Semiconductors are a critical input to production of information and communication technology and many other goods. The major economies want to be able to produce chips at home to avoid excessive dependence on supply chains in an increasingly unpredictable world, where trade is being compromised...

Promoting high-quality fixed and mobile broadband for all, at an affordable price, is an important enabler of the digital transformation of society and will help close the digital divide. This became clearer than ever during the pandemic, when broadband access was a crucial enabler of remote...

Drawing on global media reports, we conduct a sentiment analysis of the image of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the evolution of its image over time. Our main finding is that perceptions of the initiative deteriorated significantly in many geographies from 2017 to 2022. The notable...

As the Chinese economy continues to decelerate, the central government is investing heavily in innovation, doubling down on research and development (R&D) spending and STEM-oriented human capital. In this paper, we assess China's progress so far, looking at the inputs to innovation (R&D and...

Chinese growth, astounding since the beginning of the reform era, has slowed in the last decade. We offer a baseline estimate (based on the current trend) of China's medium-term growth rate, which we project to fall to 2.4 percent by 2035. Several factors create uncertainty around this baseline....

The idea behind the BRICS began as a pure economic concept to acknowledge the growing weight of some major emerging economies. However, when it became a reality, it has evolved into a highly political - and less economic - concept. The BRICS, which has been expanded recently to BRICS+, has...

Western concerns that the renminbi could rival the dollar as an international currency contrast with underwhelming numbers in terms of global settlements in renminbi and with the experience of China's two main previous failed attempts to achieve renminbi internationalisation. However, China is...

Trade in renewable energy goods is a global public good; all countries gain when others cut emissions, and all suffer from climate change if decarbonisation is delayed. Yet this trade depends on China, which controls most of the world's production of solar panels and electric vehicle batteries,...

China is experiencing population ageing caused by a rapidly declining fertility rate and increased life expectancy. This demographic transition poses economic challenges, yet the intensity of these challenges depends on a number of factors, with the move of people from rural to urban areas being...