It's the economy, stupid!

+ China overtakes Japan as biggest auto exporter and lifts bans on group tours to US and other countries

Welcome to another edition of What’s Happening in China, a weekly newsletter that curates the latest and most important news and developments from the country.

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PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Young boy takes a stroll with his pull-along duck companion in a Beijing hutong

XINJIANG

Uyghurs fleeing China worry there are no safe havens – NBC News

According to Amnesty International, Hasan is at “high risk of being extradited to China where he will face a real risk of arbitrary detention and torture.” He is a victim of what Western governments and activists describe as a vast, global network of surveillance, intimidation and persecution by the Chinese government, one that stretches far beyond its own heavily repressive borders a…