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.

Latest Stories (225)

China struggles to teach its savers that investments carry risks

May 22, 2019
Wealth management products are massively popular among the Chinese public.
A Bank of China Shanghai branch is one of the big state-owned banks that sells instruments called wealth management products, which are very popular among ordinary Chinese investors.
Charles Zhang/Marketplace

Some companies find their brand names already claimed in China

May 2, 2019
The practice of third parties snapping up brand names concerns foreign firms.
China’s supreme court may have ruled that basketball star Michael Jordan had a right to his Chinese name, “Qiaodan,” but it does not seem to have changed the operations for the multi-million-dollar Qiaodan Sports company. One of its shops in Shanghai continues to bear the Chinese name for Jordan.
Charles Zhang

U.S. automakers seek advantage at Shanghai Auto Show

Apr 18, 2019
American manufacturers are eager to win Chinese customers.
Ford Lincoln unveils a luxury SUV with seven seats at the Shanghai auto show. Other carmakers have pushed new SUVs and electric models to drive sales amid a slowdown in the industry.
Jennifer Pak/Marketplace

Electric vehicles in the spotlight at Shanghai Auto Show

Apr 18, 2019
Electric cars are drawing attention and Chinese automakers are to the fore.
Chinese automaker BYD, a firm backed by Warren Buffet, unveiled an electric sports car at the Shanghai auto show. It’s not available for sale yet but many live streamers and car bloggers were surprised that this sleek design came from a Chinese automaker.
Charles Zhang/Marketplace

China's Googleless internet remains vibrant

Apr 8, 2019
Many U.S. tech firms are blocked, but there are homegrown equivalents inside the "Great Firewall."
The Google logo is reflected in windows of the company's China head office as the Chinese national flag flies in Beijing in 2010.
Li Xin/AFP/Getty Images

China's professional shoppers

Apr 4, 2019
They're making a living ... undercover.
People walk between buildings at a shopping mall in Beijing on October 18, 2018.
Greg Baker/AFP/Getty Images

Delays plague China's video games industry

Mar 21, 2019
Chinese video game companies hit a snag with regulatory pause in the world's biggest video game market.
Hundreds of video game companies are fighting for the attention of cell phone users in China, where the video game market is worth more than $30 billion.
Jennifer Pak/Marketplace

Providing medical care to 'birth tourists' from China

Mar 13, 2019
Chinese parents are attracted to U.S. healthcare. An American doctor appreciates their prompt payments.
Dr. Russell Rapoza has helped more than a thousand mothers from China deliver babies.
Courtesy of Dr. Razpoza

How specialist agencies help Chinese mothers give birth in the U.S.

Mar 7, 2019
Expectant parents pay them tens of thousands of dollars to arrange every aspect of their trip.
The 2013 movie "Finding Mr Right" is a romantic comedy focused on Wen Jiajia, an unmarried pregnant woman from Beijing who flees to Seattle to give birth. It raised awareness of the trend of Chinese women having American babies.
Courtesy of Mtime