CHINA US Focus - Perspectives shaping the world's most important bilateral relationship

A photograph in the official newspaper of the People’s Liberation Army over the weekend showed a grinning military officer standing proudly in his green uniform, as if he had single-handedly repelled a foreign invasion. What he had accomplished was getting a new license plate, which he held aloft under a headline that said: “Holding a [...]

The first Chinese-owned vehicle manufacturer in the United States unveiled ambitious plans Wednesday to eventually build as many as 1,000 plug-in electric buses a year at a refurbished RV manufacturing plant in a wind-swept, sage-dotted corner of the Mojave Desert. In a news conference on a patio outside BYD’s new energy-efficient production facility, the company’s [...]

If you’re interested in studying in China, a new scholarship program could help you on your way. Rivaling the prestigious Rhodes scholarships, the new Schwarzman Scholars program was announced recently by Stephen Schwarzman, CEO and co-founder of Blackstone Group, one of the world’s biggest private-equity firms. The financier says he plans to raise $300 million, [...]

Growth in the mainland Chinese manufacturing sector unexpectedly slowed in April as new export orders fell, data released Wednesday showed, raising fresh doubts about the strength of the economy after a disappointing first quarter. The official purchasing managers’ index fell to 50.6 in April from an 11-month high in March of 50.9. A reading above [...]

The looming closure of an industrial park in North Korea is the latest demonstration of the regime’s willingness to put politics ahead of much-needed economic overhauls and increase its dependency on China. Seven South Koreans remain at the jointly operated Kaesong Industrial Complex, just north of the inter-Korean border, to resolve a minor dispute over [...]

In a remote corner of Sichuan with lush, terraced hillsides, oil exploration teams have been scaling cliffs to lay seismic charges and struggling to move heavy equipment along winding mountain roads. That is where China hopes to find vast stores of natural gas trapped in shale rock. The U.S. Energy Information Administration has estimated that [...]