Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Alice Han and James Kynge dive into why JPMorgan has cut its Hong Kong employees off from Anthropic's Claude. That comes after Goldman Sachs quietly restricted AI access for their employees in the city. With ChatGPT already blocked on the mainland, are U.S. companies drawing a new line around Hong Kong? And what does it mean for the city's future as a global financial hub?
They also discuss Lululemon's Great Wall yoga festival, which was meant to celebrate Chinese culture. Instead, a Japanese-style drum in the promotional imagery set off a nationalist firestorm — over 50 million views on Weibo and counting. It's the latest in a long line of foreign brand missteps in China. Why is it so hard to get it right?
And finally: China hasn't qualified for the World Cup — but football fans have found someone to root for: Chinese referee Ma Ning, who has picked up sponsorships from Lenovo and Hisense and 210,000 new social media followers.
00:53 Vitals
01:31 Companies restrict AI models in Hong Kong
17:26 A Lululemon campaign goes wrong
26:22 World Cup fever takes over China
34:12 Predictions
Subscribe to China Decode on Substack for weekly analysis, livestreams, and deep dives into the biggest story shaping the global economy: chinadecode.profgmedia.com
Alice Han and James Kynge dive into why JPMorgan has cut its Hong Kong employees off from Anthropic's Claude. That comes after Goldman Sachs quietly restricted AI access for their employees in the city. With ChatGPT already blocked on the mainland, are U.S. companies drawing a new line around Hong Kong? And what does it mean for the city's future as a global financial hub?
They also discuss Lululemon's Great Wall yoga festival, which was meant to celebrate Chinese culture. Instead, a Japanese-style drum in the promotional imagery set off a nationalist firestorm — over 50 million views on Weibo and counting. It's the latest in a long line of foreign brand missteps in China. Why is it so hard to get it right?
And finally: China hasn't qualified for the World Cup — but football fans have found someone to root for: Chinese referee Ma Ning, who has picked up sponsorships from Lenovo and Hisense and 210,000 new social media followers.
00:53 Vitals
01:31 Companies restrict AI models in Hong Kong
17:26 A Lululemon campaign goes wrong
26:22 World Cup fever takes over China
34:12 Predictions
Subscribe to China Decode on Substack for weekly analysis, livestreams, and deep dives into the biggest story shaping the global economy: chinadecode.profgmedia.com
