From October 11-14th, the Party’s Central Committee convened in Beijing for its Seventh Plenum, the last assembly of the elite body’s roughly 200 members before the conclusion of its five-year term at the 19th Party Congress. The closed-door gathering saw the Chinese leadership iron out its final preparations for the quinquennial political transition. The top … Read more
If there’s one thing that business has wanted from policymakers since time immemorial, it is certainty. Just tell us what the rules are, they say, then we can plan accordingly. Not knowing what your tax rate will be, not to mention when the U.S. federal government will reopen or what exactly will happen with Brexit, … Read more
On Saturday 17 November, 300,000 people gathered across France to demonstrate against an increase in fuel prices, a Government initiative aimed to accelerate the ecological transition. Self-proclaimed the “Gilets Jaunes” (referring to the yellow color of the safety vest that every motorist is required to keep in their vehicle), they organized about 2,000 operations, blocking … Read more
Overview It seems the entire U.S. population has spent the last two years in search of a good adjective to describe the national mood. We like concise descriptors, and tidy summaries. We’ve called our nation, “polarized.” We’ve called it, “partisan.” Everyone appeared to bank on the 2018 midterm elections sending a dramatic signal about the … Read more
Jack’s thoughts on making sense of what is going on behind the headlines. First things first: When looking at American politics, we tend to focus on the Democrats and the Republicans, but if independent voters were an organized party it would be bigger than either of them. I’m seeing a big increase in independent American … Read more
Public mistrust of government is unsettling the status quo. Fewer than two out of 10 Americans believe Washington is working on their behalf, polls show. Elected officials, meantime, are increasingly finding themselves in the cross-hairs, accused of all manner of misdeeds and broken promises. Chief among these complaints is lack of transparency. But there are steps … Read more
Conventional wisdom holds that governments are not particularly good at innovating. And while there are plenty of examples to support that notion, there is also a growing and global portfolio of examples that suggest quite the contrary. A few examples: Providence, Rhode Island, USA: Children from lower-income families weren’t being exposed to enough spoken words … Read more
Sketching out the inaugural roadmap for the Chinese economy in President Xi’s second term, China’s most important annual economic meeting outlined the broad policy priorities for 2018-2020. The “three tough battles” identified including preventing and defusing major risks, especially financial vulnerabilities, alleviating poverty, and controlling environmental degradation. Any direct mention of deleveraging was notably absent … Read more
H+K China’s Government and Public Affairs team visualizes profiles, analysis, and predictions for China’s new 2017-2022 leadership team.
In the below update, we examine the key outcomes from what the Chinese government billed as President Trump’s “state visit-plus” last week, particularly with regard to bilateral economic relations and tensions on the Korean peninsula. A big win for Beijing Without any of the hitches that often occur during the highest level Sino-U.S. exchanges, Trump’s … Read more
