People In the Know

China has recently announced its busy 2016 launch manifest, with more than 20 missions scheduled for this year. In 2015, China conducted 19 successful space flights. To build on that, the country aims to blast off even higher in the new year. To take a closer look at some of China's ambitious space projects for 2016, and to get to know where China is ranked among the leading countries in the space industry, I had a chance to sit down with Prof. Yang Yuguang from China Aerospace Science & Industry Corporation, also Secretary of the IAF (International Astronautical Federation) Space Transportation Committee.

Over the past week, most of the 31 provincial regions on the Chinese mainland have released their own GDP growth targets for 2016. The announcements were made at each region's annual two sessions of their legislative and political consultative bodies.At least 17 of them have lowered their growth targets for this year. To take a look at the newly released figures and what they mean for the country's regional development, my colleague Ding Heng speaks with Mr. Liu Zhiqin, Senior Fellow of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China, and Professor David Goodman, Head of the China Studies Department, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in Suzhou, China.

The rapid spread of the Zika virus in Latin America is causing concern around the world. Spread by mosquitoes, the virus is being linked to birth defects in babies born to women who have been infected. With cases now also having been reported in Australia, Thailand and the US, among others, the World Health Organization has declared the virus a global public health emergency. So, how should we interpret the WHO's warning? How concerning is this outbreak? And what are the affected countries doing to combat the spread of the virus? PIK speaks with Alexandra Phelan, Adjunct Professor in Public Health Law and Ethics at Georgetown University Law Center's O'Neill Institute, and Shane Thomas, Director of the International Primary Health Care Research Institute in Shenzhen and Professor of Primary Health Care Research at Monash University.

China's foreign ministry has protested against the US move to send a naval vessel into waters adjacent to Chinese islands.A U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer, the USS Curtis Wilbur, sailed within 12 nautical miles of the Zhongjian Dao in the Xisha Islands on Saturday.U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter's office has reportedly called the deployment an "innocent passage" and "consistent with international law", whilst China says the United States is seeking maritime "hegemony" in the name of so-called freedom of navigation and calls on the U.S. to cease such activities as soon as possible.This incident is the latest in a series of steps the United States has taken as part of what it calls Freedom of Navigation exercises.So how do experts from both China and the US assess the situation in the South China Sea? What should both sides do to avoid further escalations? PIK speaks with Victor Gao, Current affairs commentator and James C. Hsiung, Professor of Politics & International Law, New York University.

Japan's central bank has surprised the market by announcing the introduction of a negative interest rate. Starting on the 16th of this month, the country will apply a minus 0.1% rate to current accounts held by financial institutions. It is the first time that the world's third largest economy has adopted a negative interest rate.So, what's going on in the Japanese economy? What are the implications for other major economies, including China? And how are experts analyzing the central bank's decision? PIK speaks with Yang Xiyu, Senior Research Fellow from the China Institute of International Studies, Paul Gillis, Professor of Accounting at Guanghua School of Management and Winston Wong, Managing Director of Shipstone Group Limited.

China's banking authorities have just finished soliciting public opinions on the proposed rules to regulate the peer to peer, or P2P, lending industry in the country.According to the draft rules, P2P platforms would be banned from providing guarantees to clients, and could only serve the role of matching investors and borrowers.P2P lenders would also be required to publish information on their websites on lending turnover, overdue loans and bad loan ratios.Furthermore, the rules would see them forbidden from selling wealth management products, insurance, funds or trust products.P2P, where ordinary consumers cut out banks and lend directly to each other over online platforms - has developed exponentially during the past two to three years.However, stats from Online Lending House, an industry website, show that of over 3800 Chinese P2P lenders surveyed at the end of 2015, nearly a third had run into difficulties.So what are the problems that are plaguing the P2P lending industry in China? How can we fill the financing void facing small business owners and individuals? Is there a safe and profitable place for investors to put their money? PIK speaks with Nan Tian, Investment Manager at Angel Plus, a venture capital firm, and Rui Meng, Professor of Finance and Accounting, at the China Europe International Business School.

Late year's climate change conference in Paris told us that the world is more determined than ever to tackle global warming. As one of the major greenhouse gas emitter, China doesn't need a reminder about its role and responsibility in this field.Latest official figures show that China's use of coal in 2015 continued to follow a downward trend which started in 2014. Meanwhile, the country reportedly invested a record 111 billion US dollars in the clean energy sector.That said, coal burning still accounts for more than 60% of China's energy consumption at the moment. In a country where coal has been heavily relied on, growing pains seem to be inevitable as its energy consumption undergoes a structural transformation.So, how should China manage its transformation towards a low-carbon economy? How can the country cooperate with the international community in tackling climate change? PIK speaks with Professor Li Junfeng, Director General of the National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation, under China's National Development and Reform Commission.

China's state media has warned billionaire investor George Soros against betting on falls in the value of the Chinese Yuan and Hong Kong dollar.The opinion piece in the People's Daily overseas edition said China's economic fundamentals remain sound, despite slower growth, volatility in the stock market and the yuan's depreciation against the U.S. dollar.Soros told Bloomberg TV on Thursday that he sees a hard landing for China's economy contributing to global deflation, and has been betting against the S&P 500, commodity-producing countries and Asian currencies, while buying U.S. government bonds.China's central bank has pledged to keep the yuan basically stable against a basket of currencies. At the same time, Hong Kong's central bank has said it has no plans to change the Hong Kong dollar's peg to the U.S. dollar, despite recent market volatility.So how do experts assess Soros' recent remarks? And how can China steady itself against market volatility? PIK speaks to Professor Zhang Jun, Dean at the School of Economics, and Director at the Center for Chinese Economy, Fudan University in Shanghai, and Victor Gao, Chairman of China Energy Security Institute and Winston Wong, Managing Director of Shipstone Group Limited.

US Secretary of State John Kerry is visiting Beijing this week on the last leg of his trip to Europe and Asia. Before his arrival, reports suggested that he was expected to meet with Chinese leaders including Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in an attempt to deepen exchanges between the two countries on a range of issues.So, what is Kerry hoping to achieve during this visit? What's the status of China-US relations? And where might we see increased cooperation between the two powers? PIK speaks with Clifford Kiracofe, Foreign Affairs professor at the Virginia Military Institute and a former Senior Professional Staff Member of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee; and Tao Wenzhao, Senior Research Fellow of the Institute of American Studies, at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the Middle East concluded this weekend with a series of meetings with Iran's top leaders. During his trip, which also took in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, President Xi urged Middle Eastern countries to resolve their differences through dialogue and to tackle regional challenges through development.So what's the outlook for China's relations with the Middle East? How might the lifting of Western sanctions affect China's relationship with Iran? And how might Western powers react to greater Chinese involvement in the region? PIK speaks with James M. Dorsey, Senior Fellow with Nanyang Technology University and Jia Xiudong, Senior Research Fellow from China Institute of International Studies.