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Jennifer Pak

China Correspondent

SHORT BIO

Jennifer is Marketplace’s China correspondent, based in Shanghai. She tells stories about the world’s second-biggest economy and why Americans should care about it.

She arrived in Beijing in 2006 with few journalism contacts but quickly set up her own news bureau. Her work has appeared in many news outlets, including the BBC, NPR and The Financial Times. After covering the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Jennifer moved to Kuala Lumpur to be the BBC’s Malaysia correspondent. She reported on the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 and Edward Snowden’s brief escape to Hong Kong. Jennifer returned to China in 2015, based in the high-tech hub of Shenzhen, before joining Marketplace two years later.

In 2022, Jennifer, along with 25 million Shanghai residents, was locked down for over 60 days and had to scramble for food. The coverage of the pandemic she and her team produced helped earn them a Gracie and a National Headliner Award in 2023. You can see the food Jennifer was able to get during the Shanghai lockdown here and keep up with her tasty finds across China on Instagram at @jpakradio.

Episodes by Jennifer (2)

Marketplace Tech

Why there's no TikTok in China

Apr 3, 2024
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Make Me Smart | Episode 239

U.S.-China relations are bad, but are they 'new Cold War' bad?

Jul 21, 2020
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Latest Stories (224)

TikTok

Oracle may be left out of TikTok's razor-sharp algorithm

by Jennifer Pak
Sep 14, 2020
The wildly popular app relies on algorithm-based customizing that's helped glue users to their screens.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
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Is it a good time for business between the U.S. and China?

by Jennifer Pak
Aug 27, 2020
Some U.S. firms complain of retaliatory measures in China. But experts see long-term opportunity.
U.S. products used in a water-treatment system at a Chinese factory. The equipment is among the goods carrying extra Chinese tariffs.
(Courtesy of Su Nengwu)
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COVID-19

China to count bloggers and gamers as "employed" during pandemic

by Jennifer Pak
Aug 12, 2020
The news has fueled a perception that officials are out to inflate employment figures for a record 8.7 million graduates potentially entering a worsening jobs market.
Students at a job fair in Shanghai. An estimated 8.7 million graduates could enter the workforce this year during the pandemic.
Charles Zhang/Marketplace
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TikTok

How TikTok and WeChat escalated the U.S.-China trade war

by Molly Wood and Jennifer Pak
Aug 7, 2020
President Trump's executive order restricts Chinese tech platforms. Correspondent Jennifer Pak discusses the future of competition in developing markets.
A man rides past the offices of Tencent, the parent company of Chinese social media platform WeChat, in Beijing.
Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images
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Trump officials plan to delist Chinese companies that don't meet audit standards

by Sabri Ben-Achour , Jennifer Pak and Alex Schroeder
Aug 7, 2020
Regulators want access to financial audits of Chinese companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges.
The Trump administration is recommending a plan that Chinese companies with shares traded on U.S. stock exchanges must submit to audits or else give up their listings. Pictured: The New York Stock Exchange.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
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TikTok

The latest on TikTok: Microsoft takeover talks, a potential U.S. ban and more

by Jennifer Pak
Aug 3, 2020
A leaked memo from ByteDance’s CEO to its staff says TikTok has no choice but to sell its U.S. operations.
The founders were concerned countries would try to meddle in the U.S., so they passed measures like the Emoluments Clause which prohibits office holders from taking gifts from foreign officials.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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COVID-19

In China, livestream sales flourish in time of COVID-19

by Jennifer Pak
Jul 27, 2020
Struggling retailers hope livestreaming will provide a lifeline. Aspiring influencers don't always strike it rich.
Former livestreaming influencer Sam Tian says making it in the industry is largely a matter of luck.
Charles Zhang/Marketplace
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During shutdown, do U.S. or Chinese food delivery apps have the edge?

by Scott Tong and Jennifer Pak
Jul 17, 2020
Marketplace’s Jennifer Pak in Shanghai and Scott Tong in the Washington, D.C., area sample each country’s e-grocery and restaurant delivery apps.
A food delivery worker drives along the streets of Shanghai. Chinese companies seem to have invested more in the logistics of app-based delivery than U.S. companies so far.
Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images
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COVID-19

China's economy rebounds from COVID-19, growing 3.2% in the second quarter

by Sabri Ben-Achour , Jennifer Pak and Alex Schroeder
Jul 16, 2020
That makes it the first major economy to rebound since COVID-19 hit.
For comparison, China's economy shrank 6.8% in the first quarter of 2020.
Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images
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China passes national security law for governing Hong Kong

by David Brancaccio , Jennifer Pak and Alex Schroeder
Jun 30, 2020
Some fear that the new law will take away freedoms that make Hong Kong the only real global financial center in China.
Chinese authorities repeatedly said the law is aimed at a few "troublemakers" and not investors, but people are nervous.
Isaac Lawrence/AFP via Getty Images
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