The objective of this Element is to provide an overview of Islamic finance by highlighting the impact of the pandemic on it in a comprehensive manner by looking at two branches of Islamic finance: Islamic commercial finance; and Islamic social finance. The approach that is adopted in this Element is to first provide an overview of Islamic finance to the readers in a simple and easy manner followed by the impact of pandemic discussed separately for both types of Islamic finance. Last, but not least, the Element also recommends ways in which Islamic finance could be further improved in the light of the lessons learnt from the pandemic. It is anticipated that the recommendations made in this regard would assist policymakers, practitioners, researchers and other stakeholders of Islamic finance to understand the way to unlock the full potential of Islamic finance to reduce the wealth gap and achieve financial inclusion.

China registered double-digit GDP growth for more than three decades. Recently, the rate has slowed down considerably. The slow growth period, which Chinese policymakers refer to as the 'new-normal', has created enormous curiosity among scholars and policymakers. In particular, scholars often tend to project if China is destined to follow Japan's fate. Insufficient reforms in the banking sector in commensuration with the real economy in Japan resulted in an unprecedented financial catastrophe. Similarly, an asymmetric development between the Chinese banking sector and the real economy is observed. This leads to an interesting question: is China destined to meet Japan's legacy? This Element attempts to answer this question. In so doing, it delves deep into the banking sector reforms of China. The Element concludes that China is not on course to meet an immediate financial chaos, but the country needs further banking reforms to avoid a potential crisis.

This Element examines the role of mobile banking in accessing public services in Bangladesh. It also identifies the key influencing factors and challenges in accessing public services through mobile banking and suggests policy measures to overcome these challenges. Based on a survey of 300 people, the study finds that mobile banking facilitates access to public services, which is beneficial and effective for both rural and urban users, as technology can increase the quality of work. Despite the benefits, some individuals are reluctant to use the service due to high transaction costs and a lack of digital literacy.