About the Blog

It’s a collection of essays on China’s political economy. It aims to improve the world’s understanding of China with holistic perspectives and broad-based analyses. Thorough research, good reasoning, and elegant writing are the aspirations. This blog attempts to avoid signaling, myopia, advocacy, taunting, and pandering.

About the Author

I am Zixuan Ma, a PhD student in economics at George Mason University, specializing in Chinese political economy. A native of Beijing, I was formerly at The New York Times, Techmeme, and Caijing. I have also worked in venture capital in China. I hold a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Beihang University, and a master’s degree in economics from the University of Sydney.

I have broad intellectual and cultural interests. In addition to Substack, you can find me active on X.

Acknowledgment

I am grateful to Emergent Ventures at the Mercatus Center for its generous support.

Select Sayings from Ancient China

「竊鈎者誅，竊國者侯」

「究天人之際，通古今之變，成一家之言」

「嚶其鳴矣，求其友聲」