politics

China’s Two Sessions, or Lianghui, is a cornerstone of the country’s political calendar, bringing together the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). These meetings, held in Beijing every March, set the stage for China’s policy priorities and economic direction for the year ahead. As 2025 approaches, analysts are closely watching for signals on how China plans to navigate its domestic challenges and global ambitions. …

Amid the hustle of last week’s CIIE – the world’s largest import expo and China’s stage for promoting foreign imports – Donald Trump’s re-election was the talk of the town. While America’s choice may not have surprised some, the ramifications remain as unclear and unpredictable as the President-Elect himself, as this analysis from China Skinny explains Although Trump’s re-election will be felt globally, few countries are likely to be affected …

The Rt Hon David Lammy MP recently spent two days in China, emphasising that the UK will take a consistent, strategic and pragmatic approach to its dealings with the country Prior to leaving for China on what is only the second such trip by a top UK minister in six years, Mr Lammy said that “engagement with China is pragmatic and necessary to support UK and global interests…we must speak …

The Labour Party won a landslide victory in early July’s general election, ending 14 years of Conservative rule and giving the UK a new Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer. Like many groups now looking to the future, China watchers will be wondering what the new government will bring to the field of UK-China relations. “While it is still early days, there is a sense we may be entering a new …

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly visited China on 30 August – the first such visit by a UK Foreign Secretary for over five years – where he met for high-level talks with senior officials from the Chinese government Mr Cleverly met Chinese Vice President Han Zheng and Chinese Foreign Minister and Director of the Office of the Central Foreign and Affairs Commission Wang Yi in Beijing. For the meeting with Vice …

The long-awaited refresh to the UK Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy (known as the Integrated Review, or IR) was published on 13 March, two years on from the first version. Lewis Husain and James Keeley from the Institute of Development Studies examine what it means for the UK’s relationship with China amid a challenging global environment From the Integrated Review to IR2023 The IR is the …

Following the death of former president Jiang Zemin, we take a look at the leader’s relations with the UK; from meeting Queen Elizabeth II in Shanghai in 1986, to becoming the first serving Chinese leader to visit the UK in 1999 Former president Jiang Zemin passed away in Shanghai on 30 November 2022 at the age of 96. He was given a state funeral in Beijing on the morning of… …

Understanding China’s top political body is key to understanding how decisions and policies get made. With a new Politburo Standing Committee just elected during the 20th Party Congress, these are the seven men whose names you should know The Politburo Standing Committee, formally known as the Standing Committee of the Central Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party, is China’s most powerful decision-making body and currently made up of seven… …

The US and China appear to have realised the constraints placed upon them by their interdependence and are seeking to ease relations as a result, with high-level government-to-government engagement between the pair ramping up significantly over the past year. However, companies from the US and beyond will need to continue to tread carefully in and around China, writes Joe Cash In American political circles, China is seen as both a …

The UK has done well through partnering with China on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) before, but is it now considering extricating itself from further BRI collaboration with Beijing to align itself with the US or the EU? Joe Cash investigates A global contest is brewing. China, the US, and the EU are all vying for influence along routes that Beijing first turned its attention to in 2013 when… …