Featured Article
Liuzi Vibes: How Chinese Students Survive Studying Abroad (July 18, 2025, The World of Chinese)
On May 27, the US halted the scheduling of new visa interviews for international students seeking to study in the country, reportedly to expand screenings of their social media activity. This latest policy change has thrown yet another wrench into the already uncertain journey of international students as they transition into adulthood, with many—just around 20 years old—still navigating culture shock, language barriers, and academic pressure.
Spotlight
Public Lecture: “Christian-Confucian Dialogue in the Contemporary World” (July 31, USCCA)
At 7:00PM ET on July 31, 2025, the USCCA’s speaker series, in collaboration with ChinaSource and China Academic Consortium, will host Dr. Stephanie Wong as speaker on the topic of “Christian-Confucian Dialogue in the Contemporary World.” Click here to sign up for this free public lecture, accessible via live video.
Government / Politics / Foreign Affairs
China Looks to Africa as Testing Ground for Global Roll-Out of Yuan (July 16, 2025, (South China Morning Post)
China appears to be positioning Africa as a testing ground for internationalisation of the yuan as it seeks to expand the currency’s global use and break the dominance of the US dollar. During a recent meeting in Cairo, the central banks of China and Egypt signed a series of agreements to promote the use of the yuan in trade and investment.
Do the U.S. and China View Each Other As a Threat? (July 18, 2025, National Committee on U.S.-China Relations)
Our new series, Faultlines, examines the strategic differences between the United States and China. The two nations differ in how they see economic, military, cultural, and governance issues, but was this always the case? By examining the view from both sides of the faultline, we can piece together how we got here and where we’re going next. Journalist Viola Zhou and Professor Dr. Zhifan Luo joined us in April and May 2025 (respectively) to explain why both governments see cultural issues as paramount to the security and future of the nation, and how ordinary citizens looking for entertainment can get caught in the clash.
Religion
When My People Became Mine (July 18, 2025, ChinaSource)
I was born in Hong Kong and moved to Canada when I was seven. Having immigrated as a child and been raised in the West, I have always felt like I am neither here nor there culturally. I wasn’t born overseas, so I’m not what some would call a “total banana”—yellow on the outside, white on the inside—but at the same time, I didn’t want to be associated with those we referred to as “fresh off the boat.” Somehow, I felt like I was “better” than them. So there I was, stuck in a kind of cultural purgatory—not belonging fully to either world.
Chinese Missionary: Navigating Mission Work in the Middle East (July 17, 2025, China Christian Daily)
“You may not encounter good things when you go out, but it’s worth trying,” she added. “Chinese people can stay in a foreign country for a month with just a ticket and a passport. What if God uses you to accomplish something big? By faith, prayer, and perseverance, you will recognize God’s presence.”
The Jesus Prayer in Daily Life (July 21, 2025, ChinaSource)
“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” This Jesus Prayer in the Orthodox Church Hesychasm tradition, although only a short sentence, embodies the core kerygma of Christianity and the sacred wisdom of its supernatural spirituality. It is like a golden key handed to me, who has been keen on exploring the mysteries of Christian spirituality for more than 20 years, opening the door to the domain of the Holy Spirit.
Fuzhou: Just Trying to Survive (July 21, 2025, China Partnership
Fuzhou pastors say that the past several years have been difficult. They compare local churches to people trying to survive a difficult economy: everyone is focused on just getting by, and there’s not much energy for growth or innovation.
Beyond Suffering: China’s Resilient Christians (July 22, 2025, ChinaSource)
Shining a light on the plight of those who suffer for their faith is a vital function of Christian journalism. Believers in countries where such atrocities are not a daily fact of life need to be reminded of the value of their own freedom and encouraged to pray for and support those who face persecution. Yet by portraying Christians overseas primarily as victims, such coverage often precludes understanding at a deeper level how the Lord is working in their lives and taking to heart the valuable lessons that can be gleaned from their experiences.
Society / Life
Jiehun Huazhai (结婚化债): Getting Married to Pay Off Debts July 3, 2025, What’s On Weibo)
Our Weibo phrase of the week is 结婚化债 jiéhūn huàzhài. Lately, the term “结婚化债” jiéhūn huàzhài, which translates to “marriage as debt resolution” or “getting married to resolve debt” is a recurring term on Chinese social media. The word refers to a phenomenon that has become more prevalent alongside rising debts among younger people in China due to credit card debts or personal (online) loans. Instead of resolving their debts in other ways, there are people who turn to marriage as a way to solve financial problems. It’s not a promise of love-it’s a calculated transaction.
We Do: On China’s New Dating Apps, Parents Make the Match (July 16, 2025, Sixth Tone)
“We hope to find a like-minded partner for her here. If you believe your child would be a good match, please feel free to reach out.” Those closing lines underscore the premise behind a new wave of dating platforms shifting focus away from singles and toward their parents. These apps let parents create bios, filter candidates, and initiate contact with other families, often before their children are even told.
Bureaucratized Confucianism: How Tradition Became a Tool of Control in China (July 21, 2025, The Diplomat)
What does it mean when a regime speaks the language of ancient virtue but enforces it through curriculum mandates and ideological scorecards? The opening essay of Simulated Sagehood, a five part series, traces how Confucianism has been reconstructed, not as a living tradition, but as a calibrated instrument of bureaucratic control.
Trains: A Chinese Family History of Railway Journeys, Exile, and Survival (July 21, 2025, ChinaFile)
For most Chinese, life hasn’t been bad at all in the past decades of rising prosperity. Many would proclaim that the present time offers the best life Chinese people have had for several hundred years. Even today, with the economy slowing and stagnation a looming prospect, the characteristic response of overworked or unemployed Chinese youths is to “lie flat” (tang ping), not “rise up.”
How Beijing’s Older Generation Reclaims Public Space (July 22, 2025, The Beijinger Blog)
At six in the morning, before the city’s espresso machines begin their daily hum, Beijing’s parks and sidewalks are already alive with rhythm: the soft swoosh of tai chi sleeves, the clipped steps of brisk walkers, and the static buzz of a portable radio blaring revolutionary songs. The sun has yet to rise above the tiled roofs of the hutongs, but the older generation is already there, moving through the streets with quiet assurance, carrying fans and birdcages.
Economics / Trade / Business
Smoothing Market Entry in a State-Guided Economy: China’s New Private Economy Development Bureaus (July 16, 2025, MERICS)
The Chinese government seeks to revitalize local business dynamism with its new Private Economy Development Bureaus (民营经济发展局). While the bureaus may make the policy environment more predictable by eliminating conflicting regulations, the party still decides which firms can scale up, says Robin Schindowski.
Wells Fargo Exit Ban Revives Fears about Doing Business in China (July 18, Reuters)
Fears that employees of foreign firms risk entanglement with Chinese authorities have resurfaced after news that an employee of U.S. bank Wells Fargo (WFC.N) has been banned from leaving the country. Business groups, diplomats and overseas executives say the incident is part of a long-term trend that had appeared to ease off as Beijing pushed to promote its appeal to foreign commerce to bolster its slowing economy.
China’s Latest Viral Product Is a Bunch of Hot Air (July 22, 2025, Sixth Tone)
Priced at 59.9 yuan ($8), cans of “Wanlü Lake Good Air” were briefly available online before selling out on July 16. Reportedly sourced from Wanlü Lake, a 370-square-kilometer scenic area in the southern Guangdong province, the product is marketed as containing “negative oxygen ions” from the lake’s pristine natural surroundings — a feature that has earned it the title of China’s “natural oxygen bar.”
BRI Generates Record Investments in Early 2025, as Foreign Media Push Continues (July 22, 2025, China Digital Times)
At the start of 2025, analysts reflected on the trajectory of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) more than a decade after its launch. Years of massive overseas lending brought China to an unfamiliar role of being a major creditor to many of its BRI partner countries struggling with debt, forcing it to provide bailouts and shift its development finance strategy towards more sustainable projects. However, recent data shows that BRI investments are nonetheless racing ahead at record-high levels, and government actors continue to promote the initiative with the help of foreign media.
Education
Arrests In China After More than 230 Kindergarten Children Poisoned by Lead Paint in Food (July 22, The Guardian)
Chinese authorities have arrested six people and launched disciplinary investigations into almost 30 others after more than 230 kindergarten children were poisoned by food coloured with industrial-grade lead paint. The incident, which occurred in Gansu province earlier this month, is one of China’s worst school food safety incidents and has drawn national attention. An investigative report released by the Gansu provincial party committee on Sunday found a litany of failures in safety and oversight, as well as attempts to cover up the incident, bribe people in charge and modify test results.
Science / Technology
China’s Drive Toward Self-Reliance in Artificial Intelligence: From Chips to Large Language Models (July 18, 2025, MERICS)
The race for supremacy in Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology is now at the forefront of geopolitical competition between China and the United States. Not only is AI expected to reshape the way we live and work, but its potential use in military applications could also alter the global balance of power. And some believe that reaching artificial general intelligence, or AGI, where AI surpasses humans in capability, is akin to the race to build the atomic bomb: whoever unlocks AGI first will be the winner of the geopolitical competition.
How China’s Open-Source AI Is Helping DeepSeek, Alibaba, Take On Silicon Valley (June 19, 2025, South China Morning Post)
With the December 2024 launch of DeepSeek’s free-for-all V3 large language model (LLM) and the January release of DeepSeek’s R1, an AI reasoning model that rivals the capabilities of OpenAI’s o1, the open-source movement started by Chinese firms has sent shock waves through Silicon Valley and Wall Street.The trend has not only unleashed a wave of AI applications in China, but also redefined the global AI landscape, winning the support of developers worldwide. Chinese open-source models present a viable alternative to the closed-off systems championed by US tech giants like OpenAI and Google.
Travel / Food
Ma’andi: The Mysterious Land of Butterflies (July 22, 2025, The World of Chinese)
Cradled in the borderlands between Yunnan and Vietnam, the town of Ma’andi bursts to life each year as millions of butterflies hatch in unison—a fleeting marvel now shadowed by the pressures of over-tourism and the call for preservation
Can China Overcome Sustainability Challenges by Altering People’s Diets? (July 8, 2025, Global Voices)
The popular Chinese saying, “To people, food is heaven” (民以食为天), reflects the significance of food and eating in the everyday life of Chinese people. Hence, at a typical Chinese banquet, the host usually orders an abundance of dishes as a demonstration of their social status, generosity, and hospitality. This inevitably results in a lot of leftovers.
Video – American Choirs Sing Hopeful Tune on US-China Ties (July 17 2025, CNN)
About 500 student singers from across the United States are visiting China to interact and perform with their Chinese peers.
Health / Environment
Typhoon Wipha: Hong Kong Issues Highest Storm Alert After Over 200 Flights Cancelled (July 20, 2025, The Independent)
Hong Kong issued its highest storm warning on Sunday morning as the Chinese city braced for typhoon Wipha. The typhoon, packing winds over 167 kmph, brought heavy rain and strong wind to the Asian financial hub, forcing the cancellation of more than 200 flights.
Language / Language Learning
Get a Grip on the Character for “Snake” This World Snake Day (July 16, 2025, The World of Chinese)
The beginning of this year, the Year of the Snake according to the Chinese zodiac, a surge of auspicious snake-related sayings circulated online. Yet, despite their venerated place among the 12 calendar animals, more often than not, snakes make headlines in the country for causing trouble.
Using AI Chatbots for Low Stress Mandarin Speaking Practice (July 20, 2025, Hacking Chinese)
Generative AI and Large Language Models have great potential for language learners. They are good at generating natural-sounding language, and we are reaching a point where having a conversation with a chatbot can feel quite real, even if we are not there yet.
Arts Entertainment / Media
Video – Why China’s $7 Billion Duanju (Micro Drama) Industry Is Taking Over U.S Screens (July 22, 2025, CNBC)
Micro dramas, known for wild plots and vertical, bite-sized videos, made headlines in China in 2024 as the industry surpassed the country’s box-office revenue for the first time. The short-format videos, which typically consist of episodes ranging from 90 seconds to two minutes long, initially gained popularity in China after capitalizing on the short-form video trend from other short-video apps in the country. And it now has its sights set on the U.S. entertainment industry.
Events
Conference on Contexts on Bible Ethics in Context (Fuller Seminary)
SATURDAY, August 2, 2025
9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Payton 101, Pasadena campus, Fuller Theological Seminary
Pray for China
July 21 (Pray For China: A Walk Through History)
On July 21, 1882, Gen. Paul Zhang Zhijiang (张之江将军) was born in Guizhou. While serving in the military in Sichuan, Zhang was impressed by the anti-imperialist stand of believers there and chose to follow Christ. Throughout his life, he daily read the Bible and prayed; he also distributed Bibles to the men under his command and had his troops sing hymns and pray before each battle. Gen. Zhang died in Shanghai in 1966 as the Cultural Revolution was beginning. Pray for the Lord Jesus, the Eternal Word, to be glorified by military leaders who follow Him as their captain. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:1-5
Praying the Lord’s Prayer (June 24, 2025, ChinaSource)
Operation World (April 21, 2025, ChinaSource)
Pray for China (prayforchina.us)
Pray for China (China Partnership)
Prayer Walking as a Rhythm of Life (ChinaSource)