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May 21, 2026
 

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Casey Hall
David Cheung, co-owner of Shaoguan Guanghua Plastic & Hardware Products, speaks during an interview in the company's showroom in Shaoguan, Guangdong province, China, on May 9, 2025.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 14, 2026
U.S. tariff whiplash pushed toy factory in China to brink of collapse
Had the United States kept tariffs on Chinese imports at triple digits for even one more day last year, toy manufacturer Huntar Company would have collapsed.
An area of a shopping mall where several Japanese restaurants are located, in Shanghai on Tuesday
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2025
Japanese restaurant owners in China lament flare-up in diplomatic tensions
The dispute has seen vitriolic responses by a Chinese diplomat in Japan and Chinese state media aimed at Prime Minister Takaichi.
Mannequins are displayed inside a lingerie showroom at WeMet Industrial Park in the Guanyun county of Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China, on Nov. 26.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 16, 2024
China¡¯s ¡¯erotic clothing¡¯ capital braces for e-commerce crackdown
The development of the lingerie industry in eastern Guanyun county in China has exploded partly due to a U.S. tariff exemption likely to soon be curtailed or scrapped.
Workers remove flowers from a makeshift memorial outside the Zhuhai Sports Center in Zhuhai in south China's Guangdong province on Nov. 13, two days after 35 people were killed in one of the country's deadliest car attacks in years.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Nov 20, 2024
Mass casualty attacks in China put focus on mental health as economy slows
The events have led to a spike in worries about the health of society in China, where attacks have occurred with alarming regularity throughout 2024.
Parents walk their children to school in Guanghzou, China, on Sept. 4, 2019
BUSINESS
Oct 29, 2024
China¡¯s private tutoring firms emerge from the shadows after crackdown
There is now tacit consent from policymakers in China to allow the tutoring industry to grow.
Trump has threatened blanket 60% tariffs on China, forcing some companies to consider shifting their supply chains to Southeast Asia.
BUSINESS
Oct 23, 2024
China¡¯s exporters run for cover as U.S. election nears
A Trump trade war 2.0 would be a moment of reckoning for many Chinese exporters, whose profits are dwindling under heavy deflationary pressure.
Security officials examine the site of an explosion near Karachi's international airport in the Pakistani city on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Oct 7, 2024
¡¯Terrorist attack¡¯ near Karachi airport kills two Chinese nationals
Separatist militant group Baloch Liberation Army has claimed responsibility over the attack, which it said targeted Chinese nationals.
Japanese radio equipment maker Icom director Yoshiki Enomoto shows its model IC-V82 device, which the company said they stopped production in 2014, during an interview at its headquarters in Osaka on Thursday.
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Sep 21, 2024
Hack of Hezbollah devices exposes dark corners of Asia supply chains
Counterfeiting, surplus inventories and complex contract manufacturing deals can sometimes make it impossible to identify the source of a product.
China's 15-day visa-free policy is giving tourism a huge boost, with bookings from eligible countries surging 150% and attracting millions of visitors post-pandemic.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 17, 2024
China strives to lure foreign tourists, but it¡¯s a hard sell for some
The recent surge in tourism comes after China closed its borders in early 2020 to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, and kept them shut until the start of 2023.
A bus stop where a Japanese mother and child appear to have been attacked in Suzhou in China's Jiangsu Province
JAPAN / Society
Jul 1, 2024
Chinese social media companies condemn hate speech against Japanese people after knife attack
Wechat owner Tencent said it had tackled 836 instances of content related to the attack that infringed its rules.
Passengers look at the tarmac as they wait for flights at Beijing Capital International Airport on April 20.
BUSINESS
Jun 17, 2024
Chinese outbound travel recovery lags due to costs and visa snags
Chinese people took 87 million trips abroad last year, down 40% from pre-COVID 2019.
A Starbucks coffee shop in Beijing on May 22
BUSINESS
May 27, 2024
In China, Starbucks tries to avoid price war but gets dragged into discounting
A coffee price war in China has arisen amid persistent deflation, weak consumer sentiment, and stagnant wages.
People ride past a JD.com advertisement promoting a Singles Day shopping festival in Beijing in 2023.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 13, 2024
China¡¯s e-commerce giants face a delicate balance
Chinese consumers are seeking discounts and lower-cost shopping following the pandemic.
As their popularity grow, Shein and Temu together send almost 600,000 packages to the U.S. every day.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 22, 2024
Rise of fast-fashion Shein and Temu roils global air cargo industry
Their pursuit of limited air-cargo space to woo consumers with rapid transit times make off-peak seasons almost disappear and cause capacity shortages.
The rupture of one of the world's busiest shipping routes has exposed the vulnerability of China's export-reliant economy to supply snarls and external demand shocks.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 22, 2024
Red Sea crisis pressures China¡¯s exporters as shipping delays mount
Further Red Sea disruptions would pile pressure on a struggling economy already contending with a property crisis and weak consumer demand.
China's economy grew 5.2% last year, more than most major economies. But for many in the country, the world's second-largest economy feels like it's shrinking.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 18, 2024
For many in China, the economy feels like it is in recession
A crisis of confidence is keeping Chinese consumers from spending and businesses in the world's second-largest economy from hiring and investing.
Gold ornaments on display for sale at a Chow Tai Fook jewellery store in Shanghai.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 11, 2023
Young Chinese spurn traditional investments in favor of gold
The trend underscores uncertainty about growth prospects in the world's second-largest economy, which has not recovered from COVID-19 as fast as expected.
A woman sits on a swing attached to a giant McDonald's sign outside its themed exhibition in Beijing on Monday.
BUSINESS
Dec 4, 2023
McDonald¡¯s raises China bet amid Western derisking trend
The move contrasts sharply with the prevailing trend of multinational corporations reeling back investments in China or even exiting altogether.
A Tiffany store in Shanghai. Luxury companies are targeting VIC's, or very important clients, as China's post-pandemic economic slowdown dries up the spending power of the middle class.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 20, 2023
Exclusivity the name of the game as firms target China¡¯s wealthiest
Brands are focusing on selling fewer, more valuable items, relying on luxury consumers.
Couples prepare to have their photo taken during a wedding photography shoot on a in Shanghai on Sept. 6.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 19, 2023
Fewer ¡¯I dos¡¯ ruin the party for China¡¯s $500 billion wedding industry
The trend is worrying officials trying to revive marriage rates and birth rates, which dropped to record lows last year.
Female death row inmate sues Japan government over 24/7 surveillance
Tokyo Detention House guidelines dictate that CCTV surveillance can be used when detainees are at risk of suicide or self-harm, or when there is concern they may try to escape.
Almost half of foreign residents have experienced discrimination: government survey
Japan¡¯s foreign resident population rose 9.5% to a record 4.12 million at the end of 2025, topping 4 million for the first time, according to data from the Immigration Services Agency.
¡®There was no village¡¯: Japan¡¯s troubling pattern of family murder-suicides
Akiko Hashiguchi is one of the few people in Japan to publicly share her personal experience with muri shinj¨± under her own name. She has since been involved in parents¡¯ support work and advocacy around developmental disorders.
Japan arrests Americans over stunt at baby monkey Punch¡¯s zoo
Visitors gather in the rain to catch a glimpse of Punch the monkey at Ichikawa City Zoo in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, in April.
Visitors to Japan down 5.5% in April
Japan Tourism Agency chief Shigeki Murata has emphasized that the government will work on implementing "strategic promotions to attract visitors from more countries and regions."
¡®There was no village¡¯: Japan¡¯s troubling pattern of family murder-suicides
Akiko Hashiguchi is one of the few people in Japan to publicly share her personal experience with muri shinj¨± under her own name. She has since been involved in parents¡¯ support work and advocacy around developmental disorders.
Before city pop went global, there was Anri
Anri says younger overseas listeners first surprised her during a 2023 performance in Los Angeles, where most of the audience was in their 20s. Nearly five decades after her debut, songs such as ¡°Last Summer Whisper¡± and ¡°I Can¡¯t Stop the Loneliness¡± continue finding new fans.
Trump says ¡®nothing¡¯s changed¡¯ on Taiwan. But his words belie a big shift.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the press aboard Air Force One en route to the U.S. following his official visit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, on Friday.
Japan¡¯s new emissions trading program: Key climate tool or paper tiger?
A production line at a Nippon Steel plate rolling mill in Kimitsu, Chiba Prefecture, in May 2025.
For all its nonsense, ¡®Mystery Arena¡¯ is weirdly entertaining
Afro-wigged host Momotaro Kabayama (Toshiaki Karasawa) presides over the eponymous game show in Yukihiko Tsutsumi¡¯s ¡°Mystery Arena.¡±

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

Anri says younger overseas listeners first surprised her during a 2023 performance in Los Angeles, where most of the audience was in their 20s. Nearly five decades after her debut, songs such as ¡°Last Summer Whisper¡± and ¡°I Can¡¯t Stop the Loneliness¡± continue finding new fans.
Before city pop went global, there was Anri
By Patrick St. Michel

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