Inside China

What Does China Think?

Inside China focuses on understanding and analyzing developments within the People’s Republic of China.

China Open Source Observatory

Memorial Of CPC's 1st National Congress Opens In Shanghai

The China Open Source Observatory has acquired, digitized, and translated Chinese-language material for research purposes.

Visit the Project

Inside China Highlights

Chart11_9f652f

Scaling China’s Hidden Intervention In the Foreign Exchange Market

By Brad W. Setser

June 4, 2026

Is China’s actual intervention even larger than I thought?

How China Turned Its Platform Economy Into an AI Deployment Machine
June 1, 2026
Time to Stop Forecasting China’s Surplus Away
By Brad W. Setser
June 1, 2026
Democracies Are Scrambling to Respond as Transnational Repression Worsens
By Joshua Kurlantzick
June 1, 2026
China Shouldn’t Get a Veto on Taiwan Arms Sales
May 28, 2026

Events, Videos, and Podcasts

Productions from the China Strategy Initiative’s Inside China

<p>Journalists attend a news conference held by Guo Weimin, spokesman for the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in Beijing on May 20, 2020. </p>

Reporting from China, With Jane Perlez

March 3, 2025

<p>U.S. President Donald Trump meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Osaka, Japan, on June 29, 2019.</p>

China Reacts to Trump’s Election, With Zoe Liu (Transition 2025, Episode 7)

December 16, 2024

Chart11_9f652f

Scaling China’s Hidden Intervention In the Foreign Exchange Market

June 4, 2026

By Brad W. Setser

<p>Shen Dou, executive vice president of Baidu, speaks at a Baidu event on OpenClaw, an open-source AI agent, in Beijing, China March 17, 2026</p>

How China Turned Its Platform Economy Into an AI Deployment Machine

June 1, 2026

By Zoë Moore and Lyla Renwick-Archibold

A Chinese national flag flies at a port in Beihai, Guangxi autonomous region, China June 17, 2017. Picture taken June 17, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer

Time to Stop Forecasting China’s Surplus Away

June 1, 2026

By Brad W. Setser

A protester holds a placard saying "Say no to China's transnational repression" during a demonstration.

Democracies Are Scrambling to Respond as Transnational Repression Worsens

June 1, 2026

By Joshua Kurlantzick

Recent Work

18 results

‘The goal has always been to silence him,’ says analyst on Jimmy Lai’s sentencing
February 10, 2026
Featuring Rush Doshi
Cancelling President Lai’s Transit Is a Mistake That Will Embolden China
July 29, 2025
By David Sacks
What the Failed Recall in Taiwan Means for U.S.-Taiwan and Cross-Strait Relations
July 28, 2025
By David Sacks
China’s Industrial Policy Drives Boom in Eldercare Robots
May 28, 2025
By Carl Minzner
The (Somewhat) Mysterious Surge in China’s Current Account Surplus
May 17, 2025
By Brad W. Setser
The President’s Inbox Recap: The U.S.-China Trade War
May 7, 2025
By Oscar Berry
As Beijing Tightens Its Grip, Hong Kong’s Democratic Party Dissolves Itself
April 24, 2025
By Carl Minzner
Beijing's Pro-Natalist Push Continues to Strengthen
March 31, 2025
By Carl Minzner
The Dalai Lama's Testament
March 17, 2025
By Elliott Abrams
The Dalai Lama’s Testament
March 17, 2025
By Elliott Abrams
The iPhone, the IMF, and China’s Balance of Payments
February 24, 2025
By Brad W. Setser
Marriages in China Crash, Portending Deeper Demographic Woes
February 10, 2025
By Carl Minzner
Faced With Rapidly Aging Society, China Releases Long-Term Plans on Dementia and Eldercare Services
January 28, 2025
By Carl Minzner
Rebalancing China’s Economy: Stimulus, Confidence, and Self-Sufficiency
January 23, 2025
By Zongyuan Zoe Liu
What Is the Chinese Pension System and Why Are Its Problems Hard to Fix?
January 13, 2025
By Zongyuan Zoe Liu
Beijing Pivots Towards Private Pensions
December 16, 2024
By Carl Minzner
Numbers of Visitors to China Rises From Pandemic-Era Lows
April 25, 2024
By Carl Minzner
Beijing’s Ideological Pivot Back To the Past
February 23, 2024
By Carl Minzner