Zhao Shukai: China’s Rural Reform Had No Master Plan
Zhao Shukai argues that the decisive breakthroughs in China’s rural reform of the 1980s were not designed in advance. Household contracting and other major changes emerged through initiatives from farmers, grassroots cadres and local governments, while the central leadership was often divided over how to respond. What made these breakthroughs possible, in his account, was a relatively pluralistic political environment that gave local actors considerable room to act and allowed competing policy approaches to coexist.
The People Teaching China's Robots to Work - by Jiang Jiang
My otherwise unremarkable left hand had acquired a distinctly high-tech look. Electrode pads were wrapped around all five fingers, and a square metal box sat on the back of my hand, linked to them by ten red data cables. A band strapped around my forearm was covered in an array of electrodes. This was a kit for collecting data for embodied AI, the kind of artificial intelligence that allows robots to act in the physical world. Whenever I exerted force with my fingers, it recorded the electrical activity in my muscles and the pressure I applied, turning each movement into a stream of digital signals.
My job was to copy the movements in the videos on the computer. There were 15 sets in all, including passing a book from one hand to the other; putting a pen into a cup and taking it out; picking up an apple with all five fingers and setting it back on the table; wiping the table with a cloth; turning an empty drinks can upside down; gripping a brush with all five fingers and rotating it to scrub a plastic cup; and picking up bowls and plates and moving them from one place to another.
Kimi’s Global Moment—and a Very Chinese PR Habit
An alleged influencer marketing brief for a Chinese frontier AI model reveals a familiar approach to paid promotion—and an unnecessary geopolitical turn.
Beijing Compromised. Will Brussels Misread the Message?
Less than two weeks after China and the European Union wrapped up their second round of trade and investment consultations in Beijing, one thing is becoming clear: Brussels and Beijing may have left the same negotiating table, but they are telling two very different stories about what was achieved.
EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič highlighted three key achievements: curbing Chinese hybrid vehicle exports, improving European access to China’s market, and facilitating rare earth exports.
Beijing, meanwhile, has emphasized WTO rules, reciprocal treatment, and the importance of maintaining stable bilateral economic relations.
How Big Can Pro Wrestling Get in China? - by Jiang Jiang
In this episode of Inside the China Room with Jiang Jiang, I’m joined by Adrian Gomez, an American who founded Middle Kingdom Wrestling (MKW) in 2015. MKW is an independent professional wrestling promotion that organizes live events in China, featuring both Chinese and international wrestlers.
On October 11, an event called MKW Speedway Slam took place in Tianjin, a city in northern China. The event featured five matches, bringing together wrestlers from China and other countries, including Hungary and South Korea.
Internet users in China are watching the protests in France with a mix of geopolitical cynicism, domestic pride and sadness at the damage to French landmarks.
Visit of officials of the Ministry of Commerce of China to Barbados
A delegation led by Mr. Xie Yu, Second-level Inspector (Deputy Director-General level) of the Department of Finance, Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China recently visited Barbados to conduct financial audits and inspection of China-Aid projects in Barbados from 23-25 September 2026.
The delegation comprised Mr. Xie Yu, Second Level Inspector (Deputy Director-General Level), Mr. YAN Changjiang, SCG, Mr. M. Chaobai, SCG, Mr. YAN Haijiang, SCG and Mr. TAN Yong, SCG.
During their stay the delegation paid a courtesy visit to the Ministry of Technological and Vocational Training and later visited the Hope Agricultural Training Institute in St. Lucy and the Centre for Food Security and Entrepreneurship in St. Thomas. During the meetings Dr. Chelston Brathwaite, Consultant to the China Aid projects made two presentations entitled
1. Potential contribution of the Hope Project to Barbados- Building skills for a Food secure and prosperous Barbados (copy attached)
2. Strategic partnership between Barbados and China for strengthening the Hope Agricultural Training Institute at Hope.
The delegation seemed pleased with the progress of the two projects.
A Realist Reckoning: India Between the US & China
A conversation with JNU’s Rajesh Rajagopalan on the state of the world & India’s navigation of disorder.
…my guest for this episode of The Great Power Show is Professor Rajesh Rajagopalan, who teaches International Politics at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. He is one of the sharpest realist voices in Indian strategic studies.
We discuss what the world looks like today from the Realist prism. Can the US and China really build a relationship of constructive strategic stability? What bipolarity actually means for a country in India’s position? Is strategic autonomy is an aspiration rather than a strategy? And what India should be doing in BRICS and the SCO, and how to think about the Russia relationship as it atrophies?
This weekly newsletter is put together by DeLisle Worrell, President of the ABCF. Visit us at Association for Barbados China Friendship | (abcf-bb.com).
I include news of the association and our members, as well as interesting items of news and a variety of commentary that you might not find elsewhere.
Thanks to everyone who sent contributions for this week’s Update. Please send items of interest to me via the contact page at ABCF-BB.com or to info@DeLisleWorrell.com
The ABCF mission is to build a deeper understanding between the Chinese people and Barbadians and Caribbean people from all walks of life. The association’s focus is on personal experiences, people-to-people contact, cultural exchanges and exchanges of ideas, and the facilitation of travel, business and study. From the outset we aim to learn from and build on the experiences of the Caribbean and China, and to develop mutual understandings and support that will be to the benefit of both sides.
