China's answer in US trade war: carefully calibrated - Arthur Kroeber

Arthur Kroeber

China's is sending carefully calibrated messages to the US, as US president Donald Trump is moving to a trade war, tells economist Arthur Kroeber, author of China's Economy: What Everyone Needs to Know®, to the South China Morning Post.

The South China Morning Post:

Arthur Kroeber, research head and co-founder of Gavekal Dragonomics, said China surely has “an equally specific, but longer”, list of targets ready to go when Washington finally unveils its Section 301 tariff list. 

“The strength of this response was carefully calibrated to send a clear message that Beijing will stand up to the US, but will not try to escalate the spat into a confrontation that could seriously threaten the global trading system,” Kroeber said.

More at the South China Morning Post.

Arthur Kroeber is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

Are you looking for more experts to make sense out of the US-China trade tension? Do check out this list.

Employment rates: improved but still a political tool - Arthur Kroeber

Arthur Kroeber

China has greatly improved its unemployment statistics, compared to the past, but they still do not give the real picture, says leading economist Arthur Kroeber, author of China's Economy: What Everyone Needs to Know®, to the South China Morning Post.  State intervention would still be a factor, he said.

The South China Morning Post:

Arthur Kroeber, co-founder and research head of Gavekal Dragonomics, said the broad-based jobless rate was “an improvement” on the previous one. 

The quality of Chinese economic data has been an issue of debate for decades, with independent economists questioning the figures and Beijing defending their reliability. But few indicators have drawn as much criticism as the registered jobless rate – which was 3.9 per cent at the end of last year... 

[N]ot everyone is convinced that Beijing’s new unemployment rate will provide the full picture. 

Kroeber at Gavekal said it did not adequately measure underemployment, such as high-skill workers in low-skill jobs and people in part-time work who would rather be employed full-time. He also said state intervention would still be a factor – Li said in his report that Beijing wanted to keep the rate under 5.5 per cent this year.

More at the South China Morning Post. Arthur Kroeber is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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The global implications of the China-Afrika engagement - Howard French

What are the global implications of the growing China-Afrika engagement, journalist Howard French, author of Everything Under the Heavens: How the Past Helps Shape China's Push for Global Power wonders at the Delaware State University on April 12, 2018.

Howard French is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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China produces one unicorn every three days - Rupert Hoogewerf

Rupert Hoogewerf

Rupert Hoogewerf - chief researcher and founder of the Hurun China Rich List - is a busy man. Every three days, a new unicorn - a company valued over 1 billion US dollar and unlisted - emerges in China, shows his latest report. "If model, talent and capital are all in place, start-ups can move very fast," said Rupert Hoogewerf to the Global Times.

The Global Times:

The total number of such companies stood at 151 as of the end of March, said the report. 

Among 33 newly listed unicorn companies, Tencent Music, a streaming and downloading services provider like Spotify, ranked first in terms of market valuation worth 150 billion yuan ($23.89 billion), followed by JD Logistics with 70 billion yuan. 

Around one-third of the companies are in the internet services sector including Ziroom, an online platform for apartment renting and sharing. 

Next came culture, entertainment and mobility, with Aiways Technology Co, a 1-year-old Shanghai-based internet start-up focused on intelligent and electric vehicles, being the youngest unicorn. 

Aiways said on Sunday that it has secured three rounds of financing totaling 7 billion yuan, industry news site tmtpost.com reported. 

"If model, talent and capital are all in place, start-ups can move very fast," said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of the Hurun Research Institute. 

Among all the unicorn companies surveyed by the Hurun report, Ant Financial, an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding, topped the list with a valuation of 400 billion yuan. 

The financial technology giant is preparing to raise $9 billion in a private funding round ahead of its IPO, which may value the company at about $150 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on April 10, citing people familiar with the matter.

More in the Global Times.

Rupert Hoogewerf is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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What does China's GDP mean? - Arthur Kroeber

Arthur Kroeber

Media reported widely the 6.8% GDP growth over the first quarter in 2018 in China, but economist Arthur Kroeber wonders what such a number actually means. Also: the impact of the announced US tariffs on Chinese products would hardly make a dent in economic growth, he tells the South China Morning Post.

The South China Morning Post:

Some analysts say the lack of volatility in the range of the GDP figures has reduced the relevance of the data in gauging the health of the world’s second-biggest economy. 

“Do we have a high degree of accuracy in quarter-to-quarter China GDP as other advanced economies? The answer is no,” said Arthur Kroeber, co-founder and research head of Gavekal-Dragonomics, a research firm. “Chinese government calculation about GDP is basically designed to reduce volatility”. 

Kroeber said China’s economic growth rate was expected to slow over the next two or three years and a trade war with the US might knock off about 0.3 percentage points if it involved the US imposing tariffs on US$100 billion worth of Chinese imports.

More in the South China Morning Post.

Arthur Kroeber is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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How can you be a China expert without knowing the country? - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein

China analyst Shaun Rein, author of The War for China's Wallet: Profiting from the New World Order, tells on the EM+BRACE “Mentorship Series” at LinkedIn why he hates some opinion leaders are called China experts without having actually inside knowledge of the country. And why media should be careful position somebody as a China expert.

The EM+BRACE "Mentor Series":

Robert: You’re known for speaking up against analysts who have a bearish view on China, yet don’t know the country firsthand or understand the language. What would you say to those critics who contend that on-the-ground observers, such as you, are missing the forest from the trees? 

Shaun: Look, my biggest problem against some of the bears are not their predictions or lack of understanding China. Rather, how can you call yourself a China expert, like Peter Navarro, Trump's advisor, if you have not visited the country over the past ten years? Or even visited China once, like Jim Chanos, who has been calling for China's economic implosion? I guess these folks are just carving out their niche and trying to get ahead like the rest of us. What I greatly resent is the media for giving these analysts a microphone to talk. At some point, credibility and track record should count for something. How can you quote someone as a China expert who has never lived or barely lived in China? Who does not speak the language? Our media needs to be held to a higher standard. Take Gordon Chang who has predicted the collapse of China for twenty years. He has been wrong on just about every one of his predictions, yet he is constantly quoted by the media as a China expert. Lately, he has been the go-to talking head in the US on North Korea! Gordon is a nice guy frankly. He gives great sound bites and is just trying to get ahead. But the media should look at his track record and not go to him as an expert. 

Robert: Shaun, did you have any mentors during your career. If so, who were/are they and what did you learn from them? 

Shaun: I have been very, very lucky in having some great mentors over the years, ranging from Ambassador Nicholas Platt, to Harvard professor William Kirby, to venture capitalist Gregg Stone. They taught me so many things from how to treat people, take risks, and network, but perhaps what sticks the most is that they were willing to take the time to give me great advice despite being so busy while they were reaching the top of their respective fields. They also taught me that it is important for me to mentor younger people as they did for me — my career never would have been so successful without them. Now it is my turn to give back.

More at the EM+BRACE "Mentor Series".

Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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Trump's trade policies good for the year 1818 - Harry Broadman

Harry Broadman

US president Donald Trump's bilateral approach for solving trade issues would have worked in 1818, not in 2018, writes China veteran Harry Broadman in the Gulf News. The US do have serious trade problems with China, but the US would be better off if Trump would be able to create more alliances.

Harry Broadman:

US President Donald Trump sees international trade negotiations as if he was living in 1818 when commerce between countries more often than not was conducted bilaterally. He’s proclaimed on several occasions that he can get a far better bargain taking up trade agreements with other heads of state on a one-to-one basis. 

Indeed, the US Negotiator-in-Chief is “Bilateral Man”, hardly surprising for someone who cut his teeth doing one-off commercial real estate deals within the confines of New York City. 

But this is 2018, and trade consummated even between two countries generally is comprised of multiple intermediate transactions mediated across several national borders. 

Hence, that is why the bedrock rules governing trade agreements today — embodied in the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the successor organisation to the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT), which was founded in 1947 — are multilateral in nature and negotiated among sovereign, not business, entities. 

It would appear that the modern — and yes, complex — system of trade agreements is far outside of Trump’s comfort zone, perhaps even his understanding. 

As indicated by his handling of the trade problems between the US and China — which are indeed serious and haven’t been dealt with sufficiently by earlier administrations — his anathema towards building coalitions among the 162 other countries that are WTO members to improve governance of international trade exposes all of us to significant risks.

More in the Gulf News.

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Is the Trump approach of China working? I do not think so - Sara Hsu

Sara Hsu

US president Donald Trump has been going aggressively after China as a trade partner. But is it working? Political analyst Sara Hsu does not think so, she explains in Forbes."From the Boston tea party to the Smoot Hawley tariffs imposed during the Great Depression, protectionist measures have always imposed far higher costs than benefits."

Sara Hsu:

The aggressive Trump stance hasn't worked because Chinese diplomacy is nuanced and officials do not use threats as a negotiation tactic. The Chinese generally negotiate through reciprocity, which is why we saw Xi Jinping making concessions on automobile tariffs. Within the philosophy of Confucianism, Chinese negotiators attempt to avoid conflict and save face, or show mutual respect. Relationship building is essential, and the bonds of the relationship are not meant to be broken. 

If pushed, however, the Chinese often use silence or long negotiation processes as a response tactic. Chinese negotiators may also attempt to use a response that targets the weakness of the counterparty, especially if the counterparty is not viewed as civilized or friendly. The Chinese Thirty-Six Strategems calls for using specific tactics to deal with a hostile party, which including "wait at leisure while the enemy labors" and "watch the fires burning across the river." Chinese officials indeed waited to respond to Trump's bluster and hoped that he would wear himself down by griping and tweeting about his issues with the Asian nation. 

China's strategy appears to be working in the sense that the nation has, to some extent, benefited from Trump's aggressive mentality. Its diplomatic response has been calculated and staid. As Trump rants and raves about China, Chinese officials have emphasized the need for cooperation. It couldn't be clearer who is speaking the voice of reason. If Trump had a better knowledge of economics, he would realize that history has shown that trade showdowns don't work. From the Boston tea party to the Smoot Hawley tariffs imposed during the Great Depression, protectionist measures have always imposed far higher costs than benefits.

More in Forbes.

Sara Hsu is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form. 

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US-China trade frictions are here to stay - Arthur Kroeber

Arthur Kroeber

The current trade frictions between China and the US are here to stay, for the time being, says renowned economist Arthur Kroeber, author of China's Economy: What Everyone Needs to Know®. Neither of the two countries will or even can afford to give in to the other, he tells the South China Morning Post.

The South China Morning Post:

Arthur Kroeber, co-founder and research head with China-focused Gavekal Dragonomics, based in Hong Kong, said that deep underlying frictions with China would not quickly go away as long as the US was not completely clear about its objectives. 

“The US playbook for this competition is still being written,” he said. “China is in a strong position and will not soon budge on the key issues that anger its trade partners.”... 

Gavekal’s Kroeber also ruled out a quick solution to end the friction and expected the economic rivalry to continue “on a high simmer”. 

“China will not retreat from its industrial policy goals, and the US will not be fobbed off with the usual concessions”.

More in the South China Morning Post.

Arthur Kroeber is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

Are you looking for more experts on the US-China trade war? Do check out this list.

National rules for self-driving cars - Mark Schaub

Mark Schaub

After local regulations in Beijing, Shanghai, and Chongqing to organize tests with self-driving cars, China's central government now has issued national rules to streamline those tests, writes Shanghai-based lawyer Mark Schaub at the China Law Insight.

The National Rules include regulations for:  the regulators, test applicants, requirements for the test driver, requirements on test vehicles, the testing application, the testing process regulation, traffic accidents, and the automation level of self-driving cars.

Mark Schaub:

The National Rules have been issued subsequent to local regulations on self-driving car road testing being issued in Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing in recent months (“Local Regulations”), and will take effect 1 May 2018. 

The National Rules are based on both best practices in other jurisdictions as well as some of the initiatives pioneered in the Local Regulations. The National Rules stress safety which is no doubt a response the Uber accident fatality in Arizona... 

The issuing of the National Rules adds further momentum to China’s regulations in respect of road testing for autonomous vehicles and paves the way for increased road testing of self-driving cars across China. It seems that little will slow down the development and commercialization of autonomous vehicles in China. 

The National Rules are just one indication of China’s ambitions to lead the world in this new technology. Chinese president Xi Jinping also stated at the Boao Forum on 10 April 2018 that there were plans to further open up China’s economy including relaxing foreign investment restrictions in the auto sector. Having support at the highest level bodes well for the development of autonomous cars in China.

More at the China Law Insight.

Mark Schaub is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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Nutrition additions: room to grow in China - Ben Cavender

Ben Cavender

The recent US$ 620 million purchase of Australian vitamin company Nature’s Care by Chinese investors made other firms in the industry wonder what their chances are for a similar deal. "There is a lot of room for growth in China," says business analyst Ben Cavender to Reuters.

Reuters:

Chinese investors have been hunting for deals in health foods, vitamins and supplements overseas to meet growing demand from China’s burgeoning middle class who are becoming increasingly health and fitness conscious. 

Australian firms in the sector including Swisse Wellness and Vitaco Holdings have lured Chinese buyers in recent years, while Chinese drugmaker Harbin Pharmaceutical Group Holding Co (600664.SS) said it would buy a 40 percent stake in U.S. nutritional supplements maker GNC in February. 

“There is a lot of room for growth in China,” said Ben Cavender, Shanghai-based principal at China Market Research Group, who added that Australian firms especially had built up good cachet and brand awareness in China. 

The buying consortium added in their statement that there was “explosive growth” in Chinese demand for “high quality nutrition supplements from overseas countries like Australia”, helped in part by a flourishing cross-border online market.

More at Reuters.

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How WeChat Pay took off with digital red envelopes - Matthew Brennan

Matthew Brennan

When Tencent started during the 2014 CCTV New Year show to promote giving red envelopes online, few realized it was the successful kick-off what is now known as WeChat Pay, says WeChat expert Matthew Brennan to the JingDaily. Some luxury brands did not like the concept though: "The idea of a discount communicates value and is generally not an incentive that luxury brands want to be associated with."

The JingDaily:

“It was a very important moment when red envelopes became popular because it is not an exaggeration to say that WeChat Pay itself was built upon the success of ‘lucky money’ or ‘red envelopes’ on WeChat,” said Matthew Brennan, a known WeChat expert and co-founder of China Channel. “Without lucky money, WeChat Pay wouldn’t have the adoption that it has today.”... 

There have been a number of other ways brands have adopted the concept of the red envelope in their daily marketing schemes through cooperation with WeChat Pay. After buying something in-store using WeChat Pay, consumers may, for instance, receive a red envelope with a surprise discount. Sometimes, payees are also prompted by the brand to send ‘lucky money’ to a friend, helping the brand expand its customer base. In most cases, Brennan says, the participating companies are consumer brands because the idea of a discount communicates value and is generally not an incentive that luxury brands want to be associated with. 

However, as WeChat and Alipay race to find ways to retain users for their mobile payment ecosystem, they continue to explore ways to incentivize shoppers and even promote various new technologies. Last year, on the tail of the global Pokemon Go phenomenon, Alipay included red envelopes in an augmented reality (AR) game where users could give the app access to their cameras and locations in order to see digital hongbao floating in front of them. Brands have gotten involved by teaming up with Alipay and “hiding” AR red envelopes in their stores or among their products, promoting online to offline (O2O) engagement among followers. WeChat has also empowered retailers to tap into O2O gamification using red envelopes, working with a mall to incentivize shoppers with a hongbao scavenger hunt. 

Luxury brands such as Hermès are already using mobile games as a marketing channel. In place of offering discounts, they can instead reward engagement with exclusive products or access to events. 

Alipay and WeChat Pay present significant new opportunities for brands operating in China. 

“There’s an intense war to protect those payment platforms and also to integrate increasingly more with offline payments, merging online and offline retail experiences,” Brennan said. ”From the backend, this also means utilizing data better and improving logistics as the expectations of the consumers in China are increasing.”

More in the JingDaily.

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Digitization of China's manufacturing - Arthur Kroeber

Arthur Kroeber

China has been leapfrogging into the digitization of the consumer industry but is now moving into the established manufacturing too. Economist Arthur Kroeber, author of China's Economy: What Everyone Needs to Know® looks at the progress, and potential barriers for robotizing China's factories.

Arthur Kroeber is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.  

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The Boao forum: a stepping stone in China's global policies - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein

The ongoing Boao Forum in Hainan never attracted as much attention as this year, as China's global aspirations expand, and US president Donald Trump is heading for a trade war, says business analyst Shaun Rein, author of The War for China's Wallet: Profiting from the New World Order to the South China Morning Post.

The South China Morning Post:

Shaun Rein, the founder of the China Market Research Group, said this year’s event was more significant than ever because of the “potential for a massive trade war between the US and China”. 

“And there is a lot of concern about whether China is going to be open for foreign business, and what [incentives] it might dole out to Europe and Asia as a way to keep the US down,” he said... 

Rein, who is also the author of The War for China’s Wallet, said he expected China to try and lure countries attending Boao with “sweeteners”, adding that he expected there to be a spike in new trade deals between China and its guests as Beijing sought to show the world that it did not need the US. 

“There is an opportunity for Xi to show that it’s business as normal, and calm a market that has been stirred up by what Trump is doing,” he said.

More in the South China Morning Post.

Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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Trump needs allies to challenge China on trade - Harry Broadman

Harry Broadman

US president Donald Trump is not necessarily wrong when confronting China on trade, but he has to realize he cannot solve the issue by himself, without allies, writes China veteran Harry Broadman in Forbes. "Mr. Trump’s insistence on handling China in a U.S. ‘go-it-alone’ manner is just plain wrong-headed."

Harry Broadman:

President Donald Trump and his U.S. Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer, are more than correct that the Chinese do not abide by fair, systematic, transparent and market-based rules for global trade. But the tit-for-tat approach the White House is currently taking to create disincentives to try to alter China’s behavior—centered on applying higher and higher and more expansive tariffs to Chinese exports to the U.S.—is not only self-defeating, it is actually aimed at a largely irrelevant facet of the real and far deeper problem at hand. 

Beijing has not fully effectuated the changes in its domestic governing economic institutions—what we economists call ‘behind-the-border’ reforms—it agreed with the world trading community 17 years ago it would institute. Simply put, Mr. Trump and his economic team are ignoring the proverbial 1.3-billion-ton ‘Gorilla in the Room’:  China has not lived up to some of the most important commitments made in 2001 when the country’s leadership sought, and was granted, accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). 

At the same time, Mr. Trump’s insistence on handling China in a U.S. ‘go-it-alone’ manner is just plain wrong-headed.  Rather than using the ‘power of collective action’ and building a coalition of other major trading powers—many of whom like the U.S. have been exposed to China conducting trade inconsistent with prevailing norms—Mr. Trump’s efforts will have him falling flat on his face. 

Yes, although so far Mr. Trump is engaging in his classic blustering, bluffing negotiation style—you’d think we’d all catch on by now—the dustup he has generated is causing serious economic dislocation on the ground in China and the U.S.  More pernicious is the extensive rotting out of the credibility of the U.S. on the world economic stage.

More in Forbes (here reprinted with the kind permission of the author)

Harry Broadman is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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How Tencent, Alibaba dominate private business - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein

Private companies in China can only survive when they team up with Tencent or Alibaba, creating a business scene that is unprecedented, says business analyst Shaun Rein, author of The War for China's Wallet: Profiting from the New World Order  to the South China Morning Post. “They basically have a gun to your head and you have to choose which of the two companies you want to work with.”

The South China Morning Post:

Among all of China’s 124 unicorns – private companies with a valuation of US$1 billion or above – 50.8 per cent are controlled or backed by BAT, according to a February report by information service provider ITJUZI. 

“It’s impossible to be independent. Alibaba or Tencent would either copycat your technology or business model or they’ll invest in your competitor,” said Shaun Rein, managing director of China Market Research Group. 

“They basically have a gun to your head and you have to choose which of the two companies you want to work with.” 

Rein warns that if the Chinese internet landscape ends up looking similar to Japanese keiretsu or Korean chaebol – conglomerates that control huge swathes of their respective country’s industries – innovation will be stifled over the long term because large companies often become less nimble... 

“If a [huge] company like Ele.me can’t even exist individually then what others companies can?” asks Rein, who is author of the book The War for China’s Wallet: Profiting from the New World Order.

More in the South China Morning Post.

Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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Can a trade war hit the Big Four? - Paul Gillis

Paul Gillis

Import duties - increased during a trade war - focus on goods, not services. Nevertheless, the Big Four accounting firms can still suffer from a trade war, writes Beida accounting professor Paul Gillis on his weblog. But those subtleties might not be spent on China when they are drawn into a full-scale trade war.

Paul Gillis:

Services are not subject to import duties, but China has shown no qualms about punishing foreign business for the sins of their government. The Big Four are technically not American companies. The operations in China are not subsidiaries, but more like franchises owned and operated mostly by local Chinese. But they are generally viewed as American and may face regulatory crackdowns and may see an acceleration of the process of transferring major accounts to local CPA firms. Some smaller US CPA firms operate in China in ways that are technically illegal under Chinese law and would be easy to crack down on. 

It would be easy for the Chinese to crack down on the Big Four. They simply need to strictly enforce their own rules. Few audits can survive a critical examination by regulators, evidenced by the high rate of audit deficiencies identified during inspections by the Public Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) of domestic firms. Earlier this year China temporarily banned several local firms for audit deficiencies. 

The Big Four had best watch their back. The Big Four will likely also suffer from a decline in business serving US multinationals. All multinationals must carefully reexamine their global supply chains and some of the China business is going elsewhere even if this spat is settled. Even if this dispute is settled, it has highlighted the risk of overreliance on the Chinese market.

More at the Chinaaccountingblog.

Paul Gillis is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form. 

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Running an international operation from Shanghai - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean, managing director of the Shanghai-based Chinaccelarator, tells about his busy week, trying to help foreign startups to enter China and helping Chinese companies to go global. The main problem of his international operation? "You never have a holiday."

William Bao Bean is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him to speak at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

Are you looking for more experts at China's take on its digital transformation? Do check out this 
list. 

Ban online bibles signals broader crackdown - Ian Johnson

Ian Johnson

Bibles have been legally available in China, both in print and online. But a recent crackdown by the authorities on online bibles might signal a wider crackdown, writes journalist Ian Johnson, author of The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao, for the New York Times.

Ian Johnson:

The Bible is printed in China but legally available only at church bookstores. The advent of online retailers created a loophole that made the Bible easily available. This was especially important in China given the growing dominance of online shopping.

The closing of that loophole follows new government religious regulations that have effectively tightened rules on Christianity and Islam, while promoting Buddhism, Taoism and folk religion as part of President Xi Jinping’s efforts to promote traditional values. The moves also come as China is engaged in negotiations with the Vatican to end the split between the underground and government-run Catholic Church. 

This would end a nearly 70-year split between the Chinese government and the global church, which Beijing traces to the Vatican’s historically strong anti-Communist stance. Observers said the new measures could be a sign of a broader crackdown. At a news conference Tuesday outlining Beijing’s approach, a government spokesperson said the Vatican would never be allowed control over the clergy in China. That came after a recent government reorganization in which a hard-line Communist Party department took over management of religious policy. “It sounds like the opposition force within the Chinese authorities who oppose the Vatican-China relations have their voice,” said Yang Fenggang, head of the Center on Religion and Chinese Society at Purdue University. “It clearly shows that they worry or are concerned about Catholics as well as Protestants.”

More at The Star.

Ian Johnson is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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• 'This Is Making a Lot of Christians in China Very Nervous'
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Online identities in China - Tom Doctoroff

Tom Doctoroff in Paris

"Chief Insight Officer" Tom Doctoroff explains change and consistency of China's consumers in a fast digitalizing world at China Connect Paris 2018. "Basic motivations remain the same." Doctoroff is the author of What Chinese Want: Culture, Communism, and China's Modern Consumer.

Tom Doctoroff is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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