What will lead the headlines in the year ahead? To find out, we asked some of Asia’s most influential journalists for their views on the stories that will shape our region. From COVID-19 to cryptocurrency and from climate risk to China’s economy, their perspectives shed light on the themes we will be seeing in the news.

The perspectives expressed are the individuals’ own and do not necessarily reflect the view of the organizations they represent.

We asked each person two questions:

Q.What is one news story in Asia that you think we will hear more of in 2022?
Q.What are you optimistic about in the year ahead?

Robin Harding
Asia Editor, Financial Times

 

Q. What is one news story in Asia that you think we will hear more of in 2022?
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A. When you look at the indicators around the property market in China, it’s fairly clear that 2022 is going to be a relatively difficult year for the Chinese economy. Even relatively difficult years for the Chinese economy still tend to involve high levels of growth. But that definitely bears watching.

Q. What are you optimistic about in the year ahead?

A. If you look at what’s happened in Asia over the last 20 or 30 years, hundreds of millions even more than a billion people have been lifted out of poverty by economic growth, free trade, the capitalist economic system. It’s truly one of the most awesome and inspiring success stories in human history. And it just ticks along every year without people noticing – just this amazing material transformation in people’s lives.

Ira Dugal
Executive Editor, BloombergQuint

 

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Q. What is one news story in Asia that you think we will hear more of in 2022?

A. 2021 was a year in which many countries saw an explosion of interest in cryptocurrencies. Their rising popularity left regulators nervous and central banks insecure. Over the next year, we will likely hear a lot more about the regulatory approach to cryptocurrencies. Can you ban them? Should you? Or should regulatory capacity be managed to manage risks, particularly of money laundering, that may emerge from these tokens.

Q. What are you optimistic about in the year ahead?

A. Equally, as central banks move towards launching their own sovereign backed digital currencies, the question of what it means for traditional intermediaries — the banks, will loom large. Central bank digital currencies can hurt bank deposits and the stability of the financial system as we know it. Expect tentative steps in this direction even as the debate rages.