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 and deep 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.

「竊鈎者誅，竊國者侯。」

「究天人之際，通古今之變，成一家之言。」