The Wire China Podcast

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  China’s AI-Loving Factory Heirs 18.09.2026 16min

  China’s Gen Z factory heirs have a problem. They graduated into an era where high-tech robots and AI can usher in a new industrial revolution. But frustratingly, the factories run by their parents are too old-fashioned to ditch the pen and paper for profit. In this episode, reporters Peiyue Wu and Rachel Cheung discuss the tech-savvy Chinese who are trying to bring AI to the manufacturing sector. Many of them see themselves as Forward-Deployed Engineers (FDE), a job title popularized by Pala...
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  Hong Kong Plays the Shell Game 11.09.2026 14min

  Birds of a feather tend to stick together, at least in the case of Chinese companies sanctioned by the United States. Our reporter Noah Berman found that many recently sanctioned firms actually share the same address, down to the same floor of a Hong Kong office building. This week, features editor Tom Mitchell and Noah Berman discuss his recent examination into how Chinese firms use Hong Kong-based shell firms to avoid U.S. sanctions, and what Washington might be trying to signal so cl...
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  China and Big Sky Country 04.09.2026 19min

  Montana has been the unlikely source of America’s most influential China-hand senators. Somewhat paradoxically, it’s also one of the most pro-Trump — and tough on China — electorates in the country. In this episode, reporters Savannah Billman and Brent Crane discuss Brent’s recent reporting on why the Treasure State’s relationship with China appears to swing so widely between extremes. As U.S. national and state governments continue to debate how best to approach China, Montana reflects the ...
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  The Robots Are Coming! 15.08.2026 14min

  China’s running, dancing, kung-fu fighting humanoid robots are better at being influencers than anything else. But soon they will have to get real jobs, and fast. In this episode, editor Tom Mitchell and reporter Savannah Billman discuss the explosive growth of Chinese humanoid robots this year. China expects to produce 100,000 of them, much more than anticipated, but is the technology developed enough for customers to buy them all? Subscribe to our free newsletter: www.thewirechina.com/news...
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  China's Camera Wars on U.S. Shores 07.08.2026 14min

  As U.S. restrictions complicate DJI’s expansion beyond drones, its camera rival Insta360 has gained an unexpected advantage among American consumers. In this episode, reporters Peiyue Wu and Savannah Billman discuss the surprising case of two Chinese companies going head-to-head over the U.S. market. As Peiyue wrote earlier this week, both DJI and Insta360 make cameras and drones — but only the latter is able to sell both of its products in the United States. What does the dispute revea...
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  Nvidia's Partner Problem 31.07.2026 15min

  Nvidia has nearly 1,000 partners around the world, including over 100 in China. Some of these firms, according to a Wire China investigation, have close ties to China's military. What does this mean for Nvidia and the future of U.S. chip restrictions? This week, reporter Noah Berman and editor Andrew Peaple go behind the scenes of Noah's investigation into Nvidia's China partners, discussing how one partner connects to a network of sanctioned universities, and what this reveals about the way ...
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  Live From Paris: Is China’s Consumer Sector Really That Bad? 24.07.2026 19min

  China’s consumer economy is doing very poorly if you look at it one way: low consumption, deflation, and overcapacity. But popular — and successful — global brands like Anta Group and Popmart seem to paint a different picture. What’s really going on? Last week, The Wire editor Andrew Peaple joined Asia Society’s Paris Summer Summit and discussed Chinese market trends with Sandrine Zerbib, an expert on China’s consumer sector. This episode shares the recording of their panel. Other stori...
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  The Company that Cried Huawei 10.07.2026 9min

  Before Nvidia won approval to sell more chips to China, it first told the U.S. government that Huawei sales would soar if it was kept out. This week, Noah Berman joins fellow journalist Rachel Cheung to discuss his scoop on one reason why the U.S. government gave Nvidia permission to sell its H200 chips to China last December: a report outlining the alleged threat to Nvidia's business if it couldn't enter the Chinese market. Is Huawei really about to take a chunk of Nvidia's market share, an...
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  The Organization at the Heart of China's Tech Complex 26.06.2026 15min

  China’s leading science organization does much more than spearhead basic research. It runs universities, advises the government, and incubates leading technology companies in frontier areas such as quantum and AI. In this episode, news editor Andrew Peaple and reporter Savannah Billman discuss her recent overview of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. A crucial engine behind China’s technological rise, CAS is nonetheless an organization little understood. Read the piece: www.thewirechina.c...
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  Whatever Happened to Jupiter? 19.06.2026 18min

  Jupiter Systems is an American company that makes video screen technology for the U.S. military. In 2024, the government discovered something shocking — it had been sold to a Chinese tech company years earlier. Reporters Noah Berman and Rachel Cheung are back on the podcast to go behind the scenes on their recent investigation into the sale of Jupiter Systems and how the United States government is trying to get it back. Read their story on The Wire China here: https://www.thewirechina.com/20...
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  China's AI Pains and Gains 12.06.2026 17min

  AI is driving layoffs and discontent across the United States. China wants to avoid the same problems — or is it already too late? Reporter Rachel Cheung and editor Tom Mitchell discuss her recent article on how much pain Beijing may allow AI to inflict on Chinese society in exchange for productivity gains. From the unemployed Chinese youths ‘squatting’ in their parents’ homes to the optimistic hustlers using AI agents to get ahead, the technology is already transforming daily life. Plus, a...
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  How the PLA Tried To Get Nvidia's Chips 05.06.2026 21min

  SALE: We’re offering your first month of The Wire China for just one dollar. More details below! For years, the United States has tried to stop China from getting its most advanced chips out of concern the technology could bolster the People’s Liberation Army’s capabilities. But the web of export controls it has imposed has not stopped the Chinese military from trying to get Nvidia’s products. John Costello, Director of Strategic Affairs for WireScreen and author of a new report on the ...
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  When the Chips Are Down, Turn to China? 29.05.2026 11min

  SALE: We’re offering your first month of The Wire China for just one dollar. More details below! The world is facing a global memory chip shortage, with companies scrambling to buy what they can. The crunch puts desperate U.S. firms in a bind: will they need to start purchasing chips from China? In this episode, reporters Rachel Cheung and Noah Berman discuss the rise and global allure of China’s homegrown chipmakers. Even though the U.S. government designated two of China’s biggest sup...
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  The New AI Winners: Picks and Shovels 22.05.2026 16min

  SALE: We’re offering your first month of The Wire China for just one dollar. More details below! Move over, DeepSeek and Minimax. Investors are flocking to a new set of AI winners: the Chinese manufacturers making circuit boards and other components that keep the world's AI models humming along. In this episode, reporters Rachel Cheung and Savannah Billman discuss the growing importance of these so-called 'pick and shovel' makers and where the money is flowing within China's AI ecosyste...
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  A Troubled Road for TP-Link 15.05.2026 19min

  SALE: We’re offering your first month of The Wire China for just one dollar. More details below! TP-Link is having a tough year. The California-based, Shenzhen-founded internet router company can’t seem to shake skepticism that moving to the United States means it is no longer Chinese. This week, reporters Noah Berman and Savannah Billman return to the podcast to discuss the strange story of TP-Link. In a bid to shed its Chinese origins and sell in the U.S. market, the company’s owner Jeffrey...
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  China’s Missing Reporters 08.05.2026 17min

  There are fewer U.S. journalists working in China now than at any point since the two countries normalized relations in the 1970s. Today, the New York Times has one reporter in the country, the Wall Street Journal two, soon to be one, and the Washington Post none. Features editor Tom Mitchell and reporter Eliot Chen return to the podcast to discuss Eliot’s investigation into why the journalist population in China has struggled to rebound. While Beijing doesn’t seem to mind this turn of event...
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  Super Micro’s Super Smugglers 24.04.2026 21min

  Another day, another AI chip smuggling ring has been busted by the United States government. But this one is different: for the first time, executives from U.S. server manufacturer Super Micro have been charged with selling NVIDIA chips to Chinese buyers — a violation of U.S. export controls. Reporter Eliot Chen returns to the podcast with editor Andrew Peaple to discuss how the operation worked, and why smuggling chips to China is seemingly so hard to stop. Also, we’ll have a clip from our...
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  Crypto Leverage: a Controversial Chinese Export 17.04.2026 19min

  In the high-stakes world of cryptocurrency, traders are writing big checks with borrowed funds — a risky investment trend known as leveraging. To understand whether this will help or hurt the industry, The Wire looks back at the trend's emergence in China. In this episode, we are joined by a new guest: journalist Grady McGregor, who discusses his upcoming piece on crypto leverage and its Chinese origins with features editor Tom Mitchell. His cover article will be published this weekend on our...
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  Chinese EVs are Charging Up for Canada 10.04.2026 18min

  After so many years of Canada and the United States presenting a united front against Chinese electric vehicles, some were surprised by Canada's announcement earlier this year it would drop its high tariffs on EVs — and even allow them to set up factories. But, as reporters Eliot Chen and Savannah Billman discuss, security risks haven't disappeared as the tariffs have. In this episode, Eliot explains why the two North American neighbors fell out over EV policy, and traces the close ties betw...
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  Chinese Solar's Sunny Future in Africa 03.04.2026 16min

  China's solar imports aren't welcome everywhere, but that's not the case in Africa. Solar exports to the continent as a whole increased by almost 50 percent last year. In our latest episode, editor Andrew Peaple and reporter Noah Berman discuss his upcoming reporting on Chinese solar's booming sales to the continent. Solar proponents spy opportunity to improve electrical grids across African nations with Chinese imports, but are widening trade deficits and China's anti-involutionary pol...