A Note from ChinaSource
ZGBriefs exists to help readers understand what is happening in and around China by curating news and analysis from a variety of sources, including Chinese Christians. As part of ChinaSource’s “Cultivating Resilient Faith” end-of-year campaign, we are focusing on the need for deep spiritual roots as believers in China and across the global diaspora face increasing cultural and generational challenges. We believe that staying informed on events in and around China helps those of us who serve.
Is ZGBriefs a helpful resource for you? If so, we invite you to consider making a year-end gift to ChinaSource. Our goal is to raise $150,000 by December 31 to continue providing biblically grounded insights, amplifying Chinese Christian voices, and strengthening faith communities worldwide. Your support helps nurture resilient faith for a flourishing global Chinese church. You can make a donation here.
Spotlight
Video: Interview with the Author of Sacred Characters: Daily Reading from the Chinese Bible (December 16, 2025, ChinaSource, via YouTube)
For all who long to learn 永生之道, “the words of eternal life,” (John 6:68) in Chinese, Sacred Characters provides readings with two new biblical vocabulary words for every day of the year.” (Note: This book is available from GlossaHouse Publishing. Use promo code xmas40 for 40% discount before Christmas.)
Featured Article
The Chinese Christian Behind 2,000 Hymns (December 11, 2025, Christianity Today)
Lü’s vocation as a hymn writer might seem surprising, as she never received any formal music training and learned how to write Chinese characters from a dictionary while shepherding sheep in a field. But her songs have made her a household name—“Sister Xiaomin”—among Chinese Christians worldwide.
Government / Politics / Foreign Affairs
What China’s Energy Sector Can and Cannot Do for the Global South (December 10, 2025, China – Global Voices)
Over the past two decades, China has built the world’s most extensive renewable energy manufacturing supply chain—solar panels, wind turbines, batteries, transmission lines, and the industrial capacity to deploy them at speed and scale. This industrial machine now stretches far beyond China’s borders, shaping the energy transitions of countries from East Africa to South Asia.
Podcast – The Broken China Dream (December 11, 2025, Pekingology)
In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Minxin Pei, author of the new book, “The Broken China Dream: How Reform Revived Totalitarianism.” Minxin traces the evolution of China’s political and economic system through the post-Mao era, highlighting key moments in which the Party’s efforts to strengthen collective leadership inadvertently planted the seeds of Xi Jinping’s eventual power grab.
Global Dreams in Small-Town China (December 12 , 2025, China Media Project)
This week, the city of Yichun in China’s southern Jiangxi province announced the opening of its third international communication center—a special office dedicated to promoting the local image to the world and responding to Xi Jinping’s call to “tell China’s story well.” The office, which promises to showcase “Yichun’s charm,” is the latest manifestation of a far-reaching nationwide effort to build China’s “discourse power.” But it might also be a symptom that begs a serious question: Has Xi Jinping’s sprawling domestic campaign for global influence spread itself too thin?
Hong Kong’s last major opposition party disbands amid Chinese pressure (December 14, 2025, The Guardian)
Hong Kong’s last major opposition party has disbanded after a vote by its members, the culmination of Chinese pressure on the city’s remaining liberal voices in a years-long security crackdown. […] Senior party members previously told Reuters they had been approached by Chinese officials or “middlemen” and told to disband or face severe consequences, including possible arrest.
Government and Rights Groups Condemn Conviction of Hong Kong Activist Jimmy Lai (December 15, 2025, The Guardian)
Lai is the founder of Apple Daily, a hugely popular pro-democracy newspaper in Hong Kong that was forced to close in 2021. He was arrested in 2020 and has spent more than five years behind bars during a lengthy trial that has been delayed several times. Lai was accused of using Apple Daily and political connections, particularly in the US, to lobby for foreign governments to impose sanctions on China and Hong Kong after the crackdown on pro-democracy protests in 2019 and 2020. Lai pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Mediation with Chinese Characteristics in the 2025 Thailand-Cambodia Border Crisis (December 16, 2025, East Asia Forum)
In the 2025 Thailand–Cambodia border crisis, the roles of ASEAN and the United States were visible — with the latter in particular bringing to bear substantial pressure to end hostilities. But it was the less prominent Chinese diplomacy which helped create the space for improved Thailand–Cambodia relations and with them, a sustainable peace. Chinese mediation efforts broadly reflected a commitment to quiet mediation through institutional channels to promote dialogue and subsequent trust — an emergent and important pillar of Southeast Asia’s crisis management architecture.
Religion
Missionary Lens Captures China’s First Color Documentary Amidst the Civil War (December 9, 2025, China Christian Daily)
The year was 1947. In the midst of a turbulent era in Chinese history, the ancient city of Ankang, situated along the Han River in southern Shaanxi, was captured in a light never seen before: living, breathing color. The footage, known today as “Color Old Ankang (1947),” is regarded as the first color documentary filmed in China. Shot by Norwegian missionary Carl Mortensen using a Kodak 16mm camera, the film offers a rare and vibrant window into the daily lives, religious activities, and social customs of Ankang just two years before the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
The Chinese Christian Behind 2,000 Hymns (December 11, 2025, Christianity Today)
Lü’s vocation as a hymn writer might seem surprising, as she never received any formal music training and learned how to write Chinese characters from a dictionary while shepherding sheep in a field. But her songs have made her a household name—“Sister Xiaomin”—among Chinese Christians worldwide.
Changchun: Challenges and Fears (December 11, 2025, China Partnership)
Changchun is a city of about 9 million in northern China. Although Changchun faces the same economic struggles as the rest of China, local pastors say the Christian community is Changchun is vibrant and growing. Sometimes, that growth brings its own challenges, as needs outstrip the capacity of leaders. Believers also struggle to know how to reach out to unbelievers, and pastors are sometimes uncertain how to prepare their flock to face persecution.
Ministry After China (December 12, 2025, ChinaSource)
Returning from China and settling into what felt like a more ordinary life in the US initially seemed like stepping away from ministry—especially missions. But over the past 12 years living in northern California, God has shown me that opportunities to serve, love, and walk alongside Chinese neighbors and coworkers aren’t confined to the borders of China.
When “Don’t Air Dirty Laundry” Hurts the Chinese Christian Community (December 15, 2025, ChinaSource)
After the pew doors opened to release the guests, a woman shrieked, “He is a liar! He comes to church and appears righteous, but at home he is violent toward me. He is a wicked man.” The member care director and I took Betty aside and asked her to share more.
Changchun: Reaching Campus (December 15, 2025, China Partnership)
In the past, [students] were very curious and open toward faith. I myself came to Christ at a campus evangelistic event as a student. But students now are usually not very interested in spiritual things. They’re more worried about grades, jobs, joining the Party, and passing the civil-service exams.
If Revival Comes—A Major Shake-Up Awaits China’s Church (December 16, 2025, ChinaSource)
Therefore, before the next revival, today’s church in China will inevitably enter a process of upheaval, reorganization, and re-stabilization, forming a new structural ecosystem capable of laying the groundwork for renewal and carrying forward the next phase of revival. In this article, drawing on observation and research, I outline the current structural forms of the church in China, analyze the present upheaval, and discuss how reorganization and stabilization may unfold.
Society / Life
Building Communities in China Can Be Scalable, Even in the Offline World (December 3, 2025, ChinaSkinny)
Cakes. Who doesn’t love a slice of moist, fluffy indulgence? A few people, perhaps, but for most of us it’s a guilty pleasure worth savouring. Now imagine being able to sample a whole lineup of decadent cakes, the kind that may normally be too expensive or indulgent. All while socialising with a table full of like-minded dessert lovers there for a fun outing. It’s called the “Cake Killing Club,” and it’s quickly spreading across urban China.
China’s Tough New E-Bike Rules Spur Black Market Surge (December 11, 2025, Sixth Tone)
Transferring e-bike: plate registered. No extra steps.” “Secondhand e-bike, 90% new… hits over 70 km/h!” These are among the illegally modified secondhand e-bike listings now crowding Chinese e-commerce platforms, appearing just days after authorities rolled out the country’s strictest e-bike regulations to date, which cap all 380 million e-bikes nationwide at 25 km/h.
Why Do So Many Chinese Still Smoke? (December 11, 2025, The Economist) (subscription required)
Does Xi Jinping still smoke? China’s leader had a penchant for a puff as a young man, and his predecessors Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping kept up the habit. Mr Xi is said to have kicked it; a former boss of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has even praised him for doing so. Some analysts wonder, however.
How Chinese Gen Z Finds Small Pleasures in Designer Toys (December 16, 2025, The World of Chinese)
Beijing’s first snowfall of the winter arrives on a gloomy Friday, bringing traffic jams and keeping pedestrians off the streets. Inside the exhibition hall at the China National Convention Center, however, the mood cannot be more different: illuminated stalls bloom with bold colors and lively music, and long lines of visitors—mostly in their 20s and 30s—snake through the venue, scooping up designer toy figures, plushies, and other merchandise as the three-day Beijing International Art & Design Toy Show kicks off.
Gary from Zootopia 2 Is a Hit in China. Now Young People Are Buying Venomous Pit Vipers (December 16, 2025, CNN)
Qi Weihao recently welcomed a new family member – a beautiful, highly venomous, blue snake. The 21-year-old from central Jiangxi province bought the Indonesian pit viper for 1,850 yuan ($260) two days after the release of Disney’s animated hit “Zootopia 2” on November 26. Qi’s favorite character was also the franchise’s newest: Gary De’Snake, believed to be inspired by the Southeast Asian serpent.
Economics / Trade / Business
Reverse Deng? For Professionals Only (December 10, 2025, MERICS)
The tables have turned. Western governments are now contemplating extracting industry-leading know-how from Chinese investment in order to help modernize their domestic manufacturing, argues Yanmei Xie. Call it the “Reverse Deng,” in homage to Deng Xiaoping, the chief architect of China’s reform and economic opening up in the 1980s.
Beijing Blocks Stablecoins to Keep Money Under State Control (December 13, 2025, East Asia Forum)
China’s suspension of Hong Kong’s stablecoin rollout underscores that financial innovation cannot stray beyond the political boundaries of ‘one country two systems’, especially where monetary sovereignty is concerned. Beijing is willing to adopt blockchain-era tools through tightly controlled systems like the e-CNY and mBridge, but rejects any decentralised or privately issued instruments that would dilute state authority, resulting in a digital finance model that is technologically advanced yet intentionally constrained.
Education
Tricked, Abducted and Abused: Inside China’s Schools for ‘Rebellious” Teens (December 11, 2025, BBC)
Baobao’s heart still races when she smells soil after morning rain. It takes her back to early military drills behind locked gates – and the constant fear that marked every one of her days at Lizheng Quality Education School. For six months, aged 14, she barely left the red and white building in a remote Chinese village where instructors tried to “fix” young people whose families considered them rebellious or problematic.
China Offers More Support to Returning Overseas Students as Influx Grows (December 16, 2025, South China Morning Post) China has launched a national-level service platform to help returning overseas students find work and start businesses, as the country steps up its efforts to attract talent and the number of returnees surges. The Ministry of Education has partnered with 50 organizations to provide returnees with entrepreneurial mentors and match them directly with local government and corporate needs.
Language / Language Learning
Feeling Burned Out? There’s a Word for that in Mandarin Chinese (December 10, 2025, NPR) If you are feeling dispirited at work or burned out by the general pressure of life, there is a perfect word for you: “involution.” The Mandarin Chinese word for “involution” — neijuan — is now a ubiquitous slang term. It has struck a chord with students exhausted by relentless academic competition, parents overwhelmed by social expectations and workers constantly filling overtime shifts. So for this installment of Word of the Week, we explore the evolution of involution.
History / Culture
Ancient Chinese Incense, Rekindled (December 11, 2025, Sixth Tone)
Incense has had a long and storied journey in China. Some archaeologists date it back to the Neolithic era, when it was used as offerings to heaven, deities, and ancestors, eventually becoming two core traditions — ritual incense and incense for personal cultivation and daily life — in the Western Zhou (1046–771 BC).
These 15 Remarkable Photographs of China Will Transport You Halfway Across the World (August 15, 2025, Smithsonian Magazine)
The Great Wall of China may be one of the country’s most iconic landmarks and tourist attractions, but there’s much more to see and experience when visiting. As one of the world’s oldest civilizations, it has a rich history to observe, while also being one of the most technologically advanced countries. So, feel free to leave your abacus at home. What you won’t want to leave is your camera. These images from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest are just a sampling of China’s Instagram-worthy offerings. Take a look.
Arts / Entertainment / Media
Soft Power – Hard Work: Can China Harness Social Media Apps to Rewire Its Global Image (December 14, 2025, South China Morning Post)
Their spontaneous exchanges, many of which evoking the original dream of the internet as a global village, offered a glimpse into a flourishing rapport between Chinese and foreign internet users – one shaped by fun trends and playful interactions on social media, transcending political divides. It has not gone unnoticed. In Beijing, there is a desire to ride this wave of unexpected enthusiasm by translating the frenzy into a broader strategy to nudge home-grown social media platforms onto the global stage.
China’s Invisible Journalists (December 16, 2025, China Media Project)
In foreign media reporting on China, there exists a group of people who have long been present yet rarely seen by the outside world. They are neither the bylined journalists nor the on-camera interview subjects, but rather the “news assistants” (新聞助理) — commonly called fixers — who play indispensable roles in the news production process. In China, they are often how foreign media can access society and complete their reporting, yet they must carefully navigate between risks, restrictions, and professional predicaments.
Events
Online Courses for those working with Chinese students (Thriving Turtles)
January 19-30, 2026. Thriving Turtles Training is an initiative to equip front-line gospel workers with the knowledge and skills they need to be effective cross-cultural gospel ministers. These courses are asynchronous (not in real time) running for 6-10 hours over a 2-week period. They are NOT webinars, so you are free to work in your own time and time zone. Courses contain a variety of interactive activities including (written) discussion forums. For more information see our website https://www.thrivingturtles.org/online-courses/
Courses offered this year:
• Cultural Intelligence for Ministry
• Helping Your Friend Thrive in China
• Discipling People with a Chinese Worldview
• Culture Values and Distance
Pray for China
December 16 (Pray For China: A Walk Through History)
On Dec. 16, 1832, Zhu Qing (朱清老师) was baptized by Robert Morrison (马礼逊). Zhu was one of the first Chinese scholars to come to Christ, and he was the last of the four persons baptized by Morrison, the first Protestant missionary to China. Zhu Qing was around 42 at the time and had been working for over a decade as a Chinese teacher to missionary colleagues of Morrison in Malaysia. Though he had been reading the Bible and hearing the gospel during that time, he had not become a Christian. However, during a severe storm on the voyage back to China, he gave his life to Christ. When the boat landed in China, all the passengers except Zhu Qing offered sacrifices at the local temple. He instead sought baptism from Morrison. After Morrison’s death in 1834, Zhu Qing worked at various times for other missionaries as a Chinese teacher and cultural mentor, providing invaluable help for them in understanding Chinese culture and customs. Pray for those now far from God to be brought near by the blood of Christ. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2:13
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)