ZGBriefs

ZGBriefs is for those who want and need to keep up on what is happening in China, but don’t have the time to monitor and track it all. We monitor more than 50 different news sources and curate the most relevant and interesting stories out of China each week. Topics include government, religion, society, economics, education, travel, and language, and books.

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ZGBriefs

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

ZGBriefs

ZGBriefs | August 28, 2025

Towering History: A Photographer’s Fresh Take on China’s Pagodas (August 21, 2025, Sixth Tone) Since 2017, after an almost-spiritual encounter with a Beijing pagoda from atop an overpass, Lin has roamed the country to document these stoic structures.

ZGBriefs

ZGBriefs | August 21, 2025

Where Wisdom Meets Faith (August 18, 2025, ChinaSource Journal) This new ChinaSource Journal (CSJ) issue focusing on AI comes at an important time, where the practical benefits of AI are being weighed against important ethical and theological issues that come with every new technology.