Featured Article
How the Horse Became the Ultimate Metaphor for Talent in China (February 3, 2026, The World of Chinese)
In the late eighth century, Han Yu (韩愈), a literary giant of China’s Tang dynasty (618–907), succinctly captured the shared plight of Chinese intellectuals at the time, comparing them to the winged, mythical qianli horse (千里马)—a horse that can travel a thousand miles a day. In his essay “On Horses (《马说》),” he wrote: “Qianlihorses are common, but a true judge of horses is not,” thereby elevating the fabled steed to a symbol of great talent in Chinese culture and underscoring the even greater rarity of a person able to recognize eminence when they see it.
Government / Politics / Foreign Affairs
China Steps Up Pressure on European Nations Over Engagement with Taiwan (January 20, 2026, The Independent)
China appears to be making a concerted effort to prevent European lawmakers from engaging with Taiwanese politicians, as it seeks to isolate the island from potential political backers. According to the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), a grouping of MPs from around the world focused on issues related to China’s ascendancy, ambassadors from the country in a number of European nations have been calling lawmakers for meetings and urging them not to host Taiwanese officials or speak to them during visits to the island.
Zhang Youxia’s Differences with Xi Jinping Led to His Purge (January 26, 2026, Jamestown China Brief)
Official statements point to disagreements with Xi Jinping over PLA development and training, and even instances of open resistance to his directives, as the cause of the generals’ downfall.
International Pressure Forced China to Shift on Uyghur Camps (January 27, 2026, The Diplomat)
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) main foreign propaganda outlet, the Global Times, published an editorial in November 2019 stating that the West “cannot have any influence on Xinjiang. They just cannot do anything about it.” Only a few days after this article was published, the Xinjiang regional authorities held a press conference to announce that the “vocational and educational training centers,” how China disguised its detention camps for Uyghurs, had been closed.
Podcast: PLA Purges Continue (January 27, 2026, ChinaTalk)
Jon Czin, former CIA analyst and NSC staffer, returns to talk purges. We have far too much fun.
The Toppling of General Zhang Is “A Shakespearean Moment” For China (January 29, 2026, The Christian Science Monitor)
A distinguished combat veteran of China’s 1979 war with Vietnam and later battles, General Zhang stood out in the People’s Liberation Army, the military wing of the Communist Party and an organization imbued with political commissars at every level. His battlefield credentials made General Zhang a natural to help lead a campaign to modernize the PLA and ready it to “fight and win” wars after he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping were elevated, a few months later, to China’s powerful Central Military Commission (CMC). Yet those strengths – as well as his close family ties with Mr. Xi—did not save General Zhang from a dramatic downfall this past week.
Religion
The Grace of Persecution (January 29, 2026, China Partnership)
This January and February, we are spending a few months praying for the persecuted church in China. In this interview, a Chinese pastor shares how he experienced God’s grace and mercy through his years in jail, and how God blessed him through his persecution.
Carrying the Story Forward (February 2, 2026, ChinaSource)
Over the past year, Ritual Studio has had the privilege of walking alongside the ChinaSource team as they reflected on how this work is presented and carried forward. Our role has been a supporting one—listening carefully, learning the history, and helping give form to values that have long guided ChinaSource’s work. The recent evolution of ChinaSource’s visual identity emerges from that same commitment. It is not an effort to redefine the work, but to give clearer form to what has already been faithfully lived.
Finding Faith Along the Way (February 3, 2026, ChinaSource)
My understanding of the Christian faith underwent a near 180-degree turn. Having grown up with an atheist education, I long regarded Christianity as just another form of superstition. It was not until my first year of university that this assumption began to waver.
Society / Life
Stable Genius? How a Defective ‘Crying Horse’ Toy Went Viral in China (January 27, 2026, The Guardian)
On 17 February China will celebrate the start of the year of the horse, the zodiac sign symbolising high energy and hard work. But the runaway success of a defective stuffed toy suggests that many Chinese are not feeling the vibe. A red horse toy produced by Happy Sister in the city of Yiwu in the west of China was meant to wear a broad grin, but a factory error meant it hit the shops sporting a despairing grimace. Because the smile was placed upside down, the horse’s nostrils could be interpreted as tears.
Demanding the Return of Bodily Autonomy: An Alternative Perspective on China’s Declining Birth Rate (January 29, 2026, China Unofficial Archive)
(Scroll to the bottom of article for content in English) From the complete termination of the “one-child policy” in 2015, to the introduction of the “three-child policy” in 2021, and to the beginning of childcare subsidies in 2025, over the past decade the Chinese government has tried every conceivable measure to support childbearing—including extending maternity leave, offering tax incentives, housing purchase subsidies, and setting up “childbirth-friendly job positions.” One could say it has exhausted all means, yet it has still failed to reverse the downward trend in birth rates.
Why China’s Young Urbanites Are Ditching Cities for Villages (January 29, 2026, Sixth Tone)
After graduating with a degree in art design from Beijing Jiaotong University, most would have expected Li Zezhou to set his sights on a career in a big city. Instead, he returned to the forests and fields he’d known as a child. In early 2024, he and a friend set up a design studio in a rented two-story building in Bishan, an ancient village in China’s eastern Anhui province.
Viral App ‘Are You Dead Yet?’ Unveils the Anxiety and Pain of Single Chinese Youths (January 30, 2026, Global Voices)
A newly developed Chinese App “Are You Dead Yet?” (死了麼?), designed for solitary-living people to check in regularly and auto-notify their emergency contacts, unexpectedly topped China’s Apple App Store in January 2026. Given the bluntness of the Chinese expression and the fact that the majority of downloaders are young people rather than the elderly, current affairs analysts have pointed out that the phenomenon reflects the anxiety of the rapidly growing number of “empty-nest” youths (空巢青年, kōng cháo qīng nián), a term for single young people who live alone. They are a key demographic in the development of what experts are calling the “lonely economy.”
Arts / Entertainment / Media
Why Podcasts Matter in China – Even If They Don’t Make Money, Yet (January 25, 2026, ChinaSkinny)
In Western markets, podcasts have matured into a meaningful media business. Podcast advertising has grown into a multi-billion-dollar industry, with creators building careers through ads, subscriptions, live events, licensing deals and IP spin-offs. For many journalists, experts and creators, podcasts have become both a revenue engine and a credibility amplifier. China is much earlier in this journey.
The Silenced Profession (February 3, 2026, China Media Project)
In the current Chinese-language media environment, occupational risks for journalists have become the norm. Whether inside or outside China’s institutional media system (体制内外), the scope for reporting and publication continues to narrow, and the space for discussing public issues is vanishing. These changes are reflected not just in legal provisions and political measures, but permeate every aspect of the daily work of journalism.
Economics / Trade / Business
China has launched a huge free-trade experiment (subscription required) (February 1, 2026, The Economist)
Chinese officials gush about their decision to turn the tropical island of Hainan into the world’s largest free-trade port (ftp). They describe the move, which took effect in December, as a “substantial leap” in the country’s opening to foreigners seeking to tap China’s vast markets. Amid global trade tensions, they call it evidence that China is bucking an American-led trend towards greater protectionism. Hainan has a long history of such boosterism, and of failing to impress beyond its sandy beaches and five-star resorts. Will this time be different?
New Rules of Expansion: Chinese Firms Urged to “Go Local” as They Chase Sales Abroad (February 1, 2026, South China Morning Post)
As dwindling domestic profits push more Chinese firms onto the global stage, industry titans—forerunners who know what such a shift entails—are offering crucial advice for navigating challenges abroad. “The most important thing is to become a local company,” said Zhu Lei, chief marketing officer for air conditioner giant Gree Electric Appliances, which was among the first Chinese companies to enter the Latin American market.
Nvidia’s H200 Is Headed to Chinese Military Firms (February 3, 2026, Domino Theory)
Chinese regulators have reportedly approved the first shipments of the H200, the flagship AI chip from Nvidia’s previous generation that had been banned under US export controls. President Donald Trump’s December decision to reverse that ban, and now Beijing’s decision to allow Chinese companies to buy the chip, are the culmination of a lobbying effort on the part of Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang that spanned both sides of the Pacific and much of the first year of Trump’s second term.
Education
Rectifying Names, Erasing Mongols: The Unmaking of Mongolian Education in China (January 20, 2026, Made In China Journal)
On a clear October morning in 2025, two massive cranes rolled up to a middle school in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Workers prised off the large Chinese and Mongolian signs running along the roofline of the main teaching building and replaced them with a new sign that erased the Mongolian name from the facade: Tongliyuu Mongol Ündüsütennie Dumdad Surguul (ᠲᠦᠩᠯᠢᠶᠤᠤ ᠬᠤᠳᠠ ᠵᠢᠨ ᠮᠤᠩᠭᠤᠯ ᠦᠨᠳᠦᠰᠦᠲᠡᠨ ᠪ ᠳᠤᠮᠳᠠᠳᠤ ᠰᠤᠷᠭᠠᠭᠤᠯᠢ, Tongliao Mongolian Middle School) was now the No.6 Middle School of Tongliao City (通辽市第六中学) (TCEB 2025).
Work It Out: Why More Chinese Students Pick Skills Over Degrees (January 28, 2026, Sixth Tone)
In 2024, Ke Chenxi scored high enough on the gaokao, China’s gruelling college entrance exam, to qualify for private universities. He enrolled in a vocational college instead, passing on an option many families still see as a route to professional stability. With a mortgage at home and an older sibling already in university, Ke and his family questioned the return on another four-year degree.
Language / Language Learning
Mandarin Monday: A Month-by-Month Guide to Chinese Festival Foods (January 26, 2026, The Beijinger)
Today is the Laba Festival, so we thought it would be the perfect time to take a look at some of the customs and special foods that go along with Chinese festivals. We’ve put together this month-by-month guide so that you know which foods to seek out depending on the time of year.
History / Culture
How the Horse Became the Ultimate Metaphor for Talent in China (February 3, 2026, The World of Chinese)
In the late eighth century, Han Yu (韩愈), a literary giant of China’s Tang dynasty (618–907), succinctly captured the shared plight of Chinese intellectuals at the time, comparing them to the winged, mythical qianli horse (千里马)—a horse that can travel a thousand miles a day. In his essay “On Horses (《马说》),” he wrote: “Qianlihorses are common, but a true judge of horses is not,” thereby elevating the fabled steed to a symbol of great talent in Chinese culture and underscoring the even greater rarity of a person able to recognize eminence when they see it.
Science / Technology
It Is “Flourishing”: China’s Man-Made Forest in Gobi Produces Good Rubber for Military Use (January 30, 2026, South China Morning Post)
Chinese scientists are planting high-value alternative “rubber trees” in the Gobi Desert. China is the world’s largest consumer and importer of natural rubber, mainly to support its massive car sector. Consumption last year is expected to have exceeded seven million tonnes, over 85 percent of it imported. However, the unique Chinese medicinal plant Duzhong (scientific name Eucommia ulmoides) may help to resolve this dependency.
Orbital Geopolitics: China’s Dual-Use Space Internet (February 4, 2026, MERICS)
China is investing massive resources into satellite internet infrastructure as part of a state-led vision for an integrated network linking land, sea, air, and space. This has been a priority since 2016, but high-bandwidth connections have come to the fore since the ascension of US Starlink.
Resources
The New ChinaSource Website Is Coming (January 30, 2026, ChinaSource)
As the Content Manager at ChinaSource, the past two and a half years have placed me in a unique position—one shaped daily by stories, ideas, resources, and scholarship. Through them, I and many of our readers have encountered God’s work in quiet, sometimes unexpected ways. These narratives have taught me that “content” is never merely information, but a way people seek understanding, participate in God’s movement, and make sense of a world that often feels unsettled, which is, at its heart, an invitation to explore Chinese Christianity—together.
Events
East Asian Christianity Conference: Christian Witness and Presence Among East Asian Religions (Gordon-Conwell Seminary)
As an annual gathering, this event brings scholars and practitioners together to engage comparative research on Christianity’s development and significance in East Asia, with implications for church ministry and mission today. The theme of this year’s conference is Christian witness and presence among East Asian religions. Church leaders from Asia and the West will come together to foster creative Christian discourse on outreach and leadership, drawing on current academic research and the lived experience of those in frontline ministry.
April 9-11, 2026
Hamilton, MA
Pray for China
February 5 (Pray For China: A Walk Through History)
On Feb. 5, 1661, the Kangxi Emperor (康熙帝) began his 61-year reign at age 6. He developed a close relationship with Jesuit missionary Ferdinand Verbeist (南怀仁) and wrote poems showing a clear understanding of the gospel, e.g.The Treasure of Life and A Poem of the Cross. Kangxi issued an Edict of Toleration in 1692, but reversed that in 1721 with a ban on Catholic missions as part of the Rites Controversy. Pray for Christians to be salt and light as they interact with government officials. “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:13-16)
Prayer 2026: Off the Beaten Path (January 1, 2026, China Partnership)
Praying Through the ChinaSource Journal (October 13, 2025, ChinaSource)
Praying Through ZGBriefs (August 29, 2025, ChinaSource)
Operation World (April 21, 2025, ChinaSource)
Pray for China (prayforchina.us)
Prayer Walking as a Rhythm of Life (May 30, 2025, ChinaSource)
