Drum Tower

The Economist’s editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddoes was recently in Beijing for the China Development Forum, an annual gathering where senior Chinese officials meet foreign business bosses.She joins our Beijing bureau chief David Rennie to assess Xi Jinping’s new plan to escape economic stagnation. Plus, what is the outlook for China’s relationship with America?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.

The Communist Party wants to build a “civilised” China. Its latest attempt is a nationwide campaign that aims to insert the party, and its ideology, in every aspect of people’s lives.Alice Su, The Economist’s senior China correspondent and David Rennie, our Beijing bureau chief, examine this campaign and take you to a mass wedding organised by a New Era Civilisation Practice Centre. Together they ask: how does Xi Jinping’s latest civilisation campaign work? And what does it mean to the people who take part? 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.

On March 13th America’s House of Representatives passed a bill that could ban TikTok nationwide unless its Chinese owner, Bytedance, agrees to sell its stake. Alice Su, The Economist’s senior China correspondent, and David Rennie, our Beijing bureau chief, look at China’s side of the story. Joined by Don Weinland, our China business and finance editor, they ask: does Chinese ownership of TikTok really pose a threat to America?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.

Xi Jinping likes to tell people in China that their country is not just a democracy, but a much higher-functioning democracy than those you’d find in the West. He coined a slogan, “whole-process people’s democracy” to refer to China’s style of democracy and he points to annual meetings like the National People’s Congress (NPC) as an example of how Chinese people participate.  James Miles, The Economist’s China writer-at-large, and Alice Su, our senior China correspondent, delve into this year’s NPC to ask: what is whole-process people’s democracy and does the Chinese public believe in it? 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.

An article from The Economist read aloud. This week our China section looks at how China is supercharging the green transition—while burning mountains of coal.

China’s markets are in trouble and the Communist Party is blaming the bankers. It has told them to abandon “hedonistic” lifestyles, and regulators have moved to curb transactions that they consider “ill-intended”. Now, China’s bankers face new orders: to develop a “financial culture with Chinese characteristics”. David Rennie, The Economist’s Beijing bureau chief, and Alice Su, our senior China correspondent, examine these new directives and ask: what is Xi Jinping’s vision for finance with Chinese characteristics? And where does that idea come from? Get a world of insights for 50% off—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+Sign up for a free trial of Economist Podcasts+. If you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you’ll 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.

China has built what may be the most capable police state in history, and has done so with a surprisingly small police force. Many attribute this feat to the technological artillery at the state’s disposal but tech is only one piece of a much larger puzzle. A recent book by Minxin Pei, a prominent political scientist, reveals the secret of China’s surveillance state. David Rennie and Alice Su read The Sentinel State: Surveillance and the Survival of Dictatorship in China and talk to the author. They ask: How does China’s surveillance state really work?Get a world of insights for 50% off—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+Sign up for a free trial of Economist Podcasts+. If you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you’ll 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.

An article from The Economist read aloud. This week our China section looks at how living outside China has become more like living inside China.

“Lost in Beijing,” directed by Li Yu, captures the essence of booming late-2000s China. Released just a year before the Olympics, the film paints a vivid picture of a ruthless city where everyone is vying for money and power. It focuses on Pingguo, a migrant woman who works in a massage parlour. We watch her navigate the city as she struggles to forge her own path. In the second session of our Drum Tower Film Club, Alice Su, The Economist's senior China correspondent, and David Rennie, our Beijing bureau chief, watch “Lost in Beijing". They ask: What does the film reveal about the dynamics of money, gender and power in the Beijing of the 2000s? And have those dynamics changed today?Get a world of insights for 50% off—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+Sign up for a free trial of Economist Podcasts+. If you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you’ll 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.