All That Glitters

China's quest for gold in the South Pacific.

Good evening. This past year Chinese gold purchases were up as much as 28 percent. Our cover story explores why China is so hungry for gold as well as what has — and could — go very, very wrong in its quest to secure more. Elsewhere, we have infographics on Rokid, China’s top augmented reality company; an interview with Emily Kilcrease on gaming China’s sanctions response; a reported piece on the race for the hydrogen industry; and an op-ed from George Magnus on China’s new growth target.

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Going for Gold

Thanks to economic turbulence and geopolitics, China is buying up gold like never before — and it’s looking to places like Papua New Guinea to supply it. But with aggressive tactics and irresponsible mining practices, China’s ‘gold rush’ diplomacy is alarming locals and sparking concern in the West. Sean Williams reports.

The Big Picture: Ruling the Metaverse

Rokid is providing augmented reality (AR) products to some of the country’s biggest state-owned companies and automakers. This week’s infographics by Aaron Mc Nicholas look at the company and whether enterprise AR solutions have a brighter future than household entertainment products in the world’s second-largest economy.

A Q&A with Emily Kilcrease

Emily Kilcrease is a senior fellow and director of the energy, economics, and security program at the Center for a New American Security in Washington, D.C., where she studies the U.S.-China economic relationship. Kilcrease previously served as a deputy assistant U.S. trade representative (USTR), as a director on the National Security Council for international trade, investment, and development, and as the Commerce Department official overseeing Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) work. In December, she published No Winners in This Game, a report detailing a potential U.S. sanctions playbook for China in the case of a future conflict. In this week’s Q&A with Katrina Northrop, she talks about why it would be much trickier to place sanctions on China in any future conflict than on Russia and where the U.S. might have the most leverage.

Putting the Gas into Hydrogen

Western governments fear China could take the lead in yet another major green energy market: hydrogen. But, as Katrina Northrop reports, the hydrogen industry is far from settled.

Why China’s New Growth Target Misses the Mark

The Chinese government is trying to lift spirits, but as George Magnus argues in this week’s op-ed, it has failed to offer realistic plans to address the country’s deep-seated economic problems.

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