Drum Tower

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China is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The global infrastructure project is a keystone of Xi Jinping’s foreign policy and he has lauded the huge economic benefits the scheme has brought to the world. But enthusiasm for the BRI is fading at home.

David Rennie, The Economist’s Beijing bureau chief, and Alice Su, our senior China correspondent, host the second episode of a two-part look at China’s BRI and how it’s changing. They speak to Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at Renmin University.

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In 2019, a cold, sleepy mining town called Hegang went viral for having the lowest house prices of any big city in China. Blog posts boasted of sizeable apartments costing as little as 46,000 yuan ($6,700). Many thought it was a hoax, others saw an opportunity.

The Economist’s Beijing bureau chief, David Rennie, and senior China correspondent, Alice Su, meet the people making Hegang their home and hear why the pressures of life in China’s major cities are motivating them to move there.

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Chinese social media is awash with disinformation about nuclear wastewater. Ever since August 24, when Japan began to release treated wastewater from the Fukushima plant, China’s state media has pumped out a flood of one-sided reports about the dangers. China’s nationalist netizens have spread them.

Alice Su, The Economist’s senior China correspondent, and Ted Plafker, our China correspondent, take a look inside a Chinese Communist Party disinformation campaign and ask what China’s government stands to gain from the public outrage over the Fukushima wastewater release.

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The South China Sea is full of treasure. Last year, Chinese researchers found two ships from the Ming Dynasty some 1,500 metres down: one loaded with porcelain, the other with timber. But, their discovery is not only of interest to scholars.

The Economist’s Beijing bureau chief, David Rennie, and China correspondent, Gabriel Crossley, examine how the Communist Party is using archaeology to enhance its territorial claims, and why Xi Jinping is putting ancient history at the centre of politics.

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Two of The Economist's China correspondents, Alice Su and David Rennie, analyse the stories at the heart of this vast country and examine its influence beyond its borders.

They’ll be joined by our global network of correspondents and expert guests to examine how everything from party politics to business, technology and culture is reshaping China and the world.

For almost seven centuries the beats of China’s most famous drum tower, or gulou, kept people in Beijing to time. The Economist’s latest podcast keeps you up to date every Monday.

Sign up to our weekly newsletter here and for full access to print, digital and audio editions, as well as exclusive live events, subscribe to The Economist at economist.com/drumoffer.

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