Live Feed

The News Feed is curated by CGSP’s editors in Asia and Africa.

WEEK IN REVIEW: Beijing Considering Hosting a Third Belt & Road Forum Next Year

China's President Xi Jinping arrives for the G20 leaders' summit in Nusa Dua, on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on November 15, 2022. Mast IRHAM / POOL / AFP
Chinese President Xi Jinping said Beijing is considering hosting a third Belt & Road forum next year, the first time a major BRI event would be convened in China since the beginning of ...
by Eric Olander

Thailand’s Chinese-financed High Speed Railway Gets Boost After Xi Visit to Bangkok

Deng Xijun is China's ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN.)
The long-delayed 609-kilometer China-Thailand high-speed standard gauge railway is once again a top priority for both sides following Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Thailand last week, where the project topped the agenda ...
by Eric Olander

Vietnam is an Increasingly Popular Destination for World Leaders Looking to Broaden Their Asia Strategies Beyond China

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is the latest head of state to visit Vietnam as more countries look to expand their Asia engagement strategies beyond China. President Museveni arrived in Hanoi ...
by Eric Olander

China-Africa Trade Forum Opens in Zhejiang Province

400 participants from 47 different African countries are participating in this week’s China-Africa trade and economic relations forum now underway in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang. The event highlights the increasingly prominent ...
by Eric Olander

The Indian Pundit Who Created the Discredited Chinese “Debt Trap” Meme is Still Convinced He’s Right

The creator of the widely-debunked Chinese “debt trap” meme is at it again with a new litany of breathless warnings about the risks developing countries take on when they borrow money ...
by Eric Olander

How China Became a Global E-Vehicle Leader

A worker checks the cables on the battery for Ford Motor Co. battery-powered F-150 Lightning trucks under production at their Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan on September 20, 2022. JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP
While Western automotive industries are trying to figure out how to decouple their supply chains from the Chinese battery sector, Chinese commentators don’t seem particularly panicked.  In fact, the e-vehicle industry is being ...
by Cobus van Staden

Chinese EV Battery Maker Unveils Multibillion Dollar IPO, Will Use Proceeds to Develop Next-Gen Cobalt-free Batteries

Hector RETAMAL / AFP
One of China’s hottest electric vehicle battery makers announced plans to go public on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s NASDAQ-like STAR market in a bid to raise $2 billion to build next-generation ...
by Eric Olander

COP27 Side Deals Have Global Implications

This year’s COP27 climate gathering in Egypt inspired both celebration and disappointment. While the establishment of a Loss and Damage fund was a major victory, patchy follow-through on earlier commitments from rich countries ...
by Cobus van Staden

Zimbabwe’s Chinese-Built Parliament Building Ready for Business

Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa will formally inaugurate the country’s new parliament building on Wednesday. The building was financed as a ‘gift’ by the Chinese government and built by Shanghai Construction Group Co. ...
by Cobus van Staden

Why Battery Decoupling Projections Could Be Way Off

A worker checks the cables on the battery for Ford Motor Co. battery-powered F-150 Lightning trucks under production at their Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan on September 20, 2022. JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP
The United States and Europe could free themselves from their dependence on China for electric vehicle batteries by 2030, if they invest about $160 billion.  This is the key finding of a new ...
by Cobus van Staden

Xi Seeks to Contrast China’s Approach in Asia Against the U.S.

China's President Xi Jinping looks on during the handover ceremony at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Bangkok on November 19, 2022. Jack TAYLOR / AFP
Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up a week-long diplomatic sprint in Southeast Asia this weekend with the conclusion of the APEC summit in Bangkok. Prior to his return to China on Saturday, President Xi restated ...
by Eric Olander

Few Noticed One of the Most Important Sideline Meetings at APEC

Chilean President Gabriel Boric met with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Bangkok on Friday. Image via @gabrielboric.
Chinese President Xi Jinping held dozens of quick sideline bilateral meetings with various international leaders over the past several weeks but few were as important as the one with Chile’s Gabriel Boric at ...
by Eric Olander

Tens of Thousands Cue for a Kilometer to Get Into Chinese Fast Fashion Pop-up Store in Brazil

7,000 people lined up on the first of a five-day pop-up store opened by Chinese fast fashion giant Shein in the Brazilian city of São Paulo in November 2023.
Tens of thousands of Brazilians waited in line for hours last week for their chance to get into a pop-up store in São Paulo that was open for just five days by Chinese ...
by Eric Olander

Kenya’s Transport Minister to Chinese Ambassador: No Hard Feelings About the Release of SGR Loan Agreements, Right?

Kipchumba Murkomen is Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for Roads and Transport. @kipmurkomen
Kenya’s Road and Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen was all smiles last week when Chinese ambassador Zhou Pingjian made a courtesy call to his office in what appears to be an effort to show that ...
by Eric Olander

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

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 the United States and Denmark.
The study focused on how areas with high solar and wind capacity (such as deserts) can be linked ...

WEEK IN REVIEW: The G77 Bloc of Countries Together With China To Propose a New “Loss and Damage” Fund at the COP27 Summit

Protesters take part in a demonstration called by the Climate Alliance European city network in Madrid on November 12, 2022. Pierre-Philippe MARCOU / AFP
The G77 bloc of countries together with China is reportedly going to propose a new “loss and damage” fund at the COP27 summit to provide finance to poor countries impacted by climate disasters. The fund ...
by Eric Olander

China-Mexico Love-In at the G20

Mexican Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the final day of the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia on November 16, 2022. Image via Xinhua.
Even as the G20 summit focused on Chinese President Xi Jinping’s high-profile meetings, Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Mexican counterpart Marcelo Ebrard. While the full agenda of their meeting wasn’t ...
by Cobus van Staden

As COP27 Races to an Agreement, Things are Getting Real Awkward

AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP
The COP27 climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, will soon head into its final stage when delegates will wrestle through the night to finalize the wording of the agreement.  The summit saw the emergence of ...
by Cobus van Staden

EU Border Tax Proposal Sparks BASIC Backlash

Indian Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav during the BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) Ministerial meeting on the sidelines of COP27 climate conference in Egypt. Image via @byadavbjp.
An EU proposal at COP27 to tax carbon-intensive products like cement and steel is drawing resistance from a group of developing countries. At a ministerial meeting of the BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, India ...
by Cobus van Staden

China’s COVID Response Boosts Foreign Aid

Source: Chinese Aid Exports Database
China’s donations of physical aid jumped by 40% last year to $1.3 billion. The bulk of these donations were in response to the COVID pandemic, including vaccines and food.
by Eric Olander

Seminar Highlights China-Africa Media Alignment

Representatives from Chinese and African media channels gathered in Nairobi to discuss how to change the China-Africa media narrative to better suit their agendas. Image via KBC.
Chinese and African media professionals committed to working together to reshape media narratives about Africa-China relations. Delegates from the continent gathered in Nairobi for a seminar organized by the state-owned China Media Group. ...
by Cobus van Staden

Xi’s State-Centric Focus an Opportunity for Africa: Analyst

The South African analyst Steven Kuo wrote in a recent column in the financial daily Business Day that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s third term heralds a shift towards state-owned enterprises:  “That means there ...
by Cobus van Staden

Ladies and Gentlemen, Xi Jinping is Back in the Diplomatic Game

Chinese President Xi Jinping held a full day of meetings with eight heads of state including South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Australian PM Anthony Albanese, South Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol, Senegal President Macky Sall, Argentinian President Alberto Fernández and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
After three years of avoiding major in-person diplomatic engagements, Chinese President Xi Jinping re-emerged on the diplomatic stage with a flurry of at least eight bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the G20 ...
by Eric Olander

It May Not Look Like Much, But This Handshake Between Xi and Modi is a Big Deal

Chinese President Xi Jinping casually encountered Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Tuesday's gala dinner for G20 leaders.
They looked at each other, smiled, shook hands for an uncomfortably long time, and even exchanged a few pleasantries. It may not look like much, but this brief interaction between Chinese President Xi ...
by Eric Olander

Why Détente Between China and Australia Could Be a Problem for Some Developing Countries

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali on November 15, 2022. Image via Xinhua
Anthony Albanese is the first Australian Prime Minister in six years to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and from the looks of their brief meeting on the sidelines of the ...
by Eric Olander

Even in a Foreign Country, China Made Other Leaders Treat Xi as the Host

US President Joe Biden (R) and China's President Xi Jinping (L) shake hands as they meet on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on November 14, 2022. SAUL LOEB / AFP
One observation that emerged from Tuesday’s flurry of meetings between Chinese President Xi Jinping and various world leaders on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali was that President Xi stood at ...
by Eric Olander

U.S.-led Coalition Rolls Out First Major Infrastructure Project Under the New Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment

Indonesia President Joko Widodo, U.S. President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hold an event on the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on November 15, 2022. SAUL LOEB / AFP
The G7 group of wealthy countries unveiled the first major initiative as part of its Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII), which is ostensibly aimed at countering China’s dominance in financing infrastructure ...
by Eric Olander

Biden Expressed Concern to Cambodia PM Hun Sen About What China’s Doing at the Ream Navy Base

US President Joe Biden met with Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh on November 12, 2022. SAUL LOEB / AFP
U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday raised concerns with the leader of Cambodia about Chinese activities at its Ream Naval Base, stressing the importance of full transparency, the White House said. But Chinese state ...
by Eric Olander

Chinese PM Li Heads Home From Cambodia After Another Round of Diplomatic Speed Dating

China's Prime Minister Li Keqiang addressed regional leaders during the ASEAN-China Summit as part of the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits in Phnom Penh on November 11, 2022. TANG CHHIN Sothy / AFP
Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang wrapped up a six-day visit to Cambodia on Sunday at the conclusion of a pair of regional summits where he also held a number of sideline bilaterals with ...
by Eric Olander

Why Xi and Modi Should (and Shouldn’t) Meet on the Sidelines of the G20 Summit in Bali

ADEK BERRY / AFP
While much of the attention this week at the G20 summit in Bali will be on Monday’s meeting between the U.S. and Chinese presidents, in South Asia, many observers will be keeping a ...
by Eric Olander

Why This European Man Is so Happy to Be in Vietnam

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (R) and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (L) pose for a photo before a bilateral meeting at the Government Office in Hanoi on November 13, 2022. LUONG THAI LINH / POOL / AFP
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz seemed visibly happy to be back in Southeast Asia over the weekend and specifically to be out of China. Chancellor Scholz arrived in Hanoi on Sunday to kick off a four-day visit ...
by Eric Olander
Page 95 of 1971…949596…197

Most Read

1
Developing Countries’ Debt Servicing Costs to China Are Significant, but Nowhere Near as Much as Other Creditors
2 Chinese Military Fans Discuss Why Indonesia Bought Rafale Instead of J-10C
3
Indonesia Begins $5.9 Billion Chinese EV Battery Project Despite Environment Fears
4
Chinese Cargo Planes Secretly Ferrying Supplies to Iran, Claim Online Sleuths
5
Indonesia Goes Nuclear, Taps China and Russia for Modular Reactors
6
China, U.S. Ink Rare Earth Deal; More Trade Pacts Coming

CGSP Intelligence

Special Report

Indonesia’s China-Backed Nickel-to-Battery Ambition

Special Report

Data Tool

Track cobalt mining and processing in the DRC

Data Tool

Data Tool

The CGSP China-Africa Energy Tracker : trace Chinese energy projects by type

Data Tool

Introducing CGSP Intelligence

CGSP Intelligence gives you the information advantage on Chinese activities in the Global South. CGSP Intelligence is launching in Summer 2025, with analysis and a full set of data tools designed for corporate and enterprise leaders.