While the United States Congress once again tempted fate by approaching the nation’s debt limit, leaders of the international community expressed more concern than their American counterparts as the threat of a default threw financial markets into turmoil.

With 90 days left to bridge the ideological and partisan divide before another crisis erupts, the fuse on America’s debt bomb is getting shorter and shorter. As a dysfunctional US government peers into the abyss, China – America’s largest foreign creditor – has much at stake.

The launch of the Shanghai free trade zone portends much greater growth in the restructuring of China's financial system as a whole, writes Hu Shuli, editor-in-chief of Caixin Media.

After two decades of on-and-off talks, Washington and Brussels hope to conclude their trade and investment partnership. However, it is not a marriage, but a triangle drama. Emerging Asia is the third party.

The on-going recession in Europe and the United States led China to avert their eyes towards new places for investment. Walker Rowe discusses the growing Chinese investments in Chile and other South American regions and explains why Latin America is the promising market for Chinese investors.

With trade between China and Africa worth nearly $166 billion last year, it is no wonder investments from and exports to China are at an all time high. However, as South African President Jacob Zuma subtly noted last month in Beijing at the tri-annual China-Africa Forum, Africa desperately needs a transfer of technology from China too.

How will Nicolás Maduro’s leadership impact China’s evolving relationship with Venezuela? Fernando Menéndez warns that the state of Venezuela’s economy and political stability is in jeopardy, putting China’s strong ties and investments in the country at risk.

Ronald H. Coase, the father of "new institutional economics" who died recently at age 102, will be missed in developing countries like China. His insights into the role of firms, financial institutions, and the state in shaping markets and supporting economic growth will prove crucial as China works to achieve high-income status.

The Shanghai Free Trade Zone is another strategic move in China’s latest round of boosting opening with further reform, writes Zhang Monan.

On July 18, 2013, Detroit became the largest United States city to file for bankruptcy. Following news of the Motor City’s financial problems, Michael Justin Lee offers a Chinese model to help resurrect the once bustling manufacturing center.