China Economics Weekly Huawei’s chip breakthrough Huawei’s new phone suggests that SMIC, China’s top chipmaker, has succeeded in mass-producing 7nm chips, an important step towards technological self-sufficiency. But it is too early to conclude that... 8th September 2023 · 9 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly BRICS Summit, Morocco’s policymaking Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt were among six countries to be invited to join the BRICS bloc, which could solidify the shift in their geopolitical alignment towards a China-led bloc . This could... 24th August 2023 · 6 mins read
Long Run Update Ambition collides with reality at the BRICS summit China’s push to develop the BRICS bloc into a geo-political counterweight to the G7 is likely to be thwarted by the competing interests and priorities of other member states. Nonetheless, positioning... 21st August 2023 · 4 mins read
Emerging Markets Economics Update Assessing the early evidence of “friend-shoring” in EMs One way in which EMs may benefit from the fragmentation of the global economy into US- and China-aligned blocs is via “friend-shoring”. There appears to be evidence that the US is importing a higher... 19th July 2023 · 4 mins read
China Economics Weekly Export curbs will become blunt with use The PBOC has succeeded for the time being in stemming the slide in the renminbi. It wouldn’t take much for pressure to return, but we think the balance of probabilities points to a stronger currency... 7th July 2023 · 8 mins read
Japan Economics Update Friend-shoring picking up pace beneath the surface At first glance, there’s little sign of friend-shoring among Japanese firms as they have directed a rising share of their outward foreign direct investment at China. However, this largely reflects... 26th June 2023 · 4 mins read
India Economics Weekly Strengthening of India-US ties to boost manufacturing The sweeping agreements on trade and defence announced during Narendra Modi’s state visit to the US this week underline that India’s government and firms increasingly see their interests as favouring... 23rd June 2023 · 3 mins read
Long Run Update Economic fracturing to continue despite thaw in relations A series of high-level diplomatic meetings this week have raised hopes that strains in US-China relations will start to ease. But the politics of fragmentation was never likely to proceed in a linear... 20th June 2023 · 4 mins read
Climate Economics Update Fixing leaks in Turkmenistan will only do so much Preventing large-scale leaks of methane from Turkmenistan’s creaking infrastructure would be a welcome sign of emissions-cutting efforts broadening out from carbon dioxide to include other harmful... 8th June 2023 · 4 mins read
China Economics Weekly Unfinished homes, chipmaking woes Detailed housing sales data show that worries about developers’ ability to complete projects continue to hamper demand. And despite some progress, the number of stalled projects remains very large... 26th May 2023 · 6 mins read
India Economics Update Which states could benefit from “friend-shoring”? In a fracturing global economy, India stands out as a prime location for the “friend-shoring” of manufacturing supply chains out of China. The manufacturing powerhouses of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu are... 23rd May 2023 · 3 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Vietnam friend-shoring boost, Thai election muddle Decoupling between China and the US is presenting opportunities for countries that are able to adapt their economies to shifting global supply chains. So far, the main beneficiary of these shifts has... 19th May 2023 · 9 mins read
Africa Economics Update Where will South Africa sit in a fracturing world? South Africa has traditionally sought to be non-aligned and, in our ‘mapping decoupling’ work, we placed it in neither the US nor the China camp. But recent developments suggest that it could be... 16th May 2023 · 5 mins read
Emerging Markets Economics Update How feasible is a BRICS currency? Over the weekend, President-elect Donald Trump threatened a 100% import tariff on the BRICS countries unless they pledge not to create their own currency. In this note from 2023, we outlined the... 4th May 2023 · 6 mins read
India Chart Pack The geopolitical balancing act India is benefitting from maintaining its historic unaligned stance in tensions between the US and Russia. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, India has been ramping up oil imports from Russia to... 20th April 2023 · 10 mins read
