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China (English)

Feature

China's hidebound power sector hinders energy transition

China's power sector has gained much attention since last year. On the one hand, the People's Republic launched its emissions trading scheme in the summer, which so far has only covered the power sector. At the same time, the country was hit by a severe power crisis. Many of the causes lie in the sector's outdated structure, which is also hampering China's planned energy transition.

By Christiane Kuehl

Feature

'I was just a cog in the wheel'

German architect Hans-Martin Renn helped build a ski jumping venue in Zhangjiakou, China. A few days before the start of the Olympic Games, he talks to us about conferences with uninformed party cadres, Chinese binge-drinking, and how it feels to help build a winter sports monument for an authoritarian regime. Marcel Grzanna spoke with Renn.

By Marcel Grzanna

Sinolytics Radar

At the expensive end of the value chain

China is deeply integrated into and participated in the global chains of value creation. However, the nature of China’s integration has significantly changed over time: China has steadily increased its value contribution to export to third countries while gradually reducing the reliance on foreign value-add in immediate goods imports. This is by design: China’s top leadership has the ambition to maintain this trajectory, creating more global leverage through trade.​

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Sinolytics Radar

Business environment: easier market entry, but 'buy local' and stricter monitoring

China will selectively improve market access to keep attracting foreign investment. But “buy local” preferences will continue in sectors that China’s government sees as strategic to national security. Once in the market, companies will be bound even tighter to strictly follow China’s market rules as the government rolls out more data-driven market governance tools.​​

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