Economy

BRI in progress: A freight train bound for Malaszewicze, Poland leaves the railway port in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, China.
Economy

China's Belt and Road investment hits high as overall FDI falls

Record sum poured into initiative in 2017 looks set to be beaten this year

8 October 2018
Beijing funded this China-Turkmenistan pipeline for natural gas. Turkmenistan may have trouble repaying its debts to China as gas exports drop sharply.
Belt and Road

Belt and Road debt trap spreads to Central Asia

China exploits rift between US and Russia to court Ukraine

29 August 2018
A nickel mine in the Philippines. President Rodrigo Duterte's government is pushing for a new tax on minerals.
Commodities

Flare-up of resource nationalism burns miners across Asia

Governments risk repelling companies with new levies and other pressure

25 August 2018
A freight train bound for Tehran is pictured in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in May.
Belt and Road

Turkey crisis rattles Asian nations with rising Belt and Road debts

Costly Chinese projects could leave emerging economies with a hangover

19 August 2018
Foreign students at the Narita campus of the International University of Health and Welfare. Since its launch in April 2017, the university has accepted 40 foreign students from nearly 10 Asian countries and regions.
Economy

Japan's first new medical school in four decades aims to be Asia hub

In a system resistant to change, a maverick doctor challenges the status quo

13 August 2018
Workers position a dome during the construction of the Tianwan nuclear power station in China's Jiangsu Province. The Tianwan station uses a reactor designed by Russia. (Getty Images)
Energy

Russia on an international offensive to sell its nuclear plants

Vladimir Putin's government vies with China to become a superpower in the field

12 August 2018
A Chinese national flag is affixed to a buffer stop on a railway at a freight yard in the Kazakh border town of Khorgos.
Belt and Road

China's Belt and Road stirs up local anxieties

Loans and investments ignore profits and blur economics and security

24 July 2018
From left, Mongolia’s former prime minister, Batbold Sukhbaatar; Deputy Finance Minister Bulgantuya Khurelbaatar; Erdembileg Ochirkhuu, first deputy governor of the central bank; and Zorigt Dashdorj, adviser to the minister of Foreign Affairs, discuss the prospects and potential for the country's economy, on June 12 in Tokyo. (Photo by Taro Yokosawa)
The Future of Asia 2018

Commodities recovery tests Mongolia's commitment to reform

Senior officials claim progress on financial stability and diversification

12 June 2018
GDP per capita in Kazakhstan, left, is approximately seven times the level in Kyrgyzstan. (Anadolu Agency/Getty Images/Nikkei)
Economy

Central Asia's north-south divide

The numbers behind the differing fortunes of five former Soviet republics

31 May 2018
A Taiwanese student, right, practices serving customers at a Lawson convenience store in Tokyo. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
The Big Story

Part-time saviors: Foreign students help plug Japan's labor gap

Convenience stores and delivery companies are among the biggest beneficiaries

30 May 2018
GDP per capita in Kazakhstan, left, is approximately seven times the level in Kyrgyzstan. (Anadolu Agency/Getty Images/Nikkei)
Datawatch

Central Asia's north-south divide

The numbers behind the differing fortunes of five former Soviet republics

21 May 2018
Ipoteka Bank, which has issued stock and bonds domestically, could be a candidate to issue international debt. (Photo by Ikrom Nosirov)
Capital Markets

Uzbekistan takes reform story to bond investors

Central Asian state prepares for $1bn international debt market debut

1 May 2018
A new railway connecting Iran's Astara with Azerbaijan, which opened in late March, is a key link along the International North-South Transport Corridor. (© Nikkei montage)
26 April 2018
A new railway connecting Iran's Astara with Azerbaijan, which opened in late March, is a key link along the International North-South Transport Corridor. (© Nikkei montage)
Asia Insight

India and China jostle for influence in Iran and Central Asia

New Delhi's 7,000km transport corridor cuts across Beijing's Belt and Road

24 April 2018
Railroads and highways have been found to generate more tax revenues because of increased economic activity.
Opinion

Offer infrastructure investors a share of the tax take

Governments can raise subsidies by taking account of the full economic benefits

17 April 2018
A recent ADB report says, "The anxiety over automation is overblown."
Economy

Automation not a threat to Asian workers, says ADB

Chief economist says new trade pacts will offset impact of US-China tariff fight

12 April 2018
A Chinese construction worker at the site of a Chinese-backed hotel complex in Colombo in October 2015
The Big Story

Is China's Belt and Road working? A progress report from eight countries

Beijing's infrastructure push clouded by project delays and mounting debt

28 March 2018
Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and his Kazakh counterpart, Nursultan Nazarbayev, at the Presidential Palace in Astana in June 2017
International relations

Linking China to the EU's 'gateway' for exporters

Kazakhstan seeks to become part of China's supply chain, while Poland seeks infrastructure funding

28 March 2018
Thailand hopes more trade with the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union will contribute to the growth of its Eastern Economic corridor. (Getty Images)
26 February 2018
A boy sells umbrellas printed with Pakistan's flag at a market in Karachi last July. Safety in the city has improved dramatically.
Economy

Pakistan keeps terrorists on the run and the economy on a roll

Sweeping security push helps improve growth and business sentiment

1 February 2018
A boy sells umbrellas printed with Pakistan's flag at a market in Karachi last July. Safety in the city has improved dramatically.
Economy

Pakistan keeps terrorists on the run and economy on a roll

Businesses' focus shifts from bombs and kidnappings to taxes and policy

19 January 2018
The Bank of Korea has joined the U.S. Federal Reserve in reversing the unconventional easy-credit policy once led by the Fed and other central banks.
Looking ahead 2018

QE unwinding is more dangerous than it appears

Asia's emerging markets remain dependent on central bank liquidity

26 December 2017
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at a joint media appearance in Tehran in May 2016 (Photo by India's Press Information Bureau)
Opinion

India reaches out to Asia's heartlands

Iranian port project could herald start of a challenge to China's expanding geostrategic links

5 December 2017
Talk of abolishing large-denomination bank notes largely centers on preventing criminals from hoarding cash.
Economy

The case for getting rid of high-denomination bank notes

Softer cashless route would hinder criminals, crack interest rate constraints

4 December 2017
A Mongolian performer, right, takes a selfie with her smartphone before a shortened version of a Naadam festival, a traditional Mongolian cultural and sporting event in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Business

Japanese telecom KDDI enjoys growth in crisis-battered Mongolia

Country's young population shrugs off IMF bailout and snaps up smartphones

29 November 2017