ZGBriefs | January 2, 2024

Featured Article

Carter made the decision to establish relations with China (December 30, 2024, NPR)
One of Carter’s most enduring foreign policy legacies was his decision to establish formal diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China at the start of 1979 —– nearly 30 years after the Communist Party seized power. The establishment of ties between Washington and Beijing ushered in an era of engagement that brought China out of isolation and underpinned its meteoric economic rise.

Government / Politics / Foreign Affairs

China’s Year in Review (December 24, 2024, Foreign Policy China Brief)
It was a long year in China, with the economic slowdown dominating the news and a gloomy public mood settling in. The country is still in a post-COVID-19 hangover and a political morass. Will 2024 be the calm before the storm for China?

China and India Rebuild Trust on the Path to Reconciliation (December 25, 2024, East Asia Forum)
On 23 October 2024, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi endorsed an earlier deal to disengage their militaries along their disputed border, resulting in troop withdrawals within a week. Influenced by economic pressures, these actions signify a shift in China-India relations, moving from heightened tensions to a return to normalcy. This has been facilitated by the leaders’ pragmatism and shared understanding that conflicts complicate their border issues and undermine long-term objectives.

China’s Xi Vows to Stop Mass Killings Known as ‘Revenge on Society Crimes’ (December 26, 2024, AP News)
Local officials were quick to vow to examine all sorts of personal disputes that could trigger aggression, from marital troubles to disagreements over inheritance. However, the increasing reach into people’s private lives raises concerns at a time when the Chinese state has already tightened its grip over all social and political aspects in the East Asian nation.

Brazil-China Partnership: Redefining the Belt and Road Initiative in Latin America(December 30, 2024, The Diplomat)
Ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Brazil in November, China reportedly pushed to have Brazil formally join the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Ultimately, Brazil’s government declined to sign an official document, but instead offered to ‘establish synergies with the BRI.

Religion

Sharing the Gospel in a Fast-Changing Culture (December 26, 2024, China Partnership)
A lot has changed since 2018, when we first visited Chinese cities in prayer, but much has also remained the same. We wanted to close out this year of prayer by re-visiting a 2018 interview with a Xiamen pastor. This year, many pastors specifically told us that things in Xiamen grew more difficult after 2019 (a year after this interview), but there are still commonalities from 2018, specifically that Xiamen believers are focused on making money, and it’s hard for them to find time to think about deeper things. 

A Year of Unity and Anticipation (December 27, 2024, ChinaSource)
From forming new partnerships with Chinese-led ministries to strengthening existing collaborations, we’ve seen a diversity of voices—emerging leaders alongside seasoned ministries—joining us to share their stories with the global church. These partnerships remind us that, even in a world marked by division, the body of Christ is being built and unified in powerful ways.

A Story Well Lived (December 30, 2024, ChinaSource)
With the homegoing of Dr. Rudolf Mak on October 1, 2024, the ChinaSource community lost a valued mentor, colleague, teacher, friend, and pioneer. Rudolf was all of these—a dear brother in Christ who left an indelible impression on those with whom he served. His vision and unstoppable determination to seek the expansion of Christ’s kingdom in China were instrumental in shaping ChinaSource into the organization it is today.

The Immigrant Church…in Southeast Asia: Part 1 (December 30, 2024, China Partnership)
As more and more Chinese leave the country, they are not only moving to the U.S. or Western countries. Many Chinese are settling in other Asian countries, places not so far from their original home, countries like Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, and other southeast Asian destinations. Among the current diaspora are many Christians, including house church pastors.

Interview: Pastors Must Step Out of Church Walls for Ministry in Workplace (December 30, 2024, China Christian Daily)
Amid the shifting tides of the times, the mode of church ministry is constantly evolving. Recently, Paul, a male pastor from a city church in East China, shared his church’s understanding of ministry. They believe that in today’s era,  the workplace is the most strategic mission field. It is the pastors (rather than the believers) who must step out of the church’s four walls and earn the trust of the world.

Readers’ Choice: Most-Read Posts of 2024 (December 31, 2024, ChinaSource)
Happy last day of 2024! While we’re looking forward to 2025, we also want to remember the highlights of the last 12 months, with a couple of bonus articles. Enjoy!

Society / Life

What Is NeiJuan, and Why Is China Worried About It? (December 23, 2024, The Guardian)
Neijuan is the Chinese term for “involution”, a concept from sociology that refers to a society that can no longer evolve, no matter how hard it tries. Applied to the individual, it means that no matter how hard someone works, progress is impossible. In China, the term has been used to describe the feeling of diminishing returns in China’s economy.

Translations: Shanxi Woman’s 13-Year Ordeal Evokes Disturbing Parallels With Xiaohuamei Trafficking Case (December 23, 2024, China Digital Times)
Chinese social media has been filled with discussion of Bu Xiaohua, a woman in Shanxi province who was recently reunited with her father and other relatives 13 years after she went missing. Ms. Bu, who earned a Master’s degree in engineering in her youth, went missing from her hometown of Jinzhong in Shanxi in 2011, not long after undergoing in-patient treatment for schizophrenia. During the intervening years, she apparently lived with a man named Zhang Ruijun in a village about 100 miles distant from her hometown, and gave birth to a number of children.

CDT 2024 Year-End Roundup: Reports of the Year (December 24, China Digital Times)
As 2024 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese) from across the Chinese internet over the past year. Topics include this year’s most outstanding quotes, reports, podcasts and videos, sensitive words, censored articles and essays, “People of the Year,” and CDT’s “2024 Editors’ Picks.”

China’s Year in Numbers (December 31, 2024, Sixth Tone)
China’s 2024 had its share of ups and downs, box office bombs and theatrical hits. It saw an AI boom and an NEV explosion, including a price war that made switching from gas-powered cars more affordable than ever. This is China’s 2024, by the numbers.

What’s changed in Wuhan 5 years after the COVID-19 outbreak? (December 31, 2024, NPR)
The epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak was in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Five years on, NPR returns to get a sense of what’s changed — and what hasn’t.

Economics / Trade / Business

Prosecutors Find Workers in ‘Slavery Like’ Conditions at Chinese Car Company Site in Brazil (December 24, 2024, AP News)
A task force led by Brazilian prosecutors said it rescued 163 Chinese nationals working in “slavery-like” conditions at a construction site in northeastern Brazil, where Chinese electric vehicle company BYD is building a factory.

World Bank Lifts China Growth Forecasts but Calls for Deeper Reforms (December 26, 2024, The Guardian)
The World Bank has lifted its growth forecasts for China’s economy, but called for deeper reforms and warned that the country will continue to face headwinds from a lingering property downturn.

Five Possible Reasons China’s Productivity Slowed Down (December 28, 2024, Noahpinion Blog)
China’s economy is having major problems. Despite the country’s dominance of global manufacturing, its living standards are starting to stagnate at a level far below that of developed countries. China’s growth has slowed down dramatically, from around 6.5% before the pandemic to 4.6% now, and there are credible signs that even that number is seriously overstated.

Health / Environment

‘We Need to Be Prepared’: China Adapts to Era of Extreme Flooding (December 24, 2024, The Guardian)
Every summer, Dongting Hu, China’s second-largest freshwater lake, swells in size as flood water from the Yangtze River flows into its borders. Dams and dikes are erected around the lake’s edges to protect against flooding. But this year, not for the first time, they were overwhelmed.

WHO Urges China to Share Covid Origins Data, Five Years on from Pandemic’s Emergence (December 31, 2024, CNN)
While much of the world has moved on from the pandemic lockdowns and restrictions, many questions remain about the source of a virus that killed at least seven million people, crippled health care systems and upended the global economy. And many experts say China’s opacity has made finding answers to the pandemic’s origins harder.

Travel / Food 

Harbin Aims to Attract More Foreign Tourists to China’s Winter Wonderland (December 26, 2024, South China Morning Post)
Last winter’s tourism boom made Harbin a top destination for domestic visitors. Now, the northeastern Chinese city known for its annual ice festival and bitter cold is enhancing policies to attract more international tourists.

Science and Technology

‘Trusted Data Spaces’: Beijing’s Latest Step Toward Digital Dominance (December 20, 2024, China Brief Archives – Jamestown Foundation)
The National Data Administration (国家数据部) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has released a five-year action plan for “trusted data space development (可信数据空间发展),” aiming to achieve breakthroughs in operations, technology, ecology, standards, and security, with the goal of establishing over 100 data spaces by 2028 (NDA, November 25). This is a foundational step in a broader strategy to build a robust data ecosystem, drive digital economy growth, and strengthen data sovereignty.

China Approves Tibet Mega Dam that Could Generate 3 Times More Power than Three Gorges (December 26, 2024, South China Morning Post)
China has approved the construction of a colossal hydropower project on Tibet’s longest river that could generate three times more energy than the Three Gorges Dam, state news agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday. The mega hydropower project, set to be built on the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet autonomous region, presents unprecedented engineering challenges.

Giving Made Easy: WeChat’s New “Send Gifts” Feature Transforms Social Gifting (December 30, 2024, ChinaSkinny)
Just in time for next year’s Spring Festival, WeChat, the ubiquitous everything-app, has unveiled an innovative new feature that’s set to make gifting easier than ever. Users can now send gifts directly to their family and friends through the app, transforming the way people exchange presents.

US Treasury Says it Was Hacked by China in ‘ Major Incident’ (December 31, 2024, BBC News)
Chinese state-sponsored hackers broke into the US Treasury Department’s systems earlier this month and were able to access employee workstations and some unclassified documents, American officials have said. China denied any involvement, calling the accusations ‘baseless’ and saying it ‘consistently opposes all forms of hacking’.

Arts / Entertainment / Media

Is China’s Most Famous Modern Play Stuck in the Past? (December 26, 2024, Sixth Tone)
In October 2024, the Beijing People’s Art Theater (PAT) once again brought its signature play, Lao She’s “Teahouse,” to Shanghai. The show had little new to offer longtime fans: the staging was the same as the play’s debut in 1958, and many of the actors are now in their 60s, having been ensconced in their roles for years, if not decades.

China’s Best Music of 2024 (December 29, 2024, China Talk)
To close out the year, we got Jake Newby, the author the China music substack Concrete Avalanche, to put together a radio hour introducing China’s best music from the past year. His set includes everything from Afrobeat-influenced Beijing funk to an electronic track crafted in a Tibetan monastery featuring Buddhist chanting. 

Books

The Year in Reads: Books of 2024 (December 31, 2024, The World of Chinese)
As 2024 draws to a close, we are glad to find more diverse works from Chinese authors reaching English-speaking audiences through translation. Among them are established contemporary literary icons such as Su Tong and his somber narratives of the recent past, and bestselling horror writers such as Xu Lei (better known as Nanpai Sanshu). From novels highlighting the forgotten history of WWI to short stories depicting modern family life and fiction based on painful personal trauma, this year’s translations also featured female Chinese authors who brought their unique literary voices to the forefront.

History

‘It Was Destiny’: How Jimmy Carter Embraced China and Changed History (December 30, 2024, BBC News)
On a bright January morning in 1979, then US president Jimmy Carter greeted a historic guest in Washington: Deng Xiaoping, the man who unlocked China’s economy. It was the start of a diplomatic relationship that would forever change the world, setting the stage for China’s economic ascent – and later, its rivalry with the US. 

Pray for China

December 31 (Pray For China: A Walk Through History)
On Dec. 31, 1946, the Marine Lynx arrived in Shanghai with 408 missionaries, the largest number of missionaries ever to sail from America at one time. Within a few years, they were all expelled or in prison. At that time, there were about 700,000 Protestants in China and 3.3 million Catholics. With no missionaries working in-country and under great persecution, those numbers grew exponentially—especially for Protestants. Pray for our Omnipotent God’s glory to fill the land as His children lean on His strength to accomplish what is impossible for them to do. Then the Almighty will be your gold and your precious silver. For then you will delight yourself in the Almighty and lift up your face to God. Job 22:25-26