SupChina
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
SupChina (later The China Project) was a New York-based independent English-language media company covering China, launched in 2016 as a newsletter. It grew into a 'news and business intelligence company' publishing around 2,000 articles, analyses, and investigative stories a year with contributors from dozens of countries, plus podcasts including the flagship Sinica show. Former US Ambassador Max Baucus called it 'a jewel in the crown of China reporting.' Its editor-in-chief was Jeremy Goldkorn. In November 2023 the company announced it could no longer operate in its current form and shut down.
02 / SupChina FAILURE REASONS
Failure reasons
SupChina was killed by money and politics together. The media business was already precarious, and the company's independent China coverage drew politically motivated attacks from both countries - accusations of working for the other government - which brought enormous legal costs and, worse, made it increasingly difficult to attract investors, advertisers, and sponsors. Subscriptions were growing strongly (over 2 million monthly subscribers, including officials, diplomats, and businesspeople) but couldn't sustain operations. The company refused to compromise its values for funding; when a funding source it had been counting on fell through in November 2023, it had to close.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Launched
SupChina launched as a newsletter with the aim of informing the world about China with breadth and depth that general-interest news organizations cannot devote to one country.
- Shutdown announced
In November 2023, days after its most successful conference ever (the NEXTChina Conference in New York) and the launch of its Edge database product, SupChina (as The China Project) announced a funding shortfall and shut down; a counted-on funding source had fallen through, and politically motivated attacks had made investors, advertisers, and sponsors hard to attract.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
In November 2023 The China Project (formerly SupChina) announced it could no longer operate in its current form and shut down; the closure took effect in December 2023.
- 02
Editor-in-chief Jeremy Goldkorn said subscription revenues were growing but could not sustain operations; a counted-on funding source fell through.
- 03
No bankruptcy filing, debts, or creditor claims were disclosed; the company cited funding shortfall plus legal costs and advertiser flight from politically motivated attacks.