After several years of declining funding, the African end of the Belt and Road Initiative seems to be roaring back. The newest Griffith University/Green Development Finance Center data on the Belt and Road Initiative shows that engagement with Africa jumped by 395%, while a few big projects boosted engagement in Nigeria alone more than twelvefold.
These shifts indicate a window of opportunity for African electrification. 60% of Africans still ...
Category: Culture
How Chinese Takeout Bags Became Africa’s Street-Style Hit
Chinese social media spotted a quirky trend in African cities like Nairobi. Sturdy, brightly printed Chinese takeout bags, the kind you get from a hotpot chain or milk tea shop, are showing up everywhere. These are not souvenirs from China. They sell for over a dollar ...
Chinese Mountaineer Dies on Pakistan’s K2
A Chinese mountaineer died while descending the world's second-highest peak, with Pakistani rescuers waiting on Thursday for weather conditions to improve to recover her body. Guang Jing was descending from the summit of K2 on Tuesday night when she was hit ...
From Dali to Kathmandu: Why Burned-Out Chinese Millennials Are Fleeing to Nepal for a Better Chill
As burnout reaches critical levels among China’s young professionals, a new wave of job-quitters is quietly shifting their escape route. Once drawn to the artsy idyll of Dali in Yunnan, many have now set their sights on Nepal, where the pace is slower, the costs are lower, ...
China’s Hainan Islamic Pilgrimage Stopover Reveals Bigger Plans
China is quietly transforming the island of Hainan, located 20 kilometers offshore in the South China Sea, into a strategic transit hub for Muslim pilgrims from Southeast Asia, starting with Indonesian travelers seeking to make the pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, known as Umrah.
China Eases Transit Rules for Indonesians. Jakarta Should Push for More.
China’s recent inclusion of Indonesia in its 240-hour visa-free transit program is a notable, if not entirely surprising, development. While Indonesia is now among the 55 countries benefiting from this arrangement, the move signals a step forward in the broader relationship between the two nations. For ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Gay Chinese Couple Fulfil Wedding Dream in ‘Freer’ Thailand
By Sarah Lai When Wang Zengyi, 41, and Song Jihan, 29, first met at a friend's dinner party in China, it was love at first sight. "I thought he was handsome and pure," says Wang. ...
How Apartheid Shaped U.S. Policy on South Africa: China Study
A provocative analysis from a Chinese think tank examines the collapse of U.S.-South Africa relations, uncovering an unexpected driver: the influence of three tech titans—Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and David Sacks—all of whom spent their formative years in apartheid-era South Africa.
China’s May Day Tourists Flock to an Unlikely New Hotspot: Central Asia
Over the recent Labor Day holiday on May 1st, an unexpected destination emerged as a top choice for Chinese tourists venturing overseas: Central Asia. While Southeast Asia once dominated the list of overseas travel favorites, recent high-profile cases involving telecom fraud ...
A Taste of Tradition in Nairobi’s Oldest Chinese Restaurant Without Chinese Chefs
It’s lunchtime in Nairobi, and the city buzzes with energy. I arrive at the Kenyatta International Convention Center (KICC), a landmark in the heart of the City in the Sun. But today, I’m not here for a conference or a meeting—I’ve ...
Chinese Lessons in Saudi Schools Show Growing Ties
By Haitham El-Tabei With a map of China on the wall behind him, 14-year-old Yasser al-Shaalan studied the names of professions in a Chinese textbook, one of thousands of Saudi children now learning the language at school.
Living Between Worlds With One Homeland in Heart: The Story of South African Chinese
Chinese communities in South Africa are generally divided into three distinct groups. LaoQiao (老侨), are South African-born Chinese (SABC) whose families have been in the country for generations, with ancestors arriving as early as the 1870s amid war and disaster in China. The second group, often termed ...
Hong Kong’s ASEAN Pivot: Strategic Muslim Outreach Amid Global Trade Uncertainty
As U.S. trade policy uncertainty casts a shadow over Asia, Hong Kong is moving decisively to deepen its economic and cultural ties with ASEAN. By positioning itself as China’s gateway to the region, the city is actively courting Muslim tourists ...