Mukesh Ambani’s real power lies not only in the size of Reliance, but in how he uses its balance sheet. Profits from mature businesses can finance new industries long before public markets are ready to price them.
Macau is far more than a casino economy. Centuries of encounter between Chinese society and Portuguese institutions created a distinctive culture whose architecture, food, language and traditions still shape this small territory at the edge of southern China.
Temasek is state-owned, but it is not a ministry. Through Dilhan Pillay, Altair Media examines how Singapore combines public ownership, commercial discipline and patient capital to invest across AI, infrastructure, energy and long-term economic transitions.
Hong Kong was built through movement and connection. Migration, Cantonese culture, colonial institutions, manufacturing, finance and extraordinary urban density created a society between worlds—one whose future now depends on redefining what it connects.
Across Asia, governments are building increasingly digital states. As cloud infrastructure, AI and digital public services become part of national governance, Meridian Exchange 2026 explores how digital sovereignty is evolving into a question of resilience, trust and long-term state capacity.
China’s rise challenges one of the most enduring assumptions of the modern era: that economic development inevitably follows a Western path. As China’s influence expands through infrastructure, technology and institutions, a deeper question is emerging. Can there be more than one path to modernity?
Why does Europe increasingly describe competition with China as unfair? The answer extends beyond tariffs, subsidies or trade disputes. At its core lies a deeper question: what happens when two fundamentally different economic systems compete within the same global marketplace?
Many observers focus on China’s government or its companies. Yet understanding modern China requires examining the institution that connects them. The Communist Party functions not only as a political organisation, but also as a coordinating mechanism that links state institutions, economic development and long-term national priorities.
European companies and Chinese companies often compete in the same markets. Yet they frequently operate within very different economic architectures. Understanding those differences helps explain why debates about subsidies, trade and industrial policy have become increasingly central to relations between Europe and China.
Why does China invest hundreds of billions in semiconductors, artificial intelligence, batteries and high-speed rail? The answer lies in how Beijing views economic development. Many technologies are not seen as commercial sectors alone, but as strategic infrastructure that underpins future national power.
