Decoding DemocracyBaltimore Bridge CollapseMillion BazillionI've Always Wondered ...

Loading...

0:00
0% played

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
LISTEN
Download
Make Me Smart | Episode 239

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

Jul 21, 2020
LISTEN
Download

Latest Stories (224)

COVID-19

Shanghai and coronavirus: living in a ghost town

by Jennifer Pak
Feb 4, 2020
Our China correspondent takes us on a tour of the usually bustling financial center, where fears and precautions have made it eerily quiet. You can even hear the birds sing.
Marketplace's China correspondent Jennifer Pak used to wear face masks outdoors to protect against air pollution, but now the Chinese government advises residents to wear them whenever they are out of their homes.
Jennifer Pak/Marketpace
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE
COVID-19

How coronavirus is affecting Chinese workers

by Kai Ryssdal , Jennifer Pak and Andie Corban
Jan 27, 2020
The government extended the Lunar New Year holiday in an attempt to contain the disease, meaning more days off for workers.
Chinese police officers wear protective masks at Beijing Station last week.
Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE
COVID-19

In China, coronavirus curbs New Year celebrations ... and spending

by Jennifer Pak
Jan 24, 2020
The holiday is usually a peak purchasing period, but the illness is threatening to derail the much-needed bump in the Chinese economy.
Shoppers wearing masks Wednesday prepare for Lunar New Year in Wuhan, ground zero of the coronavirus outbreak.
Photo by Getty Images
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE

Inside a 6-hour e-commerce livestream in China

by Jennifer Pak
Jan 16, 2020
Eva Wang and Sam Tian quit their jobs to make a go of it selling on Alibaba's Taobao livestreaming service.
Sam Tian and Eva Wang during a livestream show. The couple quit their ad sales and teaching jobs last year to become Taobao influencers.
Courtesy of Sam Tian
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE
Trade showdown

The view from Shanghai on the phase one trade deal

by Jennifer Pak
Jan 14, 2020
"The U.S. is bullying China," was the assessment of one security guard in the city.
American green apples at a Shanghai supermarket were among the first to be subject to Chinese counter tariffs.
Charles Zhang/Marketplace
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE

In China, economy dogged at decade's end

by Jennifer Pak
Dec 25, 2019
China started 2009 weathering the global financial crisis and ends the decade battling slower economic growth and a trade war with the U.S.
Jennifer Pak/Marketplace
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE

Are factory jobs leaving China because of the U.S. tariffs?

by Jennifer Pak
Dec 18, 2019
China's statistics show 3.8 million manufacturing jobs disappeared from urban areas last year.
Workers at a shoe factory in Southern China. Most of them come from the poor countryside to give their families a better life.
Shanghai 808 Studio
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE

The anatomy of a Chinese boycott

by Jennifer Pak
Nov 28, 2019
When foreign companies are perceived to have crossed China’s red lines, a boycott usually follows.
Fast food chain Dicos' NBA-themed restaurant in Shanghai. Dicos was among the companies that suspended or canceled partnership with the NBA in October.
Charles Zhang/Marketplace
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE

How long can China's economic grudges last?

by Jennifer Pak
Nov 27, 2019
For South Korea, it’s been three years and counting, hitting industries like entertainment, travel and grocery stores.
Some South Korean businesses in China still face economic retaliation three years after South Korea signed a deal to deploy a U.S. anti-missile system on its territory.
Charles Zhang/Marketplace
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE

Inside one highly automated Chinese factory

by Jennifer Pak
Nov 13, 2019
China's Shuoke sports equipment factory says robots have helped triple its production.
A worker looks on as a robotic arm at the Shuoke factory sorts plastic panels to form a soccer ball. Machines like this have helped the firm cope with rising costs. (Shanghai 808 Studio)
Shanghai 808 Studio
ListenLISTEN
HTML EMBED:
COPY
EMBED EMBED
Share Now on:
SHARE