Understanding Asia is essential to understanding the global economy and the world of business. This region is home to the world's fastest-growing economies and is where the only real threat to the US superpower status will rise and is rising. Asia is a story of new guards, mounting power and in many cases, of unheard-of scale.

Every week, we will bring you the most important story from the region with an in-depth look at what happened, how we got here, and why this has financial and/or business ramifications across the globe.