The son of Hong Kong immigrants, Andy Mok left New York to find China on the cusp of a tech boom. To help fill the entrepreneurship knowledge gap, he started Beijing Tech Hive, the first weekend startup bootcamp in China.
Newsletter
Playing with trade blocs
September 3, 2020
After President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the remaining 11 countries negotiated a new trade deal, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which was signed in March 2018. At the same time, China was negotiating its own trade deal, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), whose 15 countries would account for 30% of the world’s population and GDP if it is ratified.
Investing in Latin America
August 27, 2020
Since then Chinese President Jiang Zemin visited Latin America in 2001, China has become more engaged in the region. Chinese investment and loans to Latin America have declined in the last few years, but the region remains important to China as a market for goods and a source of essential energy and products.
How Tencent makes its money
August 20, 2020
Although WeChat is the most popular part of the Tencent empire and is deeply embedded in the everyday lives of Chinese, it doesn’t generate most of the company’s revenues. This week we look at Tencent and how it generated US$54 billion in revenue last year.
Where do people buy stuff now?
August 13, 2020
With more and more of our everyday shopping taking place digitally, we looked into who the big players are in the U.S. and China through four charts.
TikTok in three charts
August 6, 2020
President Trump is worried that user data from the 45.4 million Americans on TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, could be handed over to the Chinese government and set a September 15th deadline for the app to be sold to a U.S. company or risk being banned.
Hedging with new and old currencies
July 30, 2020
Gold is an ancient store of value. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are recent inventions. Price swings for both can be dramatic. Gold has almost reached its 2011 peak. Bitcoin has climbed rapidly, but is still only a bit more than half the price it was in December 2017.
Politics and public health
July 23, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic reconfigured human activity across the globe. Differing political systems, priorities and social norms have yielded significantly different outcomes between China and the U.S. and within the two countries.
Administration waffling on trade
July 16, 2020
Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign included a pledge to reduce America’s trade deficit with China but after a January trade deal, things started to unwind
Increasing acceptance of LGBTQ
July 9, 2020
With the 50th anniversary of the world’s first gay pride parade in Los Angeles, we look across the Pacific at the two very different climates provided to LGBTQ individuals in China and Taiwan.
Talent for tomorrow
July 2, 2020
Early on, the Trump administration identified access to American universities as helping China advance. The administration has been pushing back against this in several ways, including the Department of Justice’s China Initiative which has American academics among its targets. Now students from China are under greater scrutiny.
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Featured Articles
February 17, 2021
With every country vying for vaccines, the deals may have more to do with international diplomacy than health policy.
Events
March 11, 2021 - 1:00pm
Julia Lovell re-evaluates Maoism as both a Chinese and an international force, linking its evolution in China with its global legacy.