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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 (223)

COVID-19

China's big savers weather pandemic uncertainty

by Jennifer Pak
Jun 16, 2020
The communist government is not handing out cash to struggling workers. Many have to depend on themselves.
Zhang Lei manages an entertainment center in Shanghai, and for four months, he was not sure whether he would still have a job or not.
Charles Zhang/Marketplace
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China's forced-out workers

by Jennifer Pak
Jun 3, 2020
Chinese workers complain that shortened hours or being told to resign are layoffs by another name.
A masked factory worker works on a machine line.
Barcroft Media via Getty Images
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COVID-19

How pandemic-shuttered campuses can reopen

by Jennifer Pak
May 27, 2020
The Shanghai campus of New York University has resumed classes, but the environment and learning process are different.
A student at NYU's Shanghai campus sits alone in the library. Fewer seats are available, reflecting the school's effort to maintain social distancing.
Jennifer Pak/Marketplace
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COVID-19

QR codes and dramatic vistas: tips for traveling during the pandemic

by Jennifer Pak
May 15, 2020
Traveling will look very different during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tourists at Mount Cangshan in China's Yunnan province undergo temperature checks and QR code scans before entering the park.
Jennifer Pak/Marketplace
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COVID-19

China's first holiday break since COVID-19 sees 60% drop in tourism revenue

by David Brancaccio , Jennifer Pak and Alex Schroeder
May 6, 2020
There are still many virus prevention measures that deter people from traveling.
Businesses are being held responsible for screening virus carriers. If an outbreak happens, they could get shut down.
Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images
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COVID-19

A Shanghai postcard: life after the COVID-19 economic shutdown

by Jennifer Pak
Apr 27, 2020
With masks, fever checks and health QR codes, there are signs that the coronavirus still poses a threat to daily life.
Marketplace's Jennifer Pak on a hike three hours outside of Shanghai. Before departing, she had to make sure she could return to the city without being quarantined.
Jennifer Pak/Marketplace
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Parenting in a Pandemic

COVID-19 tests the limits of online schooling tech in China

by Jennifer Pak
Apr 21, 2020
Among the challenges: How do you teach gym class to students stuck in tiny apartments?
Ada Lu chats with her classmates in online group discussions every day but she hasn't seen them in person for more than two months and misses playing with her friends.
Charles Zhang/Marketplace
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A small Chinese business survives COVID-19 shutdown. Now what?

by Jennifer Pak
Apr 17, 2020
The Chinese economy virtually stopped for nearly two months. One clothier is barely hanging on while life slowly returns to normal.
Small shops shuttered in a main shopping area in Shanghai's Fengxian suburbs.
Charles Zhang/Marketplace
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COVID-19

Wuhan returns to life after COVID-19 lockdown

by Jennifer Pak
Apr 9, 2020
In the city of 11 million, it is far from business as usual.
People sit outside Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan in the hope of taking one of the first trains leaving the city in China's central Hubei province on April 8.
Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images
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COVID-19

China's livestream sales: How brands reach consumers during COVID-19

by Jennifer Pak
Apr 6, 2020
Consumer spending plummeted while people stayed home. But Taobao saw livestream sales sessions double on its app.
Songzi during a marathon six-hour livestream broadcast selling cosmetics.
Charles Zhang/Marketplace
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