in the country’s long-standing diplomatic relationship with Taiwan. While it might seem like just another chapter in the long-running contest between Beijing ...
Bots Pushed Anti-China Narrative Ahead of Ghana Mining Ban
By Nicholas Roll Before Ghana banned foreigners from its gold trade earlier this year, an online bot campaign pushed anti-Chinese sentiment, blaming Chinese nationals for exploiting the country and stealing its resources. The west African ...
China’s Big Bet on Indonesian Nickel Faces a Harsh Reckoning
For years, China raced to secure the critical minerals needed to fuel its economy and the global clean energy transition. Nickel was supposed to be one of the surest bets. Now, one of China’s largest investments in Indonesia’s nickel industry is unraveling—and with it, some of the ...
Suspected bot posts on X that accuse Chinese nationals in Ghana of fueling the illegal mining crisis.
By Nicholas Roll Before Ghana banned foreigners from its gold trade earlier this year, an online bot campaign pushed anti-Chinese sentiment, blaming Chinese nationals for exploiting the country and stealing its resources. The west African nation has long been ...
Analysts Doubt Congo’s Cobalt Export Restrictions Will Do Much to Boost Prices in the Long Term
The Democratic Republic of the Congo extended a four-month export ban on cobalt exports in a bid to further constrain supply and boost prices of the critical metal that's used to manufacture electric vehicle batteries. The government hopes that by keeping additional ...
Startup in Malawi Bets on Chinese Tech to Power an EV Shift
For years, Malawi, the world’s fourth-poorest country, has suffered from chronic fuel shortages. However, in a sunbaked workshop on the outskirts of the capital, Lilongwe, a team of local electric vehicle (EV) technicians is working to overcome this anomaly. Huddled around ...
China-Led Study Proposes Global Energy Network
A globally connected network of solar and wind energy could provide three times the global energy demand by 2050 at a lower cost than independent national power systems. This is the finding of a study led by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in collaboration with researchers from ...
Moving Beyond Infrastructure: Key Outcomes from the Second China-Central Asia Summit
Amid intensifying geopolitical turbulence across China's periphery—from the Israel-Iran conflict in the Middle East, to India-Pakistan tensions in South Asia, and the protracted Russia-Ukraine war in Eastern Europe—Beijing's neighborhood diplomacy has become an imperative for safeguarding regional stability. In this shifting ...
Will China’s Trade Strategy in Africa Succeed Where Europe’s Didn’t?
At a recent ministerial meeting in the central Chinese city of Changsha, Beijing announced an ambitious new phase of its engagement with Africa: the possibility of eliminating customs duties on exports from all 53 African countries (except for Eswatini, which maintains diplomatic relations with Taiwan). While many ...
China Helpless as Middle East War Craters Regional Leverage: Analysts
By Oliver Hotham China has been able to do little more than stand back and watch as war between its key partner Iran and Israel harms its hard-fought leverage in the Middle East, analysts say. ...
China’s Critical Minerals Lead Widens as Rivals Struggle to Keep Pace
Despite growing talk of securing alternative supply chains, China has entrenched itself as the world’s undisputed leader in critical minerals, widening a lead that few anticipated would stretch so far, so fast. From lithium to nickel to rare earths, China’s ...
Why the U.S. Should Pay Close Attention to the Singapore PM’s Visit to China
Singapore's Prime Minister Lawrence Wong landed in Beijing on Sunday night for a week-long visit that will include talks with his Chinese counterpart Li Qiang and President Xi Jinping. In an interview with the state-run Straits Times newspaper, the PM said ...
Japan-U.S.-Philippines Coast Guards Simulate Crisis Amid China Threat
By Andrew McKirdy Helicopters buzzed in the shadow of a smouldering volcano, and boats rescued dummies from the sea this week in a show of maritime unity by Japan, the United States, and the Philippines. ...
Africa EV Digest: Tesla Opens Africa Office, Upping Competition For Chinese Brands
This is a free preview of the upcoming Africa EV Weekly Digest, part of the new CGSP Intelligence service launching in Summer 2025. Topline Insight Tesla’s Africa expansion through its new Morocco office ...
Looking Beyond Mining in the Africa-China Relationship
Last week’s China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo (CAETE) in Changsha, Hunan province drew very little press attention, but it gave a glimpse of the growing centrality of agricultural trade to the Africa-China relationship. The event delivered 176 new project deals worth $11.39 billion. The number ...
Europe’s Lithium Quest Hampered by China and Lack of Cash
By Alvaro Villalobos Europe's ambition to be a world player in decarbonised transportation arguably depends on sourcing lithium abroad, especially in South America. Even the bloc's broader energy security and climate goals could depend on ...