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July 24, 2026
 

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Keith Bradsher
A boxing robot demonstration at Unitree in Hangzhou, China, last year. Building on the country¡¯s electric vehicle industry, Chinese companies are making robot parts at a scale and price point others can¡¯t match.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 13, 2026
Why it¡¯s nearly impossible to build a robot without China
Building on the country¡¯s electric vehicle industry, Chinese companies are making robot parts at a scale and price point others can¡¯t match.
An ingot of neodymium and praseodymium, two rare earths with powerful magnetic qualities, in China, in October 2013.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Jan 3, 2026
Inside China¡¯s six-decade campaign to dominate rare earths
From Deng Xiaoping to Xi Jinping, generations of Chinese Communist Party bosses and military leaders invested in a strategic but heavily polluting industry.
A robotic vehicle assembly line in Hefei, China. China is making and installing factory robots at a far greater pace than any other country.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 26, 2025
China has more robots working for it than the rest of the world combined
Chinese manufacturers have also gotten better at making factory robots, thanks to a government push.
Visitors at Matryoshka Square, a theme park in the border town of Manzhouli, in China¡¯s Inner Mongolia, on July 10. Much of the trade between China and Russia has long run through Manzhouli.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 25, 2025
How a Chinese border town keeps Russia¡¯s economy afloat
The economic strategy of the town of Manzhouli underlines Russia¡¯s evolution into a supplier of raw materials to China¡¯s vast manufacturing sector.
Workers transport soil containing rare earth elements for export at a port in Lianyungang, in China's Jiangsu province, in October 2010.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 14, 2025
China halts critical rare earth exports as trade war intensifies
The official crackdown is part of Beijing¡¯s retaliation for President Donald Trump¡¯s sharp increase in tariffs that started April 2.
Flames leap out of an oven where rare-earth-based chemicals are roasted for more than 20 hours, in Changshu, China.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 27, 2024
China tightens its hold on minerals needed to make computer chips
The country already produces nearly all the world¡¯s supply of these materials. The new restrictions solidify that market dominance.
Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota at a campaign rally in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 12, 2024
Tim Walz¡¯s long relationship with China defies easy stereotypes
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has been an outspoken critic of China¡¯s human rights record.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin meets with China's President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states leaders' summit in Astana on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 4, 2024
How China and Russia compete, and cooperate, in Central Asia
Even as China has expanded its economic influence across Central Asia, it still faces challenges to its diplomacy from Russia.
The holding lot of the Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corporation-Volkswagen joint venture in Shanghai in April 2023. As the European Union moves to impose tariffs on Chinese cars, Germany, with an auto industry deeply enmeshed with China, is stuck in the middle.
BUSINESS
Jun 23, 2024
Germany hopes to head off a trade war with China
China¡¯s EV exports threaten European automakers, but companies like Volkswagen have extensive operations in China and fear retaliatory actions by Beijing.
Shipping containers at the port in Ningbo, China, March 27, 2024. The U.S. and Europe are trying to catch up to China¡¯s lead in industrial policy, a rival skilled in using all the levers of government and banking to dominate global manufacturing.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 28, 2024
How China pulled so far ahead on industrial policy
In 2022, Beijing accounted for 85% of all clean-energy manufacturing investment in the world, according to the International Energy Agency.
A solar farm owned by the Huaneng Group in Shilin, China on March 2. Beijing is set to further increase its manufacturing and installation of solar panels, as it seeks to master global markets and wean itself from imports.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 9, 2024
China racing ahead on plans to dominate solar energy industry
Beijing is set to further increase its manufacturing and installation of solar panels as it seeks to master global markets and wean itself from imports.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang chat at the end of the opening session of the National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 5, 2024
China sets robust economic growth goal but no big bang stimulus
Premier Li Qiang targets growth of about 5% this year but signals continued reluctance to use deficit spending for economic stimulus.
Shoppers walk past an ID Hub, a Volkswagen showroom for electric cars, at a mall in Shanghai on Dec. 3, 2023.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 19, 2024
Firms with deep roots in China reconsider their Xinjiang ties
Volkswagen Group is reviewing the future of its joint venture in the Xinjiang region of northwestern China
The tail of a BYD electric vehicle sports the company¡¯s motto, ¡°build your dreams,¡± at a dealership in Shenzhen, China, on Jan. 29.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 12, 2024
How China built BYD, its Tesla killer
BYD¡¯s sales, over 80% of them in China, passed Tesla in worldwide sales of fully electric cars late last year.
Nio workers inspect a vehicle on an assembly line at the automaker¡¯s factory in Hefei, China. China misjudged the rapid expansion of its electric vehicle sector, leaving a shortfall of skilled technicians as young people shun manufacturing careers.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 11, 2023
China¡¯s electric car factories can¡¯t hire fast enough
A frenzy of construction and expansion of factories has made electricians and robotics specialists a hot commodity.
A young boy watches a screen showing Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Military Museum in Beijing.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 6, 2023
Xi Jinping is asserting tighter control of finance in China
The Communist Party expects banks, pension funds, insurers and other financial organizations in China to follow Marxist principles.
Chinese tourists buy gold bars and gold accessories at LukFook, a jewelry store, in Hong Kong.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 28, 2023
Gold bars and Tokyo apartments: How money is flowing out of China
The outbound shift of money in part indicates unease inside China about the sputtering recovery after the pandemic as well as deeper problems.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Arab leaders pose for a group photo during the China-Arab summit in Riyadh on Dec. 9.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 12, 2023
China¡¯s economic stake in the Middle East: Its thirst for oil
China, the world¡¯s second-largest economy, has become addicted to foreign oil at a stunning pace.
A worker in a factory that makes seats for BMW in Shenyang, China, on Sept. 11. China, facing an economic slump, wants to make its industrial northeast more productive, turning to policies that some economists say have outlived their time.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Sep 27, 2023
Slowing and in debt, can China¡¯s industrial heartland be revived?
The country, facing an economic slump, wants to make its northeast more productive, turning to policies some economists say have outlived their time.
A woman walks past surveillance cameras in Shanghai. China¡¯s Ministry of State Security has called for a "whole of society mobilization,¡± urging the public to watch for what it considers foreign-backed subversion.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 20, 2023
Burner laptops and smaller profits: Firms face China challenges
Beijing has doubled down on policies emphasizing security and self-reliance that make it harder to do business.
Japan scientists identify clusters of protein believed to trigger Alzheimer¡¯s disease
A team of researchers said they found a ¡°seed¡± that accelerates the amyloid beta accumulation process in the brain, naming it ¡°Peak 1 amyloid beta,¡± as seen in a mouse's brain.
Indian brothers make manga debut in Japan
Two Indian brothers made their manga debut in Japan with "Kung Fu Kung Fool" ¡ª an action-comedy series that follows the adventures of a notorious thief and a young boy.
Japan weighs regulating Pokemon cards amid trading mania
A Pokemon event is held in Jakarta on July 11
Low-income families in Japan cut food and air conditioning during summer break
Yumiko Watanabe, the chairperson of nonprofit Kidsdoor, explains the results of a survey in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on July 1.
The sci-fi sensibilities of electronic trio Black Boboi
Black Boboi was formed in 2018 when solo artists Julia Shortreed, Utena Kobayashi and Ermhoi came together under Kobayashi¡¯s newly founded label, Bindividual.
A perfect storm: Kaze Fujii fans flock to Fuji Rock
Okayama-born singer-songwriter Kaze Fujii has carved out a distinctive place in Japanese pop since his major-label debut in 2019.
Can Japanese comedy get laughs in English? Yoshimoto Kogyo lets the jokes rip
Wes-P has millions of followers and his viral clips made him recognizable out of Japan.
The 180-day locals: Life on Japan¡¯s digital nomad visa
Christopher Flinn works remotely from Tokyo earlier this month. Japan issued 646 digital nomad visas in 2025, but tourism officials are hoping to increase that figure in the coming years, with Japan's relatively cheap cost of living and the weak yen seen as potential draws for young professionals.
Japan reveals hint of new defense spending target in fiscal blueprint
The Self-Defense Forces' Type 16 mobile combat vehicle fires during a joint live-fire drill with U.S. Marines as part of the annual Resolute Dragon exercises in Yufu, Oita Prefecture, on June 28.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

For many people, utility poles and power lines have become such a familiar part of Japan¡¯s landscape that they often go unnoticed.
Why Japan¡¯s utility poles won¡¯t be disappearing anytime soon
By Alex K.T. Martin

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