With thanks to: Jasmine, Kate and the rest of the team.

China's Xi Jinping held a rare meeting with Cheng Li-wun, the leader of Taiwan's opposition KMT party. It comes ahead of a summit with President Trump, where Xi is likely to bring up his opposition to U.S. arms sales to Taiwan ... w/ @ashishval.bsky.social www.npr.org/2026/04/10/n...

Taiwan's opposition leader arrives in China for a 'Journey of Peace' The visit takes place ahead of President Trump's own summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping next month, where Taiwan is expected to be a top agenda item.

My latest for @npr.org alongside @jpak25.bsky.social : Taiwan's opposition leader Cheng Li-wun may meet Xi Jinping later this week. She says the safety of Taiwan is her priority, though Taiwan's government doubts her visit will lower tensions. www.npr.org/2026/04/07/n...

With thanks to the team Jasmine, @nivincent @malloryyu.bsky.social and all the editors and producers who helped get it across the finish line

Amid tensions, Beijing extends rare welcome to Taiwan's opposition leader China is extending a warm welcome this week to the leader of Taiwan's opposition party — a rare outreach from Beijing, even as it continues military pressure on the self-ruled island.

China is extending a warm welcome this week to the leader of Taiwan's opposition party, Cheng Li-wun of the KMT. It's a rare outreach from Beijing, even as it continues military pressure on the self-ruled island. Listen here: www.npr.org/2026/04/06/n...

Me and THE Tiny Desk. First rule of Tiny Desk: only post pictures AFTER the performance has been published. Check out Caamp’s performance youtu.be/J1vTi9ycpiA?... You still get the best audio on YouTube but nothing beats a live performance.

With thanks to the team: @nivincent.bsky.social @alexleff.bsky.social Tina and all the other editors who helped

China slams Trump's trade investigation, as it approves a 5-year economic plan China's Foreign Ministry criticized the Trump administration's trade investigation as a "pretext" for tariffs. Meanwhile, China is moving ahead with a five-year plan that may rankle trade partners.

China has called a U.S. investigation into the trade practices of dozens of countries a "pretext for political manipulation." It comes as Beijing lawmakers approved a roadmap that continues the types of practices that have irked some of its partners. Read: www.npr.org/2026/03/12/n...

Greetings from a Shanghai temple where you can ward off bad luck in the Year of the Horse According to Chinese mythology, those born in the Year of the Horse will clash with Tai Sui, a heavenly general. Luckily, there are ways to appease Tai Sui, including amulets at Shanghai's Jade Buddha...

It's the Year of the Horse, and for people born that year (along with those born in the years of the Rat, Ox and Rabbit) - watch out. Read how to ward off the bad luck. www.npr.org/2026/03/11/g...

With thanks to the team: Jasmine, @hannahbloch.bsky.social and Virginia

China's foreign minister, Wang Yi, on key issues like the Iran war (shouldn't have happened), U.S. (open to dialogue to avoid miscalculation and conflict), Gaza (two-state solution all the way) and more:
www.npr.org/2026/03/08/n...
With thanks to the team: Jasmine, Robbie, @nivincent.bsky.social

Sluggish demand prompts China to set lowest growth target in decades China has set a more modest growth target for its economy. That reflects the drag from sluggish domestic demand.

Sluggish demand is part of the reason China set its lowest growth target in decades. We spoke to some consumers in Shanghai on what they will and won’t spend on. www.npr.org/2026/03/06/n... With thanks to the team: @nivincent.bsky.social Jasmine, and all the other producers and editors who helped

The anxiety rattling China’s youth : The Indicator from Planet Money China will soon unveil its economic blueprint for the next five years, including a target for economic growth. This comes as consumption is down, wages aren’t rising, and property prices continue to d...

China set its lowest growth target in decades at 4.5%-5%. Ahead of the big political meetings to announce this I joined The Indicator from Planet Money to talk about the anxiety that’s rattling young people. 🎧 👉

www.npr.org/2026/03/04/n...

China offers to mediate in US-Israel-Iran war China says it will send a special envoy to the Middle East to help mediate the US-Israel-Iran war, as Chinese political elites gather in Beijing for the annual "Two Sessions."

China offers to mediate in the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. Zhai Jun has been named as the envoy for the task. What’s behind this and how is China making sense of this? 🎧 👉 www.npr.org/2026/03/05/n...

Thanks for your support!!

Visiting the mothership

Thank you!

Strangely since Trump 2.0 many more exporters and manufacturers are willing to speak. Probably because they’ve all been affected as opposed to only certain sectors like the first time around.

Jennifer Pak joins NPR as China Correspondent In a note to newsroom staff, Chief International Editor, Didi Schanche, announced Jennifer Park as NPR's new China Correspondent

***MORE NEWS*** Here's what I'm up to next ... heading to Beijing (visa pending). Excited to join the talented NPR lot! I'll still continue to post my tasty finds on IG at jpakradio. And thanks to @memostothefuture.bsky.social I finally got the Shanghai skyline in the backdrop of my profile pic.

Gansu, Jilin, Liaoning, Qinghai, Shanxi, Ningxia, Xinjiang

*SOME NEWS 4/4* For now, I want to say thank you to the Marketplace listeners who have left comments, messaged me for advice when you come to China, and told me your connection to China. You guys are the most dedicated audience I’ve ever served, it’s been a great privilege.

*SOME NEWS 3/4* Public media is going through a difficult time. I still very much believe in the mission to keep citizens connected and informed, even if the topics are not always entertaining. I’m not straying far as I’ve got more pins to put on the map (more on that later).

*SOME NEWS 2/4* I am very thankful to Marketplace for giving me the leeway and opportunities to explore the country as their China correspondent these past eight years, but it’s time to move on. It’s been a great ride with a top notch team. Thank you everyone for coming on the journey.

*SOME NEWS 1/4* I’ve been covering China on-and-off since 2006. A foreign correspondent/mentor once told me that every country he’s been posted in, he would try to go to every province/state at least once. I’ve hit only 3/4 of China’s provinces/autonomous regions/megacities for travel and work.

Inside a training center that's trying to bridge China's robotic skills gap The school trains automation engineers for automated factories. China’s manufacturing sector is desperate for skilled workers.

China has high youth unemployment. Same time, there are tens of millions of skilled jobs going unfilled. We visited one robotics training center trying to bridge that gap. 🎧👉 www.marketplace.org/story/2025/1... With thanks to Charles, Stephanie, Gary, voiceover artists and the digital team

“China’s H-1B” talent visa gets praise abroad and backlash at home China’s new K visa for foreign talent largely went unnoticed by the Chinese public back in August, until Indian media compared it to the U.S.’ H-1B visa. Then, people in China became furious.

Chinese government media have tried to push back on the backlash, explaining why China needs global talent. That generated more public fury. Read our web story 👉 www.marketplace.org/episode/2025...

With thanks to Charles, Amanda, Gary, voiceover artists and the digital team.

“China’s H-1B” talent visa gets praise abroad and backlash at home China’s new K visa for foreign talent largely went unnoticed by the Chinese public back in August, until Indian media compared it to the U.S.’ H-1B visa. Then, people in China became furious.

It's been almost a month since China launched its K visa for science and tech talent, but no detailed requirements have been forthcoming. The announcement was made back in August to little public reaction. So, why the backlash now? Listen to the audio story👇

www.marketplace.org/episode/2025...

A plea to podcast makers: monitor your audio levels. It’s jarring to pump the episode volume to max, then blow my eardrums over a notification ping. Typically I keep background noise peaking -18db to -12db and voice -9db to -6db, but get decent headsets to ensure everything is balanced. DM for help

Fewer Chinese students are going to the U.S. There are almost 250,000 Chinese students in the U.S. this fall — a 36% drop from the 2017 peak.

More details on how hard it is for Chinese families intent on studying in the U.S. to suddenly pivot to another country in the web piece 👉 marketplace.org/story/2025/1...

With thanks to Charles, Caitlin, Gary, Drew, voiceover artists and the digital team.

Fewer Chinese students are going to the U.S. There are almost 250,000 Chinese students in the U.S. this fall — a 36% drop from the 2017 peak.

Nearly 250,000 Chinese students are studying in the U.S. this fall, most of them are in post-secondary institutions. That is a 36% drop from the peak in 2017. Find out why and where students are going. Hit the 'Listen Now' button for the audio story 👉 www.marketplace.org/story/2025/1...

Not sure why the video wasn’t included in the post but here’s one! Quite a lot of vendors set up booths lining the Suzhou creek but for some reason they’re not open.