Editor’s note for Monday, February 1, 2021

My thoughts today: 

On Sunday, the Chinese government “unveiled an action plan to guide the building of a high-standard market system in the next five years,” per state media. Two takeaways: 

• The government is calling for better protection of intellectual property.
• The government’s antitrust probes and scrutiny of fintech companies will continue. 

Like to listen instead of reading? Last week, we launched China Stories, a new podcast that features audio versions of written articles from The China Project, Sixth Tone, Caixin Global, and The Wire China. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to listen, and leave a review to let us know what you think.

Event: A new team is in the White House. How will the Biden-Harris administration work with China on the most pressing issues of the day — climate change, COVID-19, and healthcare — across both the private and public sectors? Where are the biggest opportunities for social impact? 

Join the Serica Virtual Annual Gala this Thursday, February 4, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. EST, to hear from leading philanthropists, investors, academics, nonprofits, and entrepreneurs. This is part of Serica’s ongoing Doing Well x Doing Good series. You can register here.

Our word of the day is HNA Group (海航集团 hǎiháng jítuán). 

—Jeremy Goldkorn, Editor-in-Chief