ZGBriefs | November 20, 2025
The Great Reckoning (October 16, 2025, The Ideas Letter) “China isn’t just an analytical problem,” he said. It is “the master key to understanding modernity.”
ZGBriefs
A weekly roundup of news and analysis to help you follow key developments in China and the Chinese church.
Latest
ZGBriefs | November 13, 2025
A Chinese Coffee Shop Called Itself People’s Cafe. That Name Got it Roasted (November 9, 2025, CNN) A Chinese coffee chain has apologized and changed its name after state media roasted it for misusing a word revered by the nation’s communist government.
ZGBriefs | November 6, 2025
A Town in Northeast China Has Shrunk by a Third Since 2010. Here’s One Family’s Story (October 30, 2025, NPR) Lin Xin's story highlights the fast-unfolding demographic shifts happening in China, where the population is shrinking and aging.
ZGBriefs | October 30, 2025
The Last Newsstand in Shanghai (MultiMedia Story) (October 23, 2025, Sixth Tone) Behind the counter is 68-year-old Jiang Jun — a former national model worker, an honorary distinction placed upon citizens who exemplify the ideals of socialism.
ZGBriefs | October 23, 2025
Decoding Chinese Politics (2025, Asia Society Policy Institute) China is one of the most important but least understood countries in the world. Its decisions will shape the future of international business, diplomacy, and security.
ZGBriefs | October 16, 2025
Pastors and Staff from Underground Church Are Arrested in China (October 13, 2025, NPR) Christian pastor and father of U.S. citizens along with dozens of church staff and members have been arrested in China amid a crackdown, his daughter and the church say.
ZGBriefs | October 9, 2025
How China’s Persecuted Reach China’s Marginalized (October 3, 2025, The Gospel Coalition) What does it look like for the persecuted church to serve its communities? Is it worth the high cost when Christians are limited and powerless to enact large-scale change?
ZGBriefs | October 2, 2025
Explainer | Here Are 5 Ways to Enter China Without a Visa, By Land, Sea or Air (September 27, 2025, South China Morning Post) Beijing continues to relax visa-free entry rules to attract more foreign visitors and boost the nation’s tourism sector.
ZGBriefs | September 25, 2025
Official 2025 Beijing Visa, Residence Guide Drops for Foreigners (September 22, 2025, The Beijinger) The English-language guide consists of 39 pages of information related to entry, exit, visas, business, and residence for foreigners in China.
ZGBriefs | September 18, 2025
Seeking News, Making China: A Conversation with John Alekna (September 12, 2025, Made In China Journal) In Seeking News, Making China: Information, Technology, and the Emergence of Mass Society (Stanford University Press, 2024), John Alekna explores how the rise of radio and the circulation of news transformed China’s political and social landscape.
ZGBriefs | September 11, 2025
Flowing without Roots: The Identity Crisis of Foreigners’ Descendants in Mainland China (September 9, 2025, Made In China Journal) In 2009, a woman named Lou Jing, born to a Chinese mother and an African American father, went on a TV show in China and declared herself a proud and patriotic Chinese person (Leung 2015).
ZGBriefs | September 4, 2025
Inside China–Vatican Diplomacy: From Pope Francis to the Future (September 2, 2025, National Committee on U.S.-China Relations) In a conversation recorded on August 17, Ian Johnson, Francesco Sisci, and Karrie Koessel discuss the key issues currently shaping China–Vatican relations and how they may evolve under the new pope.