Special report: Retail revolution galvanizes grassroots China

Special report: China’s county commercial revolution

A string of ambitious commercial developments in county cities and towns across China is transforming consumer behavior at the intersection of city and countryside

Special report: County shoppers, city tastes

Our survey of 386 county and township consumers reveals the increasing sophistication of China’s county-level consumers, whose spending habits and shopping choices increasingly resemble those of their counterparts in larger cities.

Special report: Zhangjiawa – a tale of two towns

Like many Chinese towns, Zhangjiawa, a small town in the eastern province of Shandong, is divided into two parts.

Special report: Yongxing – returnees fuel rapid growth

Shops and apartments are springing up across Yongxing, Hunan province, to serve a growing urban population

Special report: Tongxiang – high-speed development

The advent of the Shanghai-Hangzhou high-speed railway has seen an influx of retailers, developers and speculators into Tongxiang, an already-wealthy textile-manufacturing base.

Bonds take centre stage

Surging bond issuance helps to offset low growth in mid and long-term loans, thereby underpinning the scenario that GDP growth may rebound somewhat in 2H12.

Selected financial charts

A selection of key financial data over the past fortnight 

Contractors for hire

Protected at home, China’s construction companies will have to modernise to realise global ambitions.

The rebound continues

Record sales in June helped prompt a resurgence in some developers’ appetite for financing. But Beijing is on high alert for price rises.

Journey to the west – China’s Central Asia strategy

By Mark Godfrey on the Xinjiang-Kazakh border

A burgeoning trade relationship is impacted by Moscow’s new customs union, but energy imports by China are set to surge.

Whither A-shares in 2H12?

Leading commentators discuss the prospect of an A-share market recovery in 2H12

West outgrows east

Economists and academics debate the significance of faster GDP growth in western and central provinces than in eastern China in 1H12.