The Little Red Podcast: interviews and chat celebrating China beyond the Beijing beltway. Hosted by Graeme Smith, China studies academic at the Australian National University's Department of Pacific Affairs and Louisa Lim, former China correspondent for the BBC and NPR, now with the Centre for Advancing Journalism at Melbourne University. We are the 2018 winners of podcast of the year in the News & Current Affairs category of the Australian Podcast Awards. Follow us @limlouisa and @GraemeKSmith, and find show notes at www.facebook.com/LittleRedPodcast/
The Rise of the Petroyuan: Who will win the Global Economic Order?
In the fifth episode in the China Rules series, we look at China’s efforts to reshape to global financial system. One milestone has been the recent designation of Deutsche Bank as a renminbi clearing house. China is pushing hard to increase its influence inside international institutions and to internationalize the renminbi, driven by the Iran war and uncertainty about the US dollar. But with a tradition of strict capital controls and limited liquidity, it’s not clear whether the CCP would be able to underwrite the international order. To ask how China is trying to reshape global finance, Louisa and Graeme are joined by Gregory Chin and Kevin Gallagher from Boston University’s Global Development Policy Centre, authors of China and the Global Economic Order.
Image: c/- Dilok Klaisataporn, iStock, 2018.
Transcripts available at https://ciw.anu.edu.au/podcasts/little-red-podcast (https://ciw.anu.edu.au/podcasts/little-red-podcast)
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
28 Aug 2026
Money (That’s What I Want): China’s New Investment Regime
In our fourth episode of the China Rules series, we look at the State Council’s brand-new rules on overseas investment. These formalize central control over outbound investment, addressing the Party’s concerns about sensitive technologies and data, while sending a chilling signal to Chinese tech companies looking to move abroad. Beijing is now the first major capital exporter to run outbound investment as explicit industrial policy with legal retaliation tools. To explain the likely impact of these regulations on the global financial system, Louisa and Graeme are joined by Stefanie Kam from Nanyang Technology University in Singapore and Lizzi Lee from the Centre for China Analysis at the Asia Society Policy Institute.
Image: c/- iStock
Transcripts available at https://ciw.anu.edu.au/podcasts/little-red-podcast
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
14 Jul 2026
Out of Battery? China's EV Dreams Flicker
In the latest episode in our China Rules series, we look at the rise and potential fall of China’s electric vehicle (EV) industry. Once scoffed at by Elon Musk, China’s EV industry is charging ahead in international markets with its top car brand, BYD, selling more cars than Tesla in 2025. Massive government subsidies and consistent policy have brought China to a point where it now leads in a range of technologies, from batteries to robotaxis. Yet headwinds are emerging, with domestic demand tanking and protectionism surging in the US and Europe. To discuss the rise, and potential demise, of China’s EV behemoth, Louisa and Graeme are joined by Fengming Lu from the Australian National University and Yu Yang, Principal Lead Analyst of Automotives and Robotics at Yole Group, a company that analyses tech markets.
Image: DarthArt, iStock. Beijing, China - February 25, 2026: Modern small city car Wuling Hongguang Mini EV.
Transcripts available at https://ciw.anu.edu.au/podcasts/little-red-podcast (https://ciw.anu.edu.au/podcasts/little-red-podcast)
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
Inside a recent episode
The Rise of the Petroyuan: Who will win the Global Economic Order?
Published 15 Sept 2026 · Transcript excerpt
[…] The securitization of everything, as we heard from Louisa and saw what happened in the New York Fed, whereas this one's more of an offensive opportunity. OK, gosh, look, everyone, every central banker, every finance minister in the world is very concerned about their dollar exposure and the way that there's just so much swings and uncertainty in it. And it just so happens that the Chinese interest rate is low. And this is an opportunity to go on more of an offensive on it for strategic reasons. I mean, up until now, the dollar has dominated oil trades with most oil transactions priced and settled in US dollars. […]
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