A weekly roundup of news and analysis to help you follow key developments in China and the Chinese church.
China’s population to peak in 2023, five years earlier than official estimates, new research shows (May 2, 2019, South China Morning Post)
Did Beijing’s policymakers wait too long to lift the controversial one-child policy for its rapidly greying society? A new report suggests they did.
Video: The legendary tale behind the Dragon Boat Festival (June 5, 2019, Inkstone)
The Dragon Boat Festival falls on the fifth day of the fifth month on the traditional Chinese calendar. This year it's on June 7.
Vatican’s Chinese Christian artworks go on display at Beijing’s Palace Museum (May 28, 2019, South China Morning Post)
Chinese artworks owned by the Vatican Museums have gone on display at the Palace Museum inside Beijing’s Forbidden City until July 14.
Universities Aren’t Ready for Trade War Casualties (May 19, 2019, Foreign Policy)
The shock of a cutoff of Chinese students’ tuition could weaken many schools’ financial position significantly.
Can China become the wine world’s next California? (May 12, 2019, South China Morning Post)
The US state took 40 years to become one of the world’s great wine regions. China wants to do it in 10.
The Hermit Culture Living On in China’s Misty Mountains (May 4, 2019, Sixth Tone)
Disillusioned recluses have come to the Zhongnan Mountains for centuries. Now, a government campaign threatens their way of life.
Chiang Mai’s Chinese Transfer Students (April 26, 2019, China File)
In search of an affordable alternative to Chinese education, a growing number of Chinese parents are moving their children to international schools in Thailand.
For China’s Abandoned Children, Acrobatics Is a Harsh Last Hope (April 16, 2019, Sixth Tone)
Critics pan rural schools as exploitative and dangerous. Advocates say they fill a social need.
Timothy Richard Knew That God Loved Chinese People As Chinese People (April 17, 2019, Christianity Today)
While historians remain interested in Richard’s role in these grand events from the past, the church today needs to hear from Richard the missionary.
Chinese immigrants helped build California, but they’ve been written out of its history (April 5, 2019, Los Angeles Times)
From 1865 to 1869, as many as 20,000 Chinese laborers worked on the Central Pacific Railroad, which ran from Sacramento to Promontory Summit, Utah…
Tax Residency in China: Six-Year Rule Clarified (March 29, 2019, China Briefing)
The announcement clarifies, among other things, when tax authorities will begin counting days spent in China for the purposes of determining the tax residency status of foreign workers.
Chinese authorities shut down the Shouwang Protestant church in Beijing (March 27, 2019, Asia News)
Government officials also closed down all of the Church’s subsidiary organisations, seized its assets and questioned more than 20 of its members.