North Korea Eyes Slice of Russian Market Long Dominated by China
March 2nd, 2026
Via Daily NK, a report on China’s interest in Russian markets: North Korea’s ruling party instructed the cabinet’s Ministry of External Economic Relations in early February to pursue a new strategy aimed at securing a foothold in industrial sectors of the Russian market currently dominated by Chinese companies, a source in Pyongyang told Daily NK recently. The instructions came from the Economic Department of the Workers’ Party […]
Read more »North Korea’s Elite Ponghak Beer Appears In Chinese Market In Search of Foreign Currency
January 19th, 2026
Via the Daily NK, a report that North Korea’s elite Ponghak Beer is entering the Chinese market seeking foreign currency: North Korea’s Ponghak Beer, the beer of choice among North Korea’s elite, has appeared in the Chinese market. Alongside Taedonggang Beer, which was already widely known, and Tumangang Beer, an emerging contender actively promoted by […]
Read more »Trump Is Making a Power Play in Latin America. China Is Already There.
January 12th, 2026
Courtesy of the New York Times, a look at how China built a dominant strategic position in the region as the leading lender and trading partner, and it is watching President Trump’s next moves closely. For China, President Trump’s power grab in Venezuela is a frontal attack on a longstanding source of oil, cultivated through […]
Read more »China Focuses on Africa’s Strategic Trade Routes
January 7th, 2026
Via Reuters, a report on China’s renewed Africa focus on strategic trade routes: China’s FM to visit Ethiopia, Somalia, Tanzania and Lesotho Trip extends 36-year-old tradition of making first trip to Africa African states looking for investment over loans – analyst China’s top diplomat began his annual New Year tour of Africa on Wednesday, focusing […]
Read more »How China and the Gulf States are Shaping Central Asia’s Energy Transition
December 31st, 2025
Via East Asia Forum, an article on how China and the Gulf states are shaping Central Asia’s energy transition: China and the Gulf states are expanding renewable energy investment in Central Asia. Through complementary competition, they vie for influence while occupying distinct and often mutually supportive roles in clean energy projects, particularly in Kazakhstan and […]
Read more »How Algeria Can Help China Plug Iron Ore Gaps and Gain Pricing Power
December 29th, 2025
Via the South China Morning Post, a report on how Algeria’s Gara Djebilet deposit in the Sahara Desert – discovered decades ago – is only now coming into production: In the heart of Algeria’s Sahara Desert, Chinese state-owned giant China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) has completed laying track on the PK330 Bridge, a final and […]
Read more »Focusing primarily on The New Seven Sisters - the largely state owned petroleum companies from the emerging world that have become key players in the oil & gas industry as identified by Carola Hoyos, Chief Energy Correspondent for The Financial Times - but spanning other nascent opportunities around the globe that may hold potential in the years ahead, Wildcats & Black Sheep is a place for the adventurous to contemplate & evaluate the emerging markets of tomorrow.