Jennifer Pak

China Correspondent

SHORT BIO

Jennifer is Marketplace’s China correspondent, based in Shanghai. She tells stories about the world’s second-biggest economy and why Americans should care about it.

She arrived in Beijing in 2006 with few journalism contacts but quickly set up her own news bureau. Her work has appeared in many news outlets, including the BBC, NPR and The Financial Times. After covering the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Jennifer moved to Kuala Lumpur to be the BBC’s Malaysia correspondent. She reported on the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 and Edward Snowden’s brief escape to Hong Kong. Jennifer returned to China in 2015, based in the high-tech hub of Shenzhen, before joining Marketplace two years later.

In 2022, Jennifer, along with 25 million Shanghai residents, was locked down for over 60 days and had to scramble for food. The coverage of the pandemic she and her team produced helped earn them a Gracie and a National Headliner Award in 2023. You can see the food Jennifer was able to get during the Shanghai lockdown here and keep up with her tasty finds across China on Instagram at @jpakradio.

Latest Stories (228)

A quarter-century after the handover, is Hong Kong still attractive as a business hub?

Jun 29, 2022
Crackdowns by Beijing and severe COVID restrictions have undermined its status. Friday marks the anniversary of the transfer of control.
The Hong Kong skyline at sunset. The territory has seen security crackdowns and severe COVID restrictions, and many residents have left in recent years. Friday marks 25 years since its return to Chinese rule.
Anthony Kwan/Getty Images

Is China's an upwardly mobile society? “Ascension” examines the Chinese dream.

The Oscar-nominated documentary explores the rise of China's middle class, zeroing in on an economy in transition.
The Oscar-nominated documentary explores the rise of China's middle class, zeroing in on an economy in transition.
Visit Films

How Shanghai's DIY supply chains helped us live through the long COVID lockdown

Jun 6, 2022
What happens when supply chains collapse and it's up to district governments, neighbors and friends to fill the gap?
A volunteer clad in safety gear delivers food during the lockdown while Shanghai residents were not allowed to leave their apartments.
Charles Zhang/Marketplace

Cities in China not under lockdown still feel the pain

May 23, 2022
Dozens of cities are under lockdown or COVID-19 restrictions, and that is affecting businesses across China.
COVID-19 restrictions in China make it hard to attract new overseas investment and foreign talent, a member of the European Union chamber of commerce in China says.
Hu Chengwei/Getty Images

Shanghai firms drift back to work but hurdles remain

May 4, 2022
Shanghai is allowing a small number of firms to resume operations. In a heavily locked-down environment, many of them are finding it's not that easy.
Regular COVID-19 tests are required for workers in Shanghai who receive work permits — though the process to getting there can be arduous.
Jade Gao/AFP via Getty Images

A look at lockdown life in Shanghai

COVID cases still number about 18,000 per day, and many people have had to make sacrifices.
View of residential units during a COVID-19 coronavirus lockdown in the Jing'an district of Shanghai on April 21, 2022.
Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images

China's zero-COVID restrictions put pressure on businesses

Apr 15, 2022
China’s first-quarter economic data is not likely to be rosy, given the fallout of the Ukraine war and the current COVID surge.
The Yangshan Port near Shanghai. Even goods and cargo are tested for COVID-19 under China's aggressive anti-contagion policy.
Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images

Inside Shanghai's indefinite lockdown: isolation, outcry and food shortages

Apr 12, 2022
Shanghai's latest citywide lockdown has left residents anxious about being separated from their children, pets and struggling to find food.
Shanghai has been mass testing its residents almost every day since the start of the month.
Charles Zhang/Marketplace

Life inside Shanghai’s latest COVID surge

Mar 29, 2022
Shanghai officials boast that their strategy to snuff out the spread of COVID-19 is preferable to a city-wide lockdown. For residents living through the current wave, the effects are jarring.
Medical workers in Shanghai exit a residential building that has been sealed. Shanghai has done mass testing in this latest surge of COVID-19 cases.
Charles Zhang/Marketplace

China walks a trade tightrope between Russia and the West

Mar 17, 2022
The Chinese government is opposed to sanctions against Russia and says it will continue to trade with it. But that is not easy in practice.
Though China relies on Russian oil, voluntary sanctions by Western companies could make it harder for China to get it. Above, a worker stands on pipes at an offshore oil in China's eastern Shandong province.
STR/AFP via Getty Images