China's WTO membership produced significant disputes

China joined the WTO in 2001

After 15 years of negotiation, China joined the WTO as the 143rd member. This move gave it access to the global market in exchange for commitments to economic liberalization, despite skepticism from existing members about integrating a state-controlled economy into a free-market system.

Trade between the US and China has increased in recent decades

After China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, the trade partnership between the US and China bloomed. But it's not without pros and cons, including lower prices for US consumers and higher profits for US corporations alongside the loss of American jobs due to import competition and multinational companies moving overseas.

The GATT and its successor, the WTO, were established to lower trade barriers

Signed in 1947, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade began systematically reducing tariffs and trade barriers among member nations. In 1995, it was replaced by the World Trade Organization, which expanded those rules and established a formal dispute settlement system.

China's relationship to the rules-based order is contested

In this piece, Paul Gewirtz, a professor of constitutional law at Yale Law School, argues that China has been a beneficiary, a rule-bender, and an increasingly assertive challenger of the rules-based order, aiming to revise norms it sees as reflecting Western rather than universal values.

The WTO's dispute settlement system has been effectively paralyzed

The US has blocked appointments to the WTO's appellate body since 2017, arguing that the panel has overstepped its mandate. Without a functioning appeals court, the WTO can no longer enforce rulings or settle disputes.

Trump's 2025 tariffs represent a significant break from the rules-based trade order

The Trump administration imposed broad tariffs on other countries outside WTO rules in 2025, claiming that those countries had long violated trade agreements and that the US was simply leveling the playing field.

A trade war is an economic conflict where nations impose tariffs or other trade barriers on each other in retaliation for similar actions

The US-China trade war is one example. While they aim to protect domestic industries, they can lead to higher prices for consumers and strained international relations.

China operates multiple different sovereign wealth funds, primarily backed by profits from a trade surplus

Unlike other countries that primarily use profits from natural resources, China's sovereign wealth funds are fueled by the country's mounting trade surplus. Among the two largest are the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) fund and the Chinese Investment Corporation (CIC). China also operates the Silk Road Fund, a strategic investment initiative that backs infrastructure creation in developing countries.

Critics argue that the World Bank, IMF, and WTO were designed to serve Western interests

Some analysts from developing nations argue that the Bretton Woods institutions were designed to reinforce Western economic dominance rather than to promote fair development for poorer countries. Supporters respond that these institutions have improved living standards worldwide.

250 years of world trade history

Adam Smith’s revolutionary ideas about free trade were often ignored throughout American history to protect domestic industry—until World War II caused a shift in sentiment about global trade.

A short history of the China-Taiwan conflict

The relationship between China and Taiwan is a fraught one, and has been for well over a century. US involvement has only raised the stakes between the independent island country, also known as the Republic of China, and the larger country on the mainland. Here's a breakdown of the conflict between China and Taiwan over the years.

China has blocked the Wikipedia domain since 2015

The Chinese language version of the site had been blocked intermittently since 2004 due to pages featuring topics deemed controversial by the Chinese communist party, including the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and Taiwan. Once Wikipedia switched to an HTTPS protocol—making it impossible to block individual pages—all Wikipedia pages were blocked.

China's National Sword policy banned imports of most recyclable materials

In 2018, China stopped accepting most of the world's recyclables. This highlighted how dependent the US recycling system was on a single foreign buyer and forced cities to landfill materials they had once diverted.

China had an inflation rate of -0.4% in August 2025

As opposed to other G20 countries that are largely struggling with high inflation rates, China is facing deflation. Sluggish growth in the country's once booming real estate market is just one glimpse into the consumer slowdown triggering deflation.

How China's 'one country, two systems' works

"One country, two systems" is a principle put forth by the People's Republic of China as its approach toward formerly independent regions like Hong Kong and Macau. Supposedly promising administrative independence, China has not always been consistent in its application. Currently, it plans to offer the same arrangement with Taiwan. Learn more in this brief video.

David Stern brought the NBA to China

In 1987, he started shipping VHS tapes of games to state-run TV stations in China, and opened an NBA office there by 1992. Today, China is the league’s second-largest market.

Prelude to the Tiananmen Square crackdown

On June 2, 1989, two days before the military-led massacre that would come to be known as the Tiananmen Square crackdown, nine of China's top leaders discussed how to stop pro-democracy protesters. During this meeting, leader Deng Xiaoping delivered a speech that has shaped the country ever since, in which he advocated for a forceful end to the protests while supporting China's economic "opening-up" featured in protesters' demands.

How cigarettes took over China

In 2022, China had a fifth of the world's population and bought nearly half of the world's cigarettes. This investigation explores how China became plagued by tobacco consumption, something epidemiologists say will strain the country's health system...

Critics call WeChat a surveillance tool

This report from the Citizen Lab details evidence WeChat, with 1.4 billion users, is a powerful surveillance tool for the Chinese Communist Party. In particular, it finds the government uses non-China accounts to train censorship algorithms for use on domestic communications.

Can Shein escape its Chinese roots?

Many Chinese companies are currently facing issues as they spread into global markets today. Shein, a Chinese clothing retail company, now accounts for half of fast-fashion sales in America. But its parent country has created issues, causing concern for people abroad about data security and supply-chain ethics. While Shein has moved its headquarters to Singapore and avoids selling in China, they continue to face scrutiny from Americans.

Is China using archaeological findings to boost its territorial claims?

This 28-minute podcast dives into the political ramifications of two Ming dynasty-era ships found in the South China Sea in October 2022. The ships, filled with well-preserved porcelain and timber, were found 1,500 meters—about 4,900...

Congressional investigations identified an 'extremely high risk' of forced labor in Temu’s supply chain

Specifically, the accusations include concerns regarding products from the Xinjiang region of China, where forced labor and slavery are common.

Canada is the largest foreign buyer of California wine

Tariffs have impacted the wine industry in Canada significantly, given that California winemakers are responsible of 80% of the country's wine supply.

Why private credit has faced challenges in recent years

The factors that some experts say are driving what could be private credit's most challenging era since the 2008 financial crisis include global economic uncertainty around trade and tariffs, investor fears about the amount of money being spent on artificial intelligence, and more.

Read about the time Apple tried to trademark an actual apple in Switzerland

In 2017, tech company Apple filed for the trademark to a black-and-white image of a Granny Smith apple in Switzerland—a request that was only partially granted. Apple wanted full control over the image, but many worried that granting the trademark would open up too many opportunities for the company to own the rights to the mere shape of an apple.

The United States has had a tumultuous relationship with Cuba since its 1959 revolution, highlighted by a nuclear crisis and a decades-long trade embargo.

The US Constitution is widely regarded as the longest-standing written national constitution still in force—see how it has influenced rights worldwide.

The identity of the Tank Man in the iconic photo from the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests remains unknown and was possibly killed.

NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama spent the 2025 summer training with monks in central China to enhance his body and mind.

Brandi Chastain, the star of the 1999 US victory over China in the 1999 Women's World Cup, was a last-second choice to take the penalty kick that sealed the victory.

Mark Twain spent decades feuding with the US Postal Service, convinced its costs and regulations were bureaucratic overreach.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

US consumers collectively owe more than $1T to credit card companies—almost as much as they owe in auto loans.

Jimmy Carter signed a 1978 bill that legalized home brewing, a move credited with kick-starting the craft beer industry.

Many legends about George Washington, including his supposed wooden teeth and the story of cutting down the cherry tree, lack evidence.

Listen to an in-depth conversation on the links between Parkinson's disease and herbicide exposure and the challenging pace of scientific investigation.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

See a ranking of the best (and worst) Federal Reserve Chairs since 1914 out of the 16 men and women who have held the office since.

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.

Electrical grids worldwide must double their power delivery capacity by 2050 to meet surging demand from AI and electric vehicles.

Dorothy's famous entrance into Oz in 'The Wizard of Oz' relied on analog tricks, including a body double and sepia-toned paint, as much as it did on technology

Indefinite cloning of some endangered species may not sustain their longevity because cloning success rates decrease as genetic mutations accumulate.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

'Silent' fireworks have gained more interest in recent years as a quieter celebratory option.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is the largest ground war in Europe since World War II in casualties, forces mobilized, and displacement of civilians.

To reduce wrinkles in clothing, research recommends gentle wash cycles with more water and tumble drying with smaller loads and longer times.

While El Niño moves warm Pacific Ocean waters east along the equator, La Niña moves them west, shifting where rainfall will become more common for months.