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The dramatic recovery of China's Luckin Coffee chain draws fans and skeptics

Mar 1, 2024
Luckin was punished for fabricating $300 million in sales, but now it has overtaken Starbucks' Chinese business. What's changed?
A Luckin coffee shop in Shanghai. Luckin has expanded to surpass Starbucks' business in China.
Charles Zhang/Marketplace

As the Year of the Dragon dawns, many Chinese wish for a better economy

Feb 9, 2024
Asking people in China about their Lunar New Year wishes, the talk inevitably shifts to the economy.
A vendor in Shanghai sells plush toys for the Year of the Dragon.
Charles Zhang/Marketplace

Wellington marches on Shanghai, but at a cost

Jan 30, 2024
A detailed look how a food trend starts in China's financial hub, Shanghai.
Coquille restaurant's beef Wellington comes with a sign. The number 75,437 means that is the 75,437th beef Wellington the restaurant has served since the dish was rolled out in 2015 in Shanghai.
Charles Zhang/Marketplace

In Shanghai, vacant storefronts abound, but it's still a struggle to find space

Jan 9, 2024
China's housing bubble has popped, and the commercial property market is going through a rough patch.
For lease signs are posted on an empty Shanghai coffee shop. The commercial property market is going through a transition after the city's severe pandemic lockdown.
Charles Zhang/Marketplace

G-7 leaders expected to discuss China's "economic coercion"

May 15, 2023
China has been accused of exerting its power by refusing to buy certain products from countries that cross it. Beijing is pushing back.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden at a G-20 summit. China rejects criticism of its trade practices and has accused wealthy nations of using economic and military coercion.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Businesses keep close watch on Blinken China visit

Feb 3, 2023
U.S.-China tensions have put Chinese businesses on edge.
Antony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary of State, is expected to meet with senior Chinese leaders in a visit that could set the tone for the wider U.S.-China relationship.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

For business owners in China, a touch-and-go reopening after zero-COVID

Jan 30, 2023
While China's most high-profile executives express unflagging optimism on TV, for small business owners, the picture is more complicated.
Food vendors at the Muslim quarter in Xi'an seem bored without customers in late December 2022. That was when COVID infections swept across China.
Jennifer Pak/Marketplace

For public good, not for profit.

Fans in China bemoan the departure of Airbnb and Kindle

Jul 26, 2022
Loyal users of the companies say they didn't try hard enough to acquire users in addition to making basic missteps.
A subway commuter in Shanghai uses a Kindle in July.
Charles Zhang/Marketplace

Shanghai's lockdown has eased, but businesses are still tallying the costs

Jul 14, 2022
Shanghai's lockdown crippled supply chains and logistics. Materials and transport costs climbed, and there have been personal struggles too.
Authorities put barriers around Shanghai streets to enforce the severe lockdown in the spring.
Charles Zhang/Marketplace

China lacks psychologists, so businesses fill the mental health care gap

Nov 22, 2021
One entrepreneur is placing her bets on a paid online listening service for women.
In China, online and app-based companionship services have cropped up to address isolation. Above, a man sits alone on his cellphone in Beijing.
Courtesy Shanghai 808 Studio