Kelsey Cheng
Kelsey Cheng connects China’s corporate strategy, regulation and technology in business coverage that treats the automotive industry as part of a wider network of capital-intensive sectors. She is Business and Company News Chief at Caixin Global, leading the business news desk’s coverage of the country’s corporate and industry landscape including technology and AI, energy, automotive, consumer, real estate and global investments. Her work and oversight focus on how policy shifts, market reforms and innovation shape company decisions in these areas.
China’s Corporate And Industry Landscape
Cheng leads a team of reporters and manages editorial operations for Caixin Global’s company news desk, setting the agenda for coverage of major Chinese corporates and key industry verticals. She has previously covered China’s financial markets and macroeconomy as a reporter, which informs her attention to how regulatory changes and capital flows affect companies. Recent pieces she works on or co-authors track how power market reforms reshape strategy for renewable developers, how new housing rules rewrite property financing and how insurers share in large-scale capital injections, underscoring a focus on the link between policy design and business outcomes.
She also helps steer coverage of state-backed consolidation among chip foundries and other strategic sectors, keeping an eye on how industrial policy drives corporate restructuring.
Technology, AI And Emerging Sectors
Technology and AI are central to Cheng’s remit, with reporting that follows both product launches and structural shifts in the sector.
Her recent coverage includes stories on a Chinese startup taking aim at OpenAI with a free AI agent and Alibaba’s launch of an agentic AI sourcing tool for businesses as overseas orders grow, reflecting interest in how domestic tech firms position themselves against global competitors. She also works on in-depth pieces about scrutiny of offshore listing structures that cloud IPO paths for AI firms, and on consolidation drives among chip foundries, highlighting governance, financing and regulatory risk around advanced technologies. Corporate disputes at consumer-facing platforms, such as a legal fight between Xiaohongshu and a former employee over dismissal and stock options, further show attention to how human capital and equity incentives intersect with platform growth.
Automotive And Connected Industries
The automotive sector sits within Cheng’s broader business beat as one of several capital-intensive industries she oversees.
Her portfolio includes coverage of Huawei’s move into carmaking through presales of its first car produced with Dongfeng Motor, tying technology branding to traditional manufacturing and distribution.[input] She also works on stories about Chinese-owned battery makers whose expansion plans in the U.S. stall amid policy uncertainty, connecting the auto supply chain to energy policy and cross-border investment risk. Across these pieces, automotive is treated less as standalone consumer news and more as a node in a network of technology, energy and trade dynamics that shape corporate strategy.
Explainers, Deep Dives And Audio
Cheng’s bylines and desk output span formats from straight news to “Exclusive,” “In Depth” and “Caixin Explains” features, with a strong emphasis on unpacking complex rules and disputes for a business audience. Explainers on housing rules and insurer capital injections, and deep dives into IPO structures and employment disputes, show a preference for clear structure and detailed sourcing over quick takes.
Beyond written pieces, she is producer and host of the China Business Uncovered podcast, which features conversations with Caixin journalists about investigative reporting, and of Darers & Doers, which spotlights founders and the innovations they bring to market. She has previously produced Caixin’s China Biz Roundup podcast on finance, business, tech, politics and cultural trends, adding long-form audio context to the desk’s written coverage. Cheng also frequently moderates and hosts sessions at major international conferences, including Caixin’s Asia New Vision Forum, Web Summit, FII Priority, VivaTech, Alibaba CoCreate, Money20/20, the Sino-Swiss Economic Forum and Beyond Expo, extending her role from newsroom editor to public interpreter of China’s corporate and technology landscape.
Before her current leadership role, Cheng reported for international and regional outlets, with previous bylines at The Daily Mail, Channel NewsAsia, China Daily and Reuters, which contribute to a cross-border perspective in her work. Outside journalism, she serves as content manager at She Rewires, a China-based social enterprise that advocates women’s advancement in STEM fields, aligning her professional focus on technology with advocacy around who participates in it.
4 more automobile journalists.
Aditya Nadkarni
Aditya Nadkarni turns new model launches and first drive reviews into clear, buyer-facing information, with a strong focus on detail and incremental updates. He is principal correspondent at CarWale, where he covers passenger vehicles with an emphasis on launch news, facelifts and road-test impressions for mainstream and premium cars. His core news work tracks new introductions and lifecycle updates, explaining what changes, when the car goes on sale, and how each variant is configured. He writes “variants explained” pieces and structured first drive reviews that link driving impressions to a model’s place in the market and its recent update or launch. His reporting is factual, methodical and model-specific, avoiding broad commentary and treating even minor tweaks and new features as news. His bylines also appear at Mobility Outlook and CarTrade, with the same detail-first style.
Alexis Hooi
Alexis Hooi reports on how China’s partnerships in electric vehicles, green technology, tourism and agriculture reshape markets and communities, with a focus on Australia and the wider Asia-Pacific. He writes for China Daily, drawing on experience as a national news page editor, columnist and long-form reporter, and earlier work in other media and organizations. His beat covers Chinese EVs in Australia, green transition projects, innovation hubs, wine, geothermal energy and agricultural cooperation, treating each sector as a lens on China–Oceania economic ties and sustainable growth. He follows concrete outcomes like shifts in car choices, visitor numbers, exports and investment, and reports through project-focused stories and personality-driven features. He also covers culture and identity, diaspora roots, tourism flows, animal attractions and commentary on perception and language, grounding China–Australia relations in everyday experiences.
Antonina Joson
Antonina Joson covers how Southeast Asia’s car markets and fleet decisions respond to new technologies, environmental pressures, and policy shifts. She writes for AfMA, focusing on the automobile sector and its implications for fleets and mobility services, and works as a communications officer with a background in writing, digital marketing, and content creation. Her reporting tracks month‑to‑month changes in car sales in Indonesia, Thailand, and Singapore, linking sales data, segment performance, and national policy to corporate strategy. She reports on electric vehicles as strategic assets tied to air quality, energy policy, and industrial ambitions, and follows regional moves such as XPENG’s entry into Indonesia and calls for Toyota to shift production. She also covers safety campaigns, mobility platforms, online marketplaces, book recommendations for fleet professionals, and contributes to FleetDrive advertising and content planning, bringing a commercial, cross‑industry perspective to fleet‑focused coverage.
Aranya Mondal
Aranya Mondal is a business and technical writer who edits and writes analytical coverage of the global aluminium industry for AL Circle, with a through-line of connecting trade patterns and supply risks to aluminium competitiveness. She focuses on aluminium trade flows, bauxite diplomacy, tariffs, scrap imports and strategic materials adjacent to aluminium such as gallium. Her beat spans scrap, recycling and the shift from linear to circular aluminium markets, alumina and aluminium production trends, regional vulnerabilities and project developments, as well as automotive and mobility uses of aluminium including product launches like the Anytec A28-T boat. She works mainly on long-form explainers and recurring formats such as weekly sustainability recaps, using clear language, trade data and value-chain context to unpack production, policy and energy trends for an industry audience.