What can China do to resolve a crisis that threatens not only the health and security of its people and economy, but the future of Chinese Communist Party and its leader Xi Jinping?
Ghana is a popular destination for Chinese migrants.
Wikimedia Commons
Opportunities for social mobility, rather than simply economic incentives, have generated emigration from China to countries like Ghana.
Ukrainian wheat is vital to global food chains. But fighting near farmland like around Mykolayiv may prevent seeds from being planted.
Mykola Sosiukin/EyeEm via Getty Images
Ukraine was becoming increasingly linked with the global economy. Russia’s invasion puts its progress at risk.
Since becoming China’s top leader in late 2012, President Xi Jinping has centralized power to the point that it’s unclear when he’ll step down, or who might succeed him.
Kevin Frayer/Getty Images AsiaPac via Getty Images
The threat of COVID may be receding, but the fall-out will continue to affect business in the coming year, requiring strong leadership to navigate uncertain times.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell is talking tough on inflation.
EPA
Large-scale job losses in the US due to trade with China will lead to enduring demographic and political aftershocks without the implementation of policies that promote widespread job growth.
Voters follow social distancing measures at the Halifax Convention Centre as they prepare to vote in the federal election in Halifax back in September. This year will bring about a host of significant political issues and events that will impact communities both locally and globally.
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan)
International relations, elections, climate change policies and the continuing pandemic are some of the political events to keep an eye out for in the upcoming year.
A factory in Qindao, Shangdong making coal briquettes.
EPA
Some national economies will return to their pre-COVID levels this year, others not until 2025. What does this imbalance mean for the global economy?
The success of Brazil’s vaccine program will have a ripple effect on countries to which it exports commodities such as steel.
Michael Dantas/AFP via Getty Images
The world’s most advanced economies will incur half the total costs associated with a failure to vaccinate poorer nations, which could exceed $4 trillion if only half their citizens are inoculated.
A man looks at foreign currency exchange rates on an electronic panel in Jakarta, Indonesia.
FOTO ANTARA/Rosa Panggabean/ed/mes/11
The agreement marks a key milestone in strengthening bilateral financial cooperation between the world’s largest exporter, China, and Southeast Asia’s largest economy, Indonesia.
With half the global workforce facing job loss, massive stimulus packages are needed to revive emerging economies and reduce mass unemployment, poverty and starvation.
Economic lockdowns and border restrictions have caused cross-border movement to plunge. Could this be the beginning of a system that’s more resistant to global ecological disaster and pandemics?
Many items labeled “Made in China” could be made on people’s desktops instead.
kynny/iStock via Getty Images
The rush to make personal protective equipment like facemasks and face shields using 3D printers shows that the technology can help circumvent global supply chain disruptions.
Flour has been in short supply in recent weeks.
Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)
Modern supply chains have become increasingly efficient, but as a result are more susceptible to disruptions like the one caused by the coronavirus pandemic.