China

Chinese agriculture is shifting away from some traditional products like gingko to capture Western markets<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldbank/5416212301/lightbox/">World Bank Photo Collection (flickr)</a>

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Value Chains

As Chinese farming goes global, some see risks

The reorientation of Chinese agriculture to an export-centric model is creating unprecedented domestic growth, but there may be a hidden cost to developing nations.

Hong Kong and other Chinese cities are driving an economic explosion that's blessing the world as a whole - but threatening many Westerners. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/95572727@N00/953669278/">Trey Ratcliff (Flickr)</a>

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Does the economic growth of poor countries terrify Westerners?

A Vancouver Sun story published Sunday offers a fascinating way of thinking about the scale of China's economic explosion:

As the world gets richer, competition for resources like water and livestock will likely increase. Photo: Erin Gray for MercyCorps

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Extreme poverty could end by 2030, but the planet might pay for it

The world’s soaring wealth will nearly wipe out poverty worldwide by 2030, according to the National Intelligence Council.

Savvy Kashmir youth start businesses to stem the tide of unemployment in the region. Photo: Tara Noronha/Mercy Corps

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With business training, lenders stitch Kashmir's private sector back together

A need in a community and an enthusiastic entrepreneur make a perfect match, but for many the financial hurdles of starting a business dissolves this relationship.

The world's economic center of gravity is rapidly moving east, after thousands of years of westward movement. <a href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2012/06/daily-chart-19">Image: The Economist</a>

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World’s ‘economic center’ races east, thanks to ‘middleweight’ cities

Rapid urbanization in emerging economies has the world’s economic center of gravity whizzing east faster than ever before, according to this infographic in The Economist last week.

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Who makes up the global middle class? Economists aren’t sure

We know that economists don’t always agree on the best path to prosperity.

This infographic shows how China and the U.S. compare with regards to current renewable energy capacity. Image: <a href="http://1bog.org/blog/infographic-why-china-is-kicking-our-ass-in-clean-tech">One Block Off The Grid</a>

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Solyndwha? Worldwide, cleantech industry is thriving

While recent criticisms around the failure of clean energy companies such as Solyndra abound, a new report from Clean Edge shows that globally, the industry is growing rapidly.

Smog over Beijing's Tiananmen Square is indicative of China's high air pollution levels. Photo: Erik Mandell for MercyCorps

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Carbon credits get a boost from Chinese leadership

What’s the next step for the world’s top-polluting country? Leading the fight against climate change, it seems.

A new company attempts to satiate the European appetite for hazelnuts with an all-encompassing bussiness model. Photo: Thatcher Cook for Mercy Corps

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From Bhutan to Foxconn, corporate responsibility is big business

The bottom line of any profit-making scheme is profit. Increasingly, consumers are demanding even more than that.

Young Portuguese congregate in a park in Lisbon. Photo: Erik Mandell for MercyCorps

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As Portugal eyes Brazil's wealth, will the colonial winds reverse?

Amid its ongoing financial crisis, Portugal’s prime minister has a surprising message for his country’s struggling residents: leave.

It’s just one example of Portugal looking to emerging markets for relief as power dynamics of international economic relationships change.

A foreign domestic worker looks after her elderly client. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wongjunhao/5427024831/">Jerry Wong (flickr)</a>

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China's rise, the hidden mom economy, and soda-bottle light bulbs: our top 5 stories of 2011

From low-tech light bulbs in the Philippines to microfinance in Nicaragua, our team of young writers covered lots of ground this year.

A flourishing economy has enabled many Chinese citizens to climb the socio-economic ranks. Photo:<a href="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3054/2928911826_e8754e82e2_s.jpg">xiaming (flickr)</a>

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As China's middle class rises, so does social discontent

The spirit of 1989’s Tiananmen Square is alive in China, except the swarm of charged students has been replaced by a disgruntled, expanding middle class.

Inadvertently, an economic boom has resounded with cries for change.

Industrial emissions are a major source of CO2 contributing to climate change. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/un_photo/5410822714/sizes/z/in/photostream/">United Nations Photo (flickr)</a>

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Amid financial crisis, China is the new champion for carbon reduction

The ongoing global financial crisis should not impede the fight against climate change. That's the concern coming from a surprising corner of the world: China.

An informal worker sells mobile phones from a street stand. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/blyth/152662056/sizes/m/in/photostream/">MikeBlyth (Flickr)</a>

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‘Economy of resourcefulness’ breeds prosperity worldwide: informal economy goes global

A man selling toys on Sao Paulo’s streets, a woman grilling fish in crowded markets of Lagos and a handbag maker in Guangzhou might not seem to have much in common. But they are all part of the global informal economy, now estimated to be worth about $10 trillion a year.