Try the Daily Briefing
Try the Daily Briefing for your country of choice for two weeks--free of charge and with no obligation.
Have a service or subscription question? We'd be happy to hear from you.
Intelligence for Better Decision Making
Erudite Risk takes an all risks approach to intelligence reporting. We categorize key intelligence into one of 40 different risk intelligence categories.
The goal is to provide intelligence that allows decision makers to avoid being blindsided by what they may have missed, while informing them to make better decisions as well.
Erudite Risk also includes operations categories so you can monitor the environment for better decision making. Everything is tied together--what happens in risk affects operations and what happens in the market impacts risk profiles.
We categorize key intelligence into one of 30 different operations intelligence categories.
Different roles and functions within the organization can monitor different key issue areas. HR may monitor employment, wages, regulations, labor and management relations, etc., while P&L leaders may monitor overall developing trends.
World Bank raises China 2025 growth forecast by 0.4 percentage points
China Daily | English | News | Dec. 12, 2025 | UndeterminedEconomic Growth
The World Bank has raised its economic growth forecast for China in 2025 by 0.4 percentage points, reflecting a more optimistic outlook for the world's second-largest economy. This revision is attributed to supportive fiscal and monetary policies that have bolstered domestic consumption and investment.
Exports have also been sustained by demand from developing countries, contributing to the positive growth expectations. The World Bank emphasizes that China's future growth will increasingly rely on domestic demand rather than external factors.
Mara Warwick, division director for China, Mongolia, and Korea at the World Bank, highlighted the importance of short-term fiscal stimulus alongside structural reforms, particularly in the social protection system. She also called for a more predictable business environment to enhance confidence and support resilient, sustainable economic growth.
Crude oil output to hit 215m tons this year
China Daily | English | News | Dec. 12, 2025 | UndeterminedEnergy Prices
China's domestic crude oil output is expected to reach a record 215 million metric tons in 2025, reflecting the country's strengthened focus on energy self-reliance amid ongoing geopolitical tensions and global supply chain challenges. This growth culminates a period of robust exploration success and steady production increases during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), during which China added 105 million tons of new crude oil capacity. Offshore crude oil has driven over 60 percent of new petroleum output for five consecutive years.
Despite rapid development in clean energy, fossil fuels remain critical for energy security and system stability, with over 30 percent of oil and 37 percent of natural gas expected to come from ocean sources. China leads global investment in energy transition, accounting for 39 percent of the over $2 trillion invested worldwide in 2024. In natural gas, China has recorded year-on-year production growth of 10 billion cubic meters for nine straight years, solidifying its position as the world's fourth-largest producer, with output projected at 260 billion cubic meters in 2025—a 35 percent increase since the last five-year plan.
Cumulative proven reserves have increased substantially during the 14th Five-Year Plan, with oil reserves surpassing 7 billion tons and natural gas reserves exceeding 7 trillion cubic meters, marking roughly 40 percent growth compared to the prior period. The national oil and gas pipeline network now extends 195,000 kilometers, promoting a unified national grid. China’s oil and gas sector is entering a new phase of enhanced production efficiency and green development, aiming to establish a secure, resilient, and modernized energy system that supports national energy security and economic stability.
Japan’s attempts of remilitarization reignite doubts about its future direction, lead to new reckoning of its historical crimes: FM spokesperson
Global Times | English | News | Dec. 12, 2025 | Geopolitical Conflict and Disputes
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun criticized Japan's recent military expansion and efforts to amend its pacifist constitution, arguing that these moves fuel doubts about Japan's future and prompt renewed scrutiny of its historical war crimes. Guo highlighted Japan's shifts in security policy, including lifting bans on collective self-defense, easing weapons export restrictions, and pursuing counterattack capabilities, along with discussions about acquiring nuclear-powered submarines. These actions, coupled with a 13-year consecutive increase in defense spending, have heightened regional and international concern.
Guo also pointed to Japan's insufficient reflection on its World War II aggression, noting that many war criminals remained active in politics and the military post-war. He criticized visits by former Japanese officials to the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Class-A war criminals, and efforts to revise history textbooks to downplay aggression. Guo claimed that Japanese militarism has never been fully eradicated and that right-wing factions focus on Japan's defeat rather than its responsibility for war.
Emphasizing Japan’s obligations under the 1945 Potsdam Proclamation and its Instrument of Surrender, Guo called for political and legal measures to restrict Japan's military capabilities and erase militaristic ideology. He urged the international community to remain vigilant against any attempts to revive Japanese militarism and to protect the post-World War II peace and security framework established by these agreements.
Try the Daily Briefing for your country of choice for two weeks--free of charge and with no obligation.
Have a service or subscription question? We'd be happy to hear from you.
info@eruditerisk.com
The Daily Briefing is delivered Monday through Thursday via email.
Each day's reports include a combination of:
Takes
Takes are our deep dives into a topic of enduring interest or concern. Takes include copious references to all the media resources we gathered to build them.
Developments
Developments are key issues and incidents being heavily reported on in country. These are the centers of local thought gravity around which everything else revolves.
Risk Media
Summaries and analysis of the most important risk issues reported on in media, arranged by risk category. Learn about risk trends and issues while they are developing--before they blow up.
Ops Media
Summaries and analysis of the most important operational issues reported on in media, arranged by operations category. See what's changing in your market, and what's not.
Government Releases
Government press and data releases on key economic data, regulation, law, intiatives, incidents. Straight from the government's press to your eyes in less than a day.
Embassy and Business Association Releases
Statements and news releases from foreign embassies and business/industry associations, including chambers of commerce.
The Daily Briefing can run 50-100 pages each day!
Luckily, Erudite Risk tailors every report specifically to you.
Content Filtering
We try hard to ensure that every piece of information included in each day's reports will be of interest to our readers.
To fulfill our goal of comprehensively monitoring the intelligence landscape and also keeping reports readable, we build big reports--then deliver only the information that applies to you.
Each Daily Briefing is a bespoke report matched to your concerns. Tell us what you want in it, or we can match it to your professional needs. It's that easy.