Can’t Get Enough Of Matcha? Too Bad – Japan Is Running Low
Japan has a matcha shortage despite record levels of production. Shops are selling out of the green tea powder as soon as they hit the shelves. On today's Big Take Asia Podcast, host K. Oanh Ha talks ...
18 Mar 202515min
China’s Power Play In the Indian Ocean
Mauritius and neighboring islands in the Indian Ocean are at the center of a great-power chess match involving the US, China and India. All want to use them as bases to protect shipping lanes and proj...
11 Mar 202513min
Xi’s Big Challenge Is Getting People to Spend, Spend, Spend
A crippling property crisis, mounting debt, weak consumer spending… and now a trade war. Despite the headwinds, China has set an ambitious economic growth goal of about 5% this year. On today’s Big Ta...
6 Mar 202513min
Xi Has Embraced China’s Tech Titans Once Again. Will It Last?
Four years after launching a regulatory crackdown that plunged the tech sector into turmoil, China’s President Xi Jinping sat down publicly with Alibaba Group’s co-founder Jack Ma, whose firm bore the...
25 Feb 202515min
How Amazon Rival Temu Got Sucked Into Trump’s Trade War
Since its US launch in 2022, Chinese marketplace Temu has rapidly risen to become America’s biggest e-commerce platform after Amazon, thanks to ultra-low prices on almost every product imaginable. On ...
18 Feb 202516min
What Thailand's Same-Sex Marriage Victory Means for the Economy
Thailand became the first country in Southeast Asia to recognize same-sex marriage last month. And to mark the occasion, nearly 2,000 couples tied the knot on the first day the law came into effect. ...
14 Feb 202515min
China’s New Game Plan for Dealing With Trump Tariffs
As US President Donald Trump imposes new tariffs on China, Xi Jinping's government has had a far more muted response than it did during the trade war in Trump’s first term. On today’s Big Take Asia Po...
11 Feb 202518min
Why Are Chinese Consumers So Keen on Gold?
Shuibei, in southern China, is home to one of the world's biggest retail markets for gold. Over the past year, it's seen a boom in demand for the jewelry, sold by thousands of stallholders, as the Chi...
28 Jan 202513min
