ICS Analysis

Asia Times of 26 June 2025 asked this important question. It noted: ‘Generally speaking, China’s 1.4 billion people sock away (i.e. save) about one-third of income.’ One net conclusion: ‘…without key reforms, citizens will keep savings over consumption’.

These are short write-ups based on presentations made at a Roundtable Discussion on Lianghui, or the Two Sessions, reflecting some of the key aspects of China’s plans and policies which are to be pursued in the subsequent years.

A new phenomenon in the past two years is undocumented Chinese migrants heading to the US, flowing out at an annual rate of around 200,000, joining the streams that flow into North America, via Mexico and Canada, many hazarding long journeys, mostly on foot, through Central America. A correspondent for The Economist wrote in the series ‘Drum Tower’

The China-Watcher Notes is a new series introduced by the Institute of Chinese Studies, New Delhi, under the ambit of ICS Analysis. Each edition shall cover a set of topics of contemporary relevance pertaining to different aspects of China.

The China-Watcher Notes is a new series introduced by the Institute of Chinese Studies, New Delhi, under the ambit of ICS Analysis. Each edition shall cover a set of topics of contemporary relevance pertaining to different aspects of China

The open display of love, affection and reverence for a legal educator and legal activist after his death in Xi Jinping’s China is heartening. It was on a chilly morning in December 2023 when students and teachers of law, as well as common people from various sections of society paid the final tribute to Professor Jiang Ping, at the Babaoshan crematorium in Beijing.

Behind the lavish protocol and extrovert bonhomie of what some call a Putin-Xi ‘bromance’ lies a deeper reality. In diplomacy, states sometimes for their own reasons, project a stronger, allegedly ‘permanent’ relationship, deeper than what is the reality. We saw this during President Vladimir Putin’s May 2024 Beijing visit as President Xi Jinping’s state guest.

Starting on June 7th millions of young people will sit for the world’s largest academic test. China’s university-entrance exam, known as the gaokao, is punishingly difficult. Students spend endless hours cramming for it.

These reflections were triggered by a two-part, 1-hour, ‘Drum Tower’ podcast1 on The Economist, broadcast at the end of September 2023.

This paper aims to delve into the concept of “queerness” within the context of gender and its specific manifestations in China. The focus is to explore the ways in which “queerness” is expressed and dealt with in Chinese society, and how it challenges the traditional gender norms and identities.

Bride Price (彩礼; Cǎilǐ) is a form of wealth paid by a prospective groom’s family to the bride’s family. While the connotations and implications of “bride price” vary from place to place in China

Reports are filtering in that US Congress has suspended the debt ceiling bill to 1 January 2025. The ink has not even dried on the bipartisan “tentative” deal to raise debt-ceiling