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Keith Bradsher
For Keith Bradsher's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
A solar farm owned by the Huaneng Group in Shilin, China on March 2. Beijing is set to further increase its manufacturing and installation of solar panels, as it seeks to master global markets and wean itself from imports.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 9, 2024
China racing ahead on plans to dominate solar energy industry
Beijing is set to further increase its manufacturing and installation of solar panels as it seeks to master global markets and wean itself from imports.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang chat at the end of the opening session of the National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 5, 2024
China sets robust economic growth goal but no big bang stimulus
Premier Li Qiang targets growth of about 5% this year but signals continued reluctance to use deficit spending for economic stimulus.
Shoppers walk past an ID Hub, a Volkswagen showroom for electric cars, at a mall in Shanghai on Dec. 3, 2023.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 19, 2024
Firms with deep roots in China reconsider their Xinjiang ties
Volkswagen Group is reviewing the future of its joint venture in the Xinjiang region of northwestern China
The tail of a BYD electric vehicle sports the company’s motto, “build your dreams,” at a dealership in Shenzhen, China, on Jan. 29.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 12, 2024
How China built BYD, its Tesla killer
BYD’s sales, over 80% of them in China, passed Tesla in worldwide sales of fully electric cars late last year.
Nio workers inspect a vehicle on an assembly line at the automaker’s factory in Hefei, China. China misjudged the rapid expansion of its electric vehicle sector, leaving a shortfall of skilled technicians as young people shun manufacturing careers.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 11, 2023
China’s electric car factories can’t hire fast enough
A frenzy of construction and expansion of factories has made electricians and robotics specialists a hot commodity.
A young boy watches a screen showing Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Military Museum in Beijing.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 6, 2023
Xi Jinping is asserting tighter control of finance in China
The Communist Party expects banks, pension funds, insurers and other financial organizations in China to follow Marxist principles.
Chinese tourists buy gold bars and gold accessories at LukFook, a jewelry store, in Hong Kong.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 28, 2023
Gold bars and Tokyo apartments: How money is flowing out of China
The outbound shift of money in part indicates unease inside China about the sputtering recovery after the pandemic as well as deeper problems.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Arab leaders pose for a group photo during the China-Arab summit in Riyadh on Dec. 9.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 12, 2023
China’s economic stake in the Middle East: Its thirst for oil
China, the world’s second-largest economy, has become addicted to foreign oil at a stunning pace.
A worker in a factory that makes seats for BMW in Shenyang, China, on Sept. 11. China, facing an economic slump, wants to make its industrial northeast more productive, turning to policies that some economists say have outlived their time.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Sep 27, 2023
Slowing and in debt, can China’s industrial heartland be revived?
The country, facing an economic slump, wants to make its northeast more productive, turning to policies some economists say have outlived their time.
A woman walks past surveillance cameras in Shanghai. China’s Ministry of State Security has called for a "whole of society mobilization,” urging the public to watch for what it considers foreign-backed subversion.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 20, 2023
Burner laptops and smaller profits: Firms face China challenges
Beijing has doubled down on policies emphasizing security and self-reliance that make it harder to do business.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo is greeted by Shanghai Party Secretary Chen Jining, in Shanghai on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 2, 2023
U.S. officials are streaming to China. Will Beijing return the favor?
Such visits could help convey Beijing’s interest in stabilizing ties with Washington. But China has been noncommittal.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
May 30, 2023
Can the world make batteries for electric cars without China?
Despite billions in Western investment, China is so far ahead in the industry that the rest of the world may take decades to catch up.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 15, 2023
In Beijing, Brazil’s leader endorses China’s stance on Ukraine
In a joint statement, the countries' leaders avoided the words 'invasion” or 'war” and offered few specifics about how to bring Russia or Ukraine to the table after more than a year of war.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 10, 2023
Xi starts new term in China, with a focus on economy and U.S. rivalry
Despite his personal power seeming secure, Xi faces the urgent challenge of reviving China’s economy and escalating tensions with the United States and its allies.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 24, 2022
As cases explode, China’s low COVID death toll convinces no one
A country trying to mourn its dead from a COVID-19 outbreak is grappling with a system unprepared for the surge in fatalities, but China's government is painting a less dire picture.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 20, 2022
From 'zero-COVID' to no plan: Behind China’s pandemic U-turn
Xi's own formula for beating back COVID may have inadvertently set China up for this jolting and potentially devastating turn.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 10, 2022
How will China turn its economy back on? The world is about to find out.
Now that China has finally started rolling back its strict mix of mass testing, lockdowns and quarantines, its economy is entering a delicate period.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 24, 2022
Outbreaks test China’s efforts to limit the cost of ‘COVID zero'
China wants to fine-tune its stringent pandemic restrictions to reduce the disruption to daily life caused by lockdowns. But officials are still taking few chances.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 23, 2022
Beijing is fixing its foul air. Why can’t New Delhi?
The return of smog season in India's capital has again left residents asking why nothing has changed. The answer may be largely political.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 24, 2022
China’s leader now wields formidable power. Who will say no to him?
Xi Jinping has created a new ruling elite packed with loyalist officials primed to elevate his agenda of bolstering national security and of turning China into a technological great power.

Longform

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