It’s been a few months since China hosted the virtual BRICS Summit over the summer, but the group is continuing their efforts to bring the summit’s theme to reality: “foster high-quality BRICS partnership” and “usher in a new era for global development.”

It is tempting to give America’s Federal Reserve great credit for its recent about-face in tackling inflation. It is equally tempting to give Chinese President Xi Jinping great credit for his stewardship of a rising and strong China. But neither deserves it – and for a similar reason.

Can a region as complex and fast-changing as Asia devise and implement a comprehensive development plan? The Jakarta-based Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia, which just released its third “Comprehensive Asia Development Plan” (CADP), thinks so.

China’s economic troubles in 2022, exacerbated by zero-COVID regulations and stiff barriers for travel and exports, have caused consumer demand to hit a new low. The digital yuan, the first centrally backed crypto token, could be the solution Beijing needs to restore consumer trust in their economy.

The last two years of COVID-regulated trade with China have drastically changed China’s economic and social capital on the world stage. China must be proactive in inviting foreign business back in or risk their former partners losing interest.

IPEF negotiations are underway and four joining statements were recently released at the first in-person IPEF ministerial meeting. But Washington’s motives and the direction they lead negotiations remains to be seen, as they seek to build allyship in the Pacific and increase competition with China.

Capping the price of Russian oil will mean that unfettered trade in accordance with the law of supply and demand will be undermined. Free markets will be distorted when the “invisible hand” is replaced by anti-market government intervention.

The war in Ukraine created a food crisis in an instant - and just like how the pandemic has emphasized the interconnectedness of the global community, the far-reaching impact of food exports being locked in Ukraine and Russia is rippling across Asia right now.

Russia has struggled to maintain strategic momentum in Southeast Asia because of Western sanctions. The Eurasian powerhouse’s setbacks in Southeast Asia will ultimately strengthen the centrality of both China and the U.S. in shaping the regional security architecture.

It’s up to African country’s themselves to characterize their debt. Borrowing is not bad, per se. Chinese loans are small compared with those of Western creditors, and the debt has mainly been used for infrastructure, not running expenses such as wages or energy costs.