Featured Article
The Last Newsstand in Shanghai (MultiMedia Story) (October 23, 2025, Sixth Tone)
On Shanghai’s Wusong Road, the city’s last newsstand still opens its doors each morning at six. 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. He has sold newspapers here for 37 years, working up to 13 hours a day, rain or shine.
Government / Politics / Foreign Affairs
Glimpses of a Power Struggle Within the Chinese Military High Command (October 21, 2025, The Diplomat)
On October 17, China announced the ouster from the Communist Party of General He Weidong, the second highest ranking officer in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and a member of the 24-man Politburo, for corruption. His dismissal, and that of Admiral Miao Hua, are shocking. President Xi Jinping had helicoptered He into the Central Military Commission (CMC) just three years ago and promoted Miao Hua in 2017 to rejuvenate the leadership of the military high command.
China’s five-year plans date back to Mao. A new one has the world’s attention (October 22, 2025, Christian Science Monitor)
While details of the country’s new five-year plan, covering 2026 to 2030, will be released in coming weeks and months, the main pillars of its industrial policy are clear: increase China’s self-reliance in advanced technologies, while expanding overseas markets to fuel export-driven growth.
Xi Targets Corruption and Rivals in Purge (October 27, 2025, The Christian Science Monitor)
Chinese leader Xi Jinping is intensifying a major purge of top military and Communist Party officials that he began two years ago, a move expected to bolster his already formidable power. While ostensibly aimed at rooting out corruption and enforcing party discipline, the purge is nearly unprecedented in terms of both the number and rank of the toppled officials. This suggests the removals are as much about Mr. Xi’s strategy to control China’s military and political elite as they are about individual malfeasance.
Religion
Eileen Crossman, 92, Daughter and Biographer of James O. Fraser, Remembered for a Life of Quiet Faith (October 20, 2025, China Christian Daily)
On September 21, 2025, Eileen Crossman, daughter of the “Apostle to Lisu People” James Outram Fraser and author of Mountain Rain, passed away at the age of 92. Her memorial service was held on October 10 at Lansdowne Church in Bournemouth, southern England, where family members and church congregants gathered to honor her life. James O. Fraser, a pioneer missionary who preached to the Lisu people in southwestern China, had three daughters, and Eileen was his second. Born in China on May 1, 1933, Eileen spent her early childhood among ethnic minority communities in southwest China—the region where her father devoted his life to serving the Lisu people.
When the Tolerance Ends (October 22, 2025, ChinaSource)
Earlier this month brought word that dozens of pastors and leaders of Zion Church, one of China’s so-called megachurches with locations in Beijing and around the country, had been arrested. Founded in 2007 by Pastor Jin Mingri in an era of openness and relaxation, Zion was an early adopter of the “open church” movement among unregistered house churches.
Taiyuan: How to Pray (October 23, 2025, China Partnership)
In recent years, Taiyuan has been a center of persecution for Chinese house churches. That pressure is difficult for families and churches to face, and leaves an imprint on all it touches. Today, Taiyuan pastors share about how the global church can pray for them, their families, and their churches.
The Global-Theological Vision of a New Generation of Overseas Chinese Scholars (October 24, 2025, ChinaSource)
As ChinaSource readers will know, recent years have witnessed the emergence of a new generation of Chinese theologians and multidisciplinary scholars of Christianity. Their cosmopolitan outlook, theological training, and allegiance to both the universal Church and the Church in China stand in stark contrast to the intellectual inheritance of an earlier generation of academic theologians in mainland China whose works—nevertheless—inspired their younger successors.
Why Beijing Is Looking to Exert Tighter Control Over Chinese Christians (October 24, 2025, The Conversation)
Chinese authorities detained Ezra Jin, the leader of the Zion Church, on October 10 alongside more than 30 church staff and pastors. The arrests come amid the largest crackdown on Christian churches in China in recent years, and have put renewed light on Beijing’s attempts to curb religious activities in China.
China’s Revised Public Security Law Introduces Penalties for ‘Illegal Religious Activities’ (October 26, 2025, China Christian Daily)
The 2025 Revised Public Security Administration Punishments Law of the People’s Republic of China will take effect on January 1, 2026. The revised law introduces explicit administrative penalties for “illegal religious activities” based on the existing provisions. According to People’s Daily, Article 31 of the new law stipulates, “Anyone who commits any of the following acts may be detained for not less than 10 days but not more than 15 days and may be concurrently fined not more than 2000 yuan.
Hong Kong: Today’s Most Promising City for Chinese Gospel Ministry? (October 27, 2025, ChinaSource)
In recent years, Hong Kong has experienced wave after wave of outward migration. According to official statistics, net migration out of the city reached nearly 80,000 people in 2022.1 Families, professionals, and church members alike chose to leave. For some, Hong Kong now feels like a “financial ruin,” a city whose freedoms have been sharply curtailed compared with the past.And yet, alongside this exodus, another story is emerging. While many are leaving, some churches are doubling down.
A Pastoral Letter From the (detained) Pastor, Rev. Mingri Jin (October 27, 2025, Zion Church, via X)
Society / Life
Being Young in China (January – June, 2025, Made in China Journal)
What does it mean to come of age in a society where the paths to adulthood are increasingly uncertain, yet the pressure to succeed remains relentless? In today’s China, youth navigate the fading promise of reform-era mobility, the grind of economic slowdown, and a moralising narrative that glorifies hardship.
China Has a Grave Problem (October 23, 2025, The Economist)
Those hoping to pay their respects to Jiang Zemin, a deceased former president of China, will not find a tombstone. As befits a leader of the Communist Party, he was a “thoroughgoing materialist” (read: unsentimental), according to official media. So after he died in 2022 he was cremated and his ashes scattered into the ocean off Shanghai. The city is now hoping more people will follow Jiang’s example. This month it said it would give 3,000 yuan ($420) to residents who agree to give their deceased relatives a “sea burial”.
‘Mistress Dispeller’ (October 24, 2025, ChinaFile)
The new documentary feature film Mistress Dispeller probes the unraveling and redemption of a marriage at breathtakingly close range. Director Elizbeth Lo follows Teacher Wang, a professional “mistress dispeller,” as she counsels a middle-aged wife undone by her husband’s infidelity and unspools a covert plan to rid them of his lover. The film is currently playing at the IFC Center in New York through October 30. ChinaFile’s Susan Jakes spoke with Lo about how she made the film. Their conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
China Wants to Exorcize ‘Ghost Kitchens’ (October 24, 2025, The Diplomat)
Takeout riders zip into a Beijing junkyard, dodging piles of twisted metal, sodden cardboard, and junked bicycles. They collect pig trotter soup from a cramped, filthy kitchen and deliver it to users of one of China’s gigantically popular food delivery apps. This scene was captured by reporters from China’s state broadcaster last year, causing outrage over the safety of the food eaten by the hundreds of millions of people that use takeout apps every week.
The Architect Saving China’s ‘Ugly’ Buildings, One Photo at a Time (October 24, 2025, Sixth Tone)
For two years, Liu Yujia has crossed China on foot and by bike, photographing the tiled towers, tinted-glass hotels, and industrial relics of a disappearing urban era, once often dismissed as “ugly.”
Inside China’s Population Decline and Pro-Natalist Turn (October 27, 2025, National Committee on US-China Relations)
Since 2022, China’s population has been in decline, signaling a demographic shift with profound and far-reaching consequences. The impact is compounded by a rapidly aging population. In response, the Chinese government has pivoted towards pro-natalist policies. Local governments have rolled out various initiatives to encourage families to have more children, including housing subsidies, cash incentives, and expanded maternity and childcare leave. In July 2025, the central government announced it will offer families a three-year annual cash allowance for each child born after January 1, 2025. Whether China’s new pro-natalist policies will succeed in reversing its demographic decline remains uncertain, but the issue is critical, both for China’s future and for the global economy.
Economics / Trade / Business
China’s Five-Year Plans Date Back to Mao. A New One Has the World’s Attention. (October 22, 2025, Christian Science Monitor)
While details of the country’s new five-year plan, covering 2026 to 2030, will be released in coming weeks and months, the main pillars of its industrial policy are clear: increase China’s self-reliance in advanced technologies, while expanding overseas markets to fuel export-driven growth.
How Does Africa Fit Into China’s Global Electric Vehicle Supply Chain? (October 22, 2025, Global Voices)
In the new global trade landscape, Africa is no longer just a source of raw materials such as cobalt, lithium, and rare earths — the coveted minerals that feed global battery production. It is an attractive consumer market for automakers looking for new customers and is emerging as a site for production and assembly in China’s electric vehicle supply chain.
US and China Say Trade Deal Drawing Closer as Trump and Xi Prepare for Meeting (October 26, 2025, NPR News)
A trade deal between the United States and China is drawing closer, officials from the world’s two largest economies said Sunday as they reached an initial consensus for President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to aim to finalize during their high-stakes meeting. Any agreement would be a relief to international markets even it does not address underlying issues involving manufacturing imbalances and access to state-of-the-art computer chips.
Science / Technology
China’s Geopolitical Competition Expands Into New Frontiers with Scientific Milestones (October 28, 2025, South China Morning Post)
China’s geopolitical rivalry with the West is expanding into new frontiers – including the polar regions, outer space, cyberspace and the deep sea – as Beijing unveils a flurry of scientific milestones and state-driven ambitions that analysts say are challenging traditional Western dominance across these critical domains.
Travel / Food
Easy Escapes from Beijing: four Ancient Towns to Explore (October 21, 2024, The Beijinger Blog)
If you missed your chance to escape Beijing during the recent October holiday, then no worries! These four ancient towns are all just a couple of hours’ drive from Beijing and offer an easy escape with fresh air, local eats and a bit of history. If you’re unable to drive in China, then we’d recommend hiring a driver for the day.
Language / Language Learning
Idiomized: Mastering the Art of Cooking in Four Characters (October 22, 2025, The World of Chinese)
According to Master Lü’s Spring and Autumn Annals (《吕氏春秋》), a collection of historical texts compiled in the third century BCE, Yi described cooking techniques and compared them to the governing of a state: “The changes in the pot are so subtle that they’re hard to express, like the fine skills of archery or chariot driving, the natural shifts of yin and yang, or the change of seasons…A ruler cannot govern by will alone but must first grasp the Dao, which is found in self-cultivation.” It is this insight—drawing lessons in state governance from cooking—that earned Yi the honor of being remembered as the ancestral master of all chefs in traditional Chinese culture. Chefs, cooks, and the culinary arts in general have also inspired many Chinese idioms, reflecting wisdom that goes beyond the kitchen.
History / Culture
Treasure Trove of Shipwrecks Along China’s Coast Reveals How East Met West on the Maritime Silk Road (October 22, 2025, Smithsonian Magazine)
Western thinking has for centuries clung to the belief that China’s rulers distrusted sea trade. After all, the Great Wall of China, swerving between valley, mountain, and sky for some 13,000 miles, was built to keep invaders out and land lock China’s citizens in the bosom of the empire. In the 21st century, however, China is positioning itself as a civilization steeped in maritime history that equals or surpasses colonial Europe.
Late Bloomers in Ancient China (October 24, 2025, The World of Chinese)
China’s renowned modern-day writer Eileen Chang once famously declared in the preface to her essay collection Legend (《传奇》): “Better get famous before you get old.” She was just 24 when the book was published. Yet, fortunately for those not lucky enough not to be born prodigies, Chinese culture equally celebrates figures who achieved greatness later in life.
Education
Fast Track: Chinese Cities Pilot Skipping High School Entrance Exam (October 22, 2025, Sixth Tone)
The zhongkao is one of the most important academic milestones in China, determining whether students advance to academic high schools or vocational tracks. Nationwide, the passing rate typically hovers around 60%. For many parents, the reform offers long-awaited relief. “The biggest appeal is being exempt from the zhongkao,” one Chengdu parent told domestic media. “We don’t have to worry about our kids being tracked into vocational schools.”
Health / Environment
‘DeepSeek Is Humane. Doctors Are More Like Machines’: My Mother’s Worrying Reliance on AI for Health Advice (October 28, 2025, The Guardian)
Nearly three years after OpenAI launched ChatGPT and ushered in a global frenzy over large language models (LLMs), chatbots are weaving themselves into almost every part of society in China, the US and beyond. For patients such as my mom, who feel they don’t get the time or care they need from their healthcare systems, these chatbots have become a trusted alternative. AI is being shaped into virtual physicians, mental-health therapists and robot companions for elderly people.
Pray for China
October 26 (Pray For China: A Walk Through History)
In 1869, a team of three China Inland Mission missionaries moved to Anqing and became the first Protestant missionaries to live in Anhui. James Meadows (宓道生) and his first wife Martha were the first missionaries sent to China by Hudson Taylor, arriving in 1862. In Oct. 1869, he married his second wife Elizabeth Rose and together with James Williamson (卫养生), they became the first Protestant missionaries to take up residence in Anhui. Meadows and Williamson served in China for 52 and 24 years, respectively. A famous quote from Meadows states, “I have just got up from my knees. I have been weeping at the feet of Jesus because I cannot learn the dialect quick enough. Tens of thousands of souls are perishing all around me, and I cannot tell them about the Saviour.” Pray for missionaries studying foreign languages to persevere and not be discouraged. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:58
Seeking the Salvation of East Asia’s Unreached Through Intentional Prayer (October 28, 2025, ChinaSource)
This year we will partner again to seek the salvation of unreached people groups through intentional prayer. We will pray for groups such as the Laba, who have no known church-planting efforts going on among them, multiple Tibetan groups who live in very restricted areas and lack access to the gospel, and many Miao people who desire to live simple lives, but feel pressure to provide for their families. We will hear first-hand stories of their lives and how we can pray for them.
Praying Through ZGBriefs (August 29, 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 (May 30, 2025, ChinaSource)
Jason Mandryk on Intercessory Prayer (July 29, 2025, ChinaSource)