Simina Mistreanu

Beijing (Forbes) - A series of newly released economic indicators show a dramatic decline in China’s economy due to the coronavirus outbreak. The collapse in industrial production, retail sales and fixed-asset investment was much more serious than analysts had expected. The data, released Monday, can serve as a warning to other countries as to the coronavirus’ toll on the economy. Industrial production, a gauge of manufacturing, mining and utilities activity, dropped 13.5% in

Beijing (Forbes) - Nike, Adidas, Apple, Microsoft and Samsung are among 83 multinationals that have been linked to forced labor by Uighurs in factories across China, according to a new study by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI). According to the researchers, Uighurs, a persecuted ethnic minority from China’s western Xinjiang region, have been funneled to work in factories in other provinces under conditions “that strongly suggest forced labour.” The report esti

Beijing (Forbes) - China mandated factory shutdowns across most of its provinces last month as it struggled to control a new coronavirus epidemic that started in its central metropolis of Wuhan. Factories were supposed to remain closed for another 10 days after the weeklong Lunar New Year holiday and reopen on February 9. When that day arrived, Cui Kexu, like thousands of factory owners across China, was waiting for an official green light to restart production. None came. Al

Beijing (Forbes) - The idea of a “decoupling” between the United States and China started gathering steam earlier this year, as the trade war between the two countries intensified and negotiators on both sides repeatedly failed to reach a solution. In theory, decoupling would mean ripping up global supply chains, freezing foreign investment initiatives and burning down the geopolitical bridges that were built over the past four decades between Washington and Beijing. Decoupli

Ethnic cleansing of Uighurs in China has forced an exodus to Istanbul—and a desperate effort to keep their culture alive. ISTANBUL (Foreign Policy)—On a Sunday morning in April, 9-year-old Nefise Kerim dragged her older sister, Saniya, to a bookstore in Istanbul’s Zeytinburnu neighborhood. The girl’s brown eyes scoured the bookshelves full of colorful tomes depicting an Arabic script. Kerim wanted to come after she had seen an announcement on Facebook that a new magazine for

Chinese telecom giant Huawei is facing its toughest period in years as the United States accuses it of facilitating spying for Beijing. Washington is pressuring European countries to cut off their ties with the Shenzhen-based company, but few are willing to do so. Shenzhen, China (dpa) – At lunchtime on a Friday in June, a group of Huawei employees crossed a replica of Heidelberg’s Old Bridge on their way to cafeterias near a faux Palace of Versailles. Huawei’s new campus in

Hashtag campaign on social media gathers force after Liu Jingyao sued Richard Liu for sexual assault in US Beijing (The Guardian) - China’s internet users have rallied behind a student who is pursuing a civil case against billionaire retail tycoon Richard Liu, whom she accuses of rape. Twenty-one-year-old University of Minnesota student Liu Jingyao, who has agreed to be named, has accused the JD.com chief executive of getting her drunk at a dinner and later raping her in her

Executives and employees of Chinese energy companies in Central Asia are being sent to Chinese internment camps along with other ethnic minority elites, despite China’s efforts to expand its businesses in the region. Urumqi, China/Almaty, Kazakhstan (dpa) - Doletkhan Shairbek, a manager at a Chinese energy company in Kyrgyzstan, thought his upcoming work trip to China would last about a week, as usual. He packed for the mountainous city of Urumqi, the capital of China’s weste