US-China tariff week; CCP turns 97; Real estate blues; Party pressure on foreign university JV; North Korea; Recalibrating the BRI

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Here are the top things I am watching about China today:

• It is US-China tariff week and with just 4 days left until they go into effect there is little sign that the US and China are near a breakthrough;

• The Chinese Communist Party turned 97 on Sunday and now has about 89.6 million members (and several hundred million relatives of members);

• North Korea may soon re-emerge as a serious point of contention in the US-China relationship. There are reports that Kim has asked Xi to relax sanctions while over the weekend multiple US media ran deeply sourced stories reporting that US intelligence agencies believe Kim has no intention of denuclearizing and in fact is actively deceiving the US (shocker I know…).

Thanks for reading, and pl…