Drum Tower from The Economist

A sophisticated, predatory, multi-billion dollar industry is emerging from the shadows. It already rivals the size of the illicit drug trade. And it’s about to get bigger and much more powerful. 

The Economist’s Sue-Lin Wong follows a trail that starts with the collapse of a bank in rural Kansas to uncover a global, underground scam economy built around human trafficking, corruption and money laundering. Can it be stopped?

Necoclí is a tiny town on Colombia’s Caribbean coast. Beach bars blast party music and sell brightly-coloured cocktails. But Necoclí is not just a tourist destination. It is also a stopping point for migrants heading to the United States.

The fastest-growing group among them are Chinese. They are on a journey they call zouxian, or walking the line. Disillusioned with the Chinese dream, they have decided to chase the American ver...

Narendra Modi is one of the most popular politicians on the planet. India’s prime minister is eyeing a third term atop the world’s biggest democracy. 

A tea-seller’s son, Mr Modi began life an outsider. The man behind the political phenomenon remains hard to fathom. India has become an economic powerhouse during his ten years in charge. But he’s also the frontman for a chauvinistic Hindu nationalist dogma. 

Can Mr M...

At the height of China’s zero-covid restrictions, a Chinese character that sounds like the English word “run” became a coded way of talking about emigration. Since then many Chinese people have left their country for better opportunities abroad.

In the first episode of a three-part series on the “run” phenomenon, we travel to Japan and meet educated, urban Chinese who have made the decision to move. Alice Su, The Economist’s sen...

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...

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 Amer...

In some ways, Beijing now sounds like a lot of other mega cities. Yet, back in imperial times, sound was used in creative ways to display wealth, to conduct everyday business and, most importantly, to keep order. David Rennie, our Beijing bureau chief, takes us on a sonic journey through the places where Beijing’s ancient soundscape is being kept alive. He meets Colin Chinnery, a sound artist and archivist, to find out why sound ha...

China’s decades-long economic boom was powered by workers who migrated from the countryside to cities to find jobs. But to do so, many of them had to leave their children behind. Now some cities are vying to attract migrant workers' children. 

Zhejiang province is piloting an experimental policy which should make it easier for migrants to bring their children with them to cities and send them to school. David Rennie, our Be...

China is watching Taiwan’s next presidential race closely. The results will influence Xi Jinping’s next steps when it comes to resolving the “Taiwan question”. 

Ahead of the vote on January 13th, Alice Su, our senior China correspondent, goes to campaign rallies of the 3 parties in the race. We meet voters, young and old, who each have a different idea of who should win and why. Together with David Rennie, our Beijing burea...

Tickets for “Nvzizhuyi”—a monthly stand-up comedy show in New York City— often sell out in less than a minute. The show invites Chinese citizens, mostly women, to tell jokes, perform skits and recount the absurd challenges they’ve encountered as feminist activists in China—things they could never utter in public back home. 

This week, Alice Su, our senior China correspondent, reports from the dark basement of a comedy club....

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many have worried: is Taiwan next? China is giving Taiwan a terrifying choice: unify with China, or face war. People in Taiwan want neither of these.

For this special four-part series, David Rennie, The Economist’s Beijing bureau chief, and Alice Su, our senior China correspondent, ask whether Taiwan can preserve its freedoms and decide its own future.

In this first episode, they explore how Taiwan...

Two of The Economist's China correspondents, Alice Su and David Rennie, analyse the stories at the heart of this vast country and examine its influence beyond its borders.

They’ll be joined by our global network of correspondents and expert guests to examine how everything from party politics to business, technology and culture is reshaping China and the world.

For almost seven centuries the beats of China’s most famous drum ...