The Big Story

Supported by free education and subsidized housing, Singapore's citizens have become among the wealthiest in the world. (Illustration by Daniel Garcia)
The Big Story

Is Singapore's 'perfect' economy coming apart?

Once hailed as a model of progress, poverty and nativist resentment are on the rise

22 January 2020
With Carlos Ghosn gone, Japan is being forced to grapple with his legacy -- and to decide whether to keep faith with the business revolution in which he played a role.
The Big Story

What Japan Inc. really thinks about Ghosn, Nissan's maverick savior

Carlos Ghosn's downfall sets up a clash between Japan's old guard and its reformists

15 January 2020
As U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war raged against Beijing, Republican states went in search of Chinese money. (Illustrations by Eric Chow)
The Big Story

Red states: Trump Country's love affair with Chinese investment

The US president's heartlands turn to China to revive flagging industries

8 January 2020
Faced with the world's oldest population, Japan's notoriously risk-averse banks face a turning point. By 2030, over 10% of the nation's personal financial assets will be in the hands of people with dementia. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
The Big Story

Aging Japan: Banks turn to technology to tackle looming demographic crisis

Elderly -- and vulnerable -- Japanese hold half the country's $17 trillion in financial assets

1 January 2020
Rather than being alienated by digitization, many Chinese seniors are embracing the possibilities of technology -- which may help China address its increasingly pressing aging problem.
The Big Story

From WeChat to Taobao, China's elderly are embracing big tech

Far from being daunted, many are sold on communication and e-commerce apps

1 January 2020
While many of 2019's big themes stemmed from the worsening trade war, 2020 may hold other surprises. (Photo illustration by Nikkei)
The Big Story

Asia in 2020: from tech turmoil to SoftBank's next crisis

Watch these emerging trends and political flashpoints in the year ahead

25 December 2019
Impressive as China's technological surge has been, it is far from clear whether the country will, as its government expects, become an AI superpower in the near term. (Nikkei photo illustration/Source photos by Getty Images, Reuters)
The Big Story

Why China's AI players are struggling to evolve beyond surveillance

Suspicion and reliance on state support make Chinese technology a hard sell overseas

18 December 2019
Across Southeast Asia, companies are hunting for access to carbon credits -- whether to meet their own climate change pledges, redeem themselves in the eyes of their customers, or preempt the regulations that many believe are inevitable. (Photo by Peter Guest)
The Big Story

COP25: A new carbon market offers hope for Asia's forests

From Mitsui to Shell, companies are investing in emissions offsets

11 December 2019
Three years into his presidency, Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte's promise of a systemic transformation has come to look more like a personal vendetta. (Nikkei cover photo illustration/Source photos by Reuters, The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
The Big Story

Crony capital: How Duterte embraced the oligarchs

President Rodrigo Duterte promised to destroy the Philippines' elite. Instead, he chose his own

4 December 2019
SoftBank Group's investment firepower has been a force in India, where there was traditionally little domestic risk capital. (Illustration by Eric Chow)
The Big Story

Fallout: SoftBank's next big crisis may be brewing in India

Overfunding and bloated valuations have destabilized the country's startups

27 November 2019
The days of stack-them-high, sell-them-cheap "fast fashion" are coming to an end, casting a shadow over the South and Southeast Asian economies that, for decades, positioned themselves as hubs for the most basic elements of the garment supply chain. (Photo by Rie Ishii)
The Big Story

How the death of fast fashion is transforming Asia's garment industry

New technology and demanding consumers unravel a decadeslong race to the bottom

20 November 2019
E-tailers in India face a dilemma: Only a fraction of the nation's 450 million internet users spend money online. (Illustrations by Parvati Pillai)
The Big Story

Beyond Amazon's reach, India's women lead an e-commerce revolution

A new breed of startups battle for the country's next 100 million consumers

13 November 2019
Anwar Ibrahim is within touching distance of Malaysia's premiership, the culmination of a decadeslong journey that took him from rising political star to a prison cell. (Photo courtesy of the Office of Anwar Ibrahim)
The Big Story

Anwar Ibrahim finally has Malaysia's leadership within reach

The prime minister in waiting retains a zeal for reform

6 November 2019
Sacked as finance minister in 1998 and jailed in 1999, Anwar Ibrahim's treatment by the Malaysian government prompted rallies from supporters.
6 November 2019
Nearly five years after a humiliating defeat, the Rajapaksa clan gears up for a return. 
The Big Story

Divide and conquer: Sri Lankan strongman plots an election return

Pro-China, populist Rajapaksa family looks to lead the debt-burdened nation

30 October 2019
"We want to be here ... for the long term," say the new Chinese-Sri Lankan joint-venture operators of Hambantota Port. (Photo courtesy of Hambantota International Port Group)
The Big Story

Sri Lanka's 'debt trap' port thriving, Chinese owners claim

Seen as an emblem of Beijing's expansionist goals, business is picking up in Hambantota

30 October 2019
Mahinda, left, and presidential candidate Gotabaya side by side at a campaign event: Although Gotabaya is the one running for office, his brother has been ever-present on the campaign trail.
30 October 2019
Using the same strategies that have propelled the fluid, self-organizing protesters on the streets, a group of Hong Kong's citizens has taken on the media machine of the Beijing-backed government. (© Illustration by Yuko Kai and Nakako Shiotsuki)
The Big Story

From Hong Kong to the NBA, how China is losing the media war

As tired tactics undermine Beijing's propaganda machine, protesters build a nimble digital operation

23 October 2019
Nissan has undergone a rapid regime overhaul and a strategy pivot. Is it enough to save the company and its fraying global automaker alliance? (Illustration by Daniel Garcia)
The Big Story

Beyond repair? New Nissan CEO has bigger problems than Ghosn

Lagging in innovation and shaken by executive cull, Japanese automaker struggles to reinvent itself

16 October 2019
China's then-leader, Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping, tours a Nissan factory on the outskirts of Tokyo in 1978, two months before unveiling his transformative "reform and opening-up" policy.
The Big Story

Nissan thrives in China, thanks to Ghosn

Against flailing US business, an unlikely bright spot for the embattled automaker

16 October 2019
China-backed projects have faced stringent reviews, public backlash and cancellations, posing a challenge for Duterte as he tries to use Chinese money to build infrastructure, create jobs -- and to cement his legacy. (Nikkei photo illustration/Source photo by Reuters)
The Big Story

Duterte struggles to sell his China pivot at home

Little has come of Beijing's $45bn of promised investment. But the Philippine president is doubling down

9 October 2019
Manila opened its doors to online casinos in 2016. The industry now powers the city's real estate sector and employs close to half a million people, many of them Chinese. (Photo by Kimberly dela Cruz)
The Big Story

Tensions flare around Manila's lucrative online casinos

Duterte holds out on a crackdown, but relations with Beijing -- and locals -- grow strained

9 October 2019
One Championship has punched above its weight, propelled by big backers and bold targets. Now, CEO Chatri Sityodtong faces the challenge shared by high-growth startups everywhere: bringing the unicorn to profit. (Photo by Masayori Ishikawa)
The Big Story

Billion dollar baby: The Asian MMA unicorn taking on the UFC

One Championship rides mobile internet wave to capture a Millennial audience

2 October 2019
Justin Leong, center, is the CEO of mixed martial arts promoter Rebel Fighting Championship, a company he founded at 27 years of age. (Photo courtesy of Rebel Fighting Championship)
The Big Story

Defying censors, combat startup looks to crack Chinese market

Rebel Fighting Championship has an unusual growth strategy

2 October 2019
Aggressive policing, an unmoved government and plummeting trust levels have opened up an unbridgeable gap between Hong Kong's authorities and its people. (Source images by Nicola Longobardi)
The Big Story

Running out of options, Hong Kong protesters dig in

Police crackdowns have failed, and protesters have no trust in dialogue with an intransigent administration

25 September 2019