China Economy with Fexingo: Beijing's Policies, Trade, and Asia-Pacific Markets

China's quiet weapon in the global currency war isn't a yuan peg or reserve status — it's bilateral swap lines. In Episode 80 of China Economy with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna unpack how Beijing has signed over 40 swap agreements worth nearly $500 billion with central banks from Argentina to Indonesia. They examine the mechanics: how these swaps let trade partners settle directly in yuan, bypassing US...

As a global memory shortage shakes Apple and Microsoft, China's ambitious domestic chipmaking drive faces a critical test. Lucas and Luna examine how Beijing's push to develop homegrown memory chips — from Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp (YMTC) to CXMT — is colliding with export controls, technology bottlenecks, and a rapidly shifting market. They break down why the shortage that's squeezing smal...

China's digital yuan, or e-CNY, is moving beyond domestic retail trials and into cross-border settlement. As of mid-2026, the People's Bank of China has signed bilateral agreements with 18 central banks for digital currency swaps, with total transaction volumes exceeding 100 billion yuan. Lucas and Luna examine how this threatens the dollar's dominance in trade finance, why the IMF is watching clo...

In this episode of China Economy with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore a major shift in Beijing's infrastructure strategy: from concrete ports and railways to digital infrastructure. As the yuan stabilizes around 6.77 per dollar and the trade-weighted dollar index hits 120.4, China is doubling down on cloud computing, 5G, and AI hubs across Southeast Asia and Africa. The hosts discuss the implicati...

Chinese stocks listed in the US have dropped sharply this week, with Alibaba down 10% in five days and other big tech names off 5-7%. Lucas and Luna dig into why the selloff is happening even as the yuan holds steady and China's trade surplus remains intact. They focus on a specific mechanism: the rising trade-weighted US dollar index (now at 120.4) and its effect on dollar-denominated Chinese ADR...

On June 26, 2026, Chinese tech stocks listed in the U.S. are in freefall: Alibaba down 11.2% in five days, JD.com down 8.6%, Baidu off 7%. This comes on the heels of what many analysts called a solid earnings season. Lucas and Luna unpack the disconnect, focusing on two forces: the global tech sell-off triggered by South Korea's Kospi sinking 8% and SoftBank plunging 13%, and a deeper structural c...

Chinese tech and consumer stocks like Alibaba (BABA), JD.com, and Baidu (BIDU) are getting hammered this week even as broader markets wobble. The iShares China Large-Cap ETF (FXI) is down over 5% in five days, and the KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF (KWEB) has lost more than 6%. Lucas and Luna drill into what's driving the selloff: the escalating trade war with the US, a weakening yuan pushing...

On this episode of China Economy with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna examine how China's persistently high youth unemployment rate is starting to ripple through the banking sector. With the latest data showing urban youth joblessness above 20 percent, they explore the link to rising consumer loan defaults and the stress on small and mid-sized banks that have heavy exposure to unsecured lending. They also...

Chinese consumer stocks like Alibaba, JD.com, and Pinduoduo have dropped sharply this week despite seemingly solid economic data. Lucas and Luna examine the disconnect: export volumes are up, the trade surplus is widening, but markets are punishing companies exposed to domestic consumption. They dig into Alibaba's 6.3% five-day slide, JD's 8% drop, and what the weakening yuan at 6.77 per dollar me...

China's youth unemployment hit a record 20.8 percent in May 2026, even as the broader job market shows signs of stability. Lucas and Luna explore the structural forces behind the disconnect — an education system that produces millions of graduates each year but not enough jobs in the service sector or private enterprise. They look at how the post-pandemic preference for state-sector jobs has inten...

This episode of China Economy with Fexingo digs into the sharp sell-off in Chinese tech stocks in late June 2026. Over the past week, the iShares China Large-Cap ETF (FXI) dropped 5%, while Alibaba and JD.com fell 7.8% and 8.2% respectively. Lucas and Luna examine the forces behind the move: a global semiconductor rout triggered by a Micron-led tech sell-off in the US, lingering concerns about Chi...

In this episode of China Economy with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna examine a surprising consequence of the yuan's recent slide: China's import bill is surging, even as the country maintains a massive trade surplus. Using live data from June 23, 2026, they analyze how a weaker yuan is making imported raw materials more expensive for Chinese manufacturers, squeezing margins and accelerating the shift to...

While China's overall trade surplus widens, a surprising divergence is emerging: factory towns are outperforming major coastal hubs. Lucas and Luna drill into the numbers, exploring how the yuan's recent slide to 6.76 per dollar is reshaping export competitiveness in inland manufacturing clusters. They discuss why cities like Chongqing and Hefei are seeing stronger growth than Shanghai or Shenzhen...

On June 22, 2026, China imposed trade restrictions on dozens of US companies in response to the Pentagon's latest blacklist. This episode breaks down the specific sectors targeted—including defense electronics, aerospace components, and industrial sensors—and examines how the curbs bypass traditional tariffs. We look at the five-day slide in Chinese ETFs (FXI down 4.9%, KWEB down 4.7%) and what it...

Episode 66 of China Economy with Fexingo examines how the gap between China's export boom and domestic spending weakness is squeezing small and mid-sized manufacturers. Lucas and Luna unpack May 2026 retail sales data showing a 0.8% year-over-year decline, the role of a weakening yuan at 6.76 per dollar, and how factory towns reliant on domestic orders are struggling even as exporters thrive. They...

Lucas and Luna examine a surprising development in China's rare earth supply chain: the country's growing reliance on imports of processed rare earth materials from Southeast Asia and Africa. With new refining capacity coming online in Vietnam and Myanmar, China's stranglehold on global rare earth processing is weakening. The episode drills into the numbers: China still controls 90% of refining bu...

In this episode of China Economy with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna examine how the yuan's decline to 6.76 per dollar is accelerating a shift in global supply chains. As Chinese exports remain competitive, companies like Apple and Tesla are diversifying production to Southeast Asia and Mexico. The hosts discuss a recent Goldman Sachs report suggesting that yuan weakness could persist, impacting trade fl...

Episode 63 of China Economy with Fexingo dives into a shift that's quietly reshaping the world's second-largest economy: China's smaller factory cities are outpacing the big coastal metropolises. Hosts Lucas and Luna examine why export-driven towns like Yiwu and Foshan are seeing faster wage growth, stronger retail spending, and more resilient property markets than Shanghai or Shenzhen. They ancho...

Episode 62 of China Economy with Fexingo. Lucas and Luna explore China's strategic push into lithium refining in Africa. With the yuan at 6.76 per dollar and a trade-weighted dollar index of 119.5, Chinese battery giants like CATL and Ganfeng are investing in Zimbabwe and the DRC to secure raw materials outside the Belt and Road debt trap narrative. This episode examines the numbers: $4.2 billion...

Episode 61 of China Economy with Fexingo examines why Chinese companies are quietly buying rare earth mining assets in Africa and South America, even as domestic production dominates global supply. Lucas and Luna unpack a specific deal — a $1.2 billion acquisition of a Burundian rare earth project by a state-backed Chinese consortium — and why it signals Beijing's long-term strategy to reduce depe...

In Episode 60 of China Economy with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna examine a surprising trend: as the yuan weakens against the dollar, foreign investors are piling into Chinese bonds at the fastest pace in two years. They break down the dynamics behind this apparent contradiction — including the role of carry trades, the yield gap between Chinese and US debt, and recent data showing foreign holdings of C...

Chinese electric vehicle makers are racing to build factories in Mexico, aiming to skirt US tariffs and tap into North American supply chains. Lucas and Luna break down why BYD and SAIC are investing billions in Mexican states like Nuevo León and Aguascalientes, how the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement rules of origin factor in, and what this means for the yuan and trade deficits. They reference the rec...

Episode 58 of China Economy with Fexingo. Lucas and Luna examine how China's electric vehicle exports are reshaping trade alliances in Asia. With Chinese EV makers flooding Southeast Asian markets, countries like Thailand and Indonesia are aligning closer to Beijing while traditional partners like Japan and South Korea face tough choices. The hosts break down the numbers: China's EV exports to ASE...

Episode 57 of China Economy with Fexingo. Lucas and Luna unpack a growing disconnect in China's markets: exports are up, trade surplus is narrowing but still large, yet the yuan is falling against the dollar. They examine how capital outflows, a widening current account deficit, and central bank policy are driving the yuan lower—and what that means for Chinese stocks and global investors. With spe...

Episode 56 of China Economy with Fexingo. Lucas and Luna examine why China's solar panel exports surged 28% year-over-year in May 2026, even as US tariffs hit 50% on Chinese solar cells. They break down how Chinese manufacturers rerouted through Southeast Asia and Mexico, why module prices fell 12% while volumes rose, and what this means for global renewable energy supply chains. Live data referen...