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2025 was tipped as the year when China would become the world’s biggest luxury goods market. For years the country’s growing middle class had been a mainstay of luxury goods sales, snapping up everything from high-end handbags to pricey skincare products. But last year purchases plummeted to their lowest level in a decade. Jiehao Chen, The Economist’s China researcher, and Don Weinland, our China business and finance editor, ask: has China fallen out of love with luxury goods? Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

For years China’s answer to rural poverty was to encourage people to pack up and move to the cities. That prompted the biggest migration in human history as hundreds of millions left the land for factories and service jobs. Extreme poverty was eradicated but China’s villages became left-behind places, home to the elderly and the very young.But that’s changing. The government is ploughing money into model villages, replete with coffee shops and galleries. And rural live-streaming, where farm folks sell their wares direct to wealthy urbanites, has become a profitable industry.   Rob Gifford, The Economist’s acting China editor, and Gabriel Crossley, our China correspondent ask: what are some of the ways in which China is trying to revitalise its rural areas? And how effective are these efforts going to be? Plus Don Weinland, our China business editor, visits a blueprint for a new kind of Chinese village. Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

At the heart of Chiang Kai-shek’s vast memorial in Taipei, a giant bronze statue of the leader sits facing China. For the exiled Chinese Nationalist Party and its faithful who fled China’s civil war, Taiwan was a temporary home and China was the motherland.Decades later, only 3% of people in Taiwan consider themselves primarily Chinese. But plenty of people don’t think of themselves as being fully Taiwanese, either. That ambiguity is being exploited by China’s Communist Party, which insists the island is part of China, and has threatened to take it by force. Without a concrete sense of what it means to be Taiwanese, how will people resist?In a report that first aired on The Weekend Intelligence, Alice Su, The Economist’s senior China correspondent, visits the island’s tombs, memorials and streets in search of Taiwanese identity.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

For years China has dominated maritime trade. A number of the world’s ports are run by Chinese state-owned enterprises. Others belong to CK Hutchison (CKH), a Hong Kong conglomerate, founded by Li Ka-shing, Hong Kong’s richest man. In recent months the billionaire has found himself embroiled in a geopolitical squabble. Two of CKH’s ports are at either end of the Panama canal, a waterway that Donald Trump has demanded America “take back”. A consortium led by BlackRock is seeking to buy those ports from CKH, along with 41 others. The deal would reshape the contours of global trade—and Xi Jinping doesn’t like it.Jeremy Page, The Economist’s Asia diplomatic editor, and Emma Irving, our Asia news editor in Hong Kong, explore how Li Ka-shing got caught in the crossfire of the China-US rivalry and ask: what does the fate of the Panama ports deal mean for the future of Chinese business and global maritime trade?To sign up for Economist Education’s six-week online course in international relations, head to education.economist.com/drum. To get 15% off, use the code DRUM. The next course starts on May 14th.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

If you’re wondering how the Communist Party wants the public to feel about the trade war, head to Chinese social media. From foreign ministry officials sharing footage of rousing Mao Zedong speeches, to memes of ripped pandas boiling eagles, images of defiance abound. They mirror the message being sent from Beijing. So far China has matched America’s exorbitant tariffs tit-for-tat, and Chinese officials say they won’t be the first side to back down. Alice Su, The Economist’s senior China correspondent and Simon Cox, our China economics editor ask: what is China’s calculus in the trade war? And how wise is the country’s defiant stance? Plus, Aaron Connelly, our Asia diplomatic editor, considers the predicament facing China's neighbours in South-East Asia.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

Good bosses are rare. They don’t have to be. The skills of management can be learned.The Economist’s management columnist, Andrew Palmer, is here to help. The second season of Boss Class features leaders at some of the world’s best performing companies, from Levi’s to Novo Nordisk to Google. New episodes are out weekly starting May 12th. To listen to the full series, subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. https://subscribenow.economist.com/podcasts-plusIf you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

As tensions with America rise, China has found an edge. A decade ago, Chinese cyber-operations were clumsy and unsophisticated. But a dramatic shift has taken place. Chinese hacking is now formidable—and it has been turbocharged by the private sector and hacking competitions.Alice Su, The Economist’s senior China correspondent and Shashank Joshi, our defence editor, ask: how did China become a cyber powerhouse?Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

China launched large-scale military exercises around Taiwan this month, warning that reunification was “an unstoppable trend”. It sent fighter jets and warships to surround the island, held live-fire missile drills, and simulated a blockade. Meanwhile, a propaganda video referred to Taiwanese leaders as “separatists” and “parasites”. The message is clear: if Taiwan rejects reunification, China has the capacity to cut the island off from the world.Alice Su, The Economist’s senior China correspondent and Anton La Guardia, our diplomatic editor, ask: what might a siege of Taiwan look like? And how should Taiwan—and the world—prepare for it? Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

Donald Trump’s trade war is escalating and China has been hit hard. But even as Mr Trump threatens additional tariffs, China is not backing down. Our editor-in-chief visited Beijing recently to gauge the mood in the country as it entered the trade war. And while tough times lie ahead, the trip led to a seemingly paradoxical conclusion: China could turn the second Trump presidency into an opportunity. Not just to fix its economic problems, but to redraw the geopolitical map. David Rennie, The Economist’s geopolitics editor, and Zanny Minton Beddoes, our editor-in-chief ask: how could China gain from the second Trump presidency? And what would that mean for the rest of the world?Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.