Geoeconomic Competition

On the 18th of June, EU leaders met to discuss "macroeconomic imbalances" aka China and tasked the Commission to design a new instrument and a solidrity measure. On the 29th of June, Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maroš Šefčovič met with the PRC Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao and agreed on a dialogue with four worstreams (trade and investments imbalances, export controls,...

In this episode of Geoeconomic Competition, Francesca Ghiretti speaks with Carl Benedikt Frey, Dieter Schwarz Associate Professor of AI & Work at the Oxford Internet Institute, Fellow of Mansfield College, University of Oxford. The episode explores the role of AI in international competition. The conversation covers how innovation and diffusion play different roles in national competitiveness,...

In this episode of Geoeconomic Competition, Francesca Ghiretti speaks with Noah Barkin, Senior Advisor at Rhodium Group about the outcome of the Trump-Xi summit and especially, the implications for Europe. Is Europe collateral damage or the ongoing (precarious) stabilisation process bring advantages for Europe too? What does it mean for the de-risking agenda?

In this episode of Geoeconomic Competition, Francesca Ghiretti speaks with Abraham Newman, Professor at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and co-author together with Stecis Goddard, Betty Freyhof Johnson ‘44 Professor of Political Science and Associate Provost for Wellesley in the World, of Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging In...

In this quick 10 minutes episode, Francesca Ghiretti unpacks China's State Council Decree Number 834: the Regulations on Industrial and Supply Chain Security, and Decree Number 835: the Regulations on Countering Foreign Improper Extraterritorial Jurisdiction. Why are these law so important? And what are the main elements we should pay attention to?

In this episode of Geoeconomic Competition, Francesca Ghiretti speaks with Wendy Cutler, Vice President of the Asia Society Policy Institute, about the upcoming Trump-Xi summit. What are the key issues likely to dominate the agenda? How might the summit reshape the trajectory of US-China trade tensions? What would a successful outcome look like for both sides? And what could be the implications fo...

In this episode of Geoeconomic Competition, Francesca Ghiretti speaks with Sander Tordoir, Chief Economist at the Centre for European Reform, about the EU Industrial Accelerator Act and "Buy European". What are the key elements of the Industrial Accelerator Act? How does Buy European aim to promote European competitiveness and resilience? What do these initiatives tell us about the EU&ap...

In this episode of Geoeconomic Competition , Francesca Ghiretti speaks with Dr. Jost Wübbeke is Managing Partner at Sinolytics, about the content of China's 15th Five Year Plan (2026-203). What are the new priorities? Does the plan tackles some of China's economic challenges? What about consumption? What does the plan tell us about the trajectory of China's tech self-reliance? 

In this episode of Geoeconomic Competition , Francesca Ghiretti speaks with Garima Mohan, Senior Fellow in the Indo-Pacific Program at GMF, about the future of the EU–India agreement and what it reveals about shifting geoeconomic priorities. The conversation explores the details of the EU-India FTA and the future of the relationship as Brussels and New Delhi deepen engagement amid global economic...

In this episode of Geoeconomic Competition, Francesca Ghiretti speaks with Cory Combs, Associate Director at Trivium, about the intensifying global competition over critical minerals and the strategic responses taking shape in Washington and beyond. The conversation explores how US policy is evolving, how allies are aligning - or diverging - and what this means for China’s central role in global m...

How is the European Union redefining economic security in an era of geopolitical tension? In this episode of Geoeconomic Competition, Francesca Ghiretti sits down with François Chimits, Head of the Europe Program at Institut Montaigne, to examine the EU’s progress, its strategic direction, and the challenges it still must overcome.

At the end of January 2026, Qiushi published a 2024 speech by Xi Jinping that, among other themes, underscored the strategic importance of having a global reserve currency. In this episode of Geoeconomic Competition, Gerard DiPippo breaks down China’s evolving ambitions for an internationalised renminbi, and how realistic Beijing’s ambitions are.

Europe and the US are racing to bring manufacturing back home - but should they be? Inspired by an article from The Economist , Chris Miller, Professor of International History at Tufts’ Fletcher School and author of Chip War , digs into the real economic benefits of manufacturing. We unpack why policymakers are so keen on factories, whether manufacturing still delivers meaningful gains in jobs an...

With the EU and China reaching price undertakings on Chinese EV imports, this episode features Ágnes Szunomár, Associate Professor at Corvinus University of Budapest, to unpack the scale, motives, and consequences of Chinese investment in Europe’s BEV sector. The discussion probes whether Chinese investments in the sector can become genuine growth poles for European supply chains or remain technol...

In the final 2025 episode of Geoeconomic Competition , Yanmei Xie tackles the big questions behind China’s anti-involution campaign. What distinguishes involution from overcapacity, and why does that distinction matter? Why is China’s overcapacity treated as a  problem when similar conditions elsewhere are not? And can the anti-involution drive meaningfully address China’s economic challenges? Fin...

On the 18th of December, the leaders of the EU will discuss the much debated reparation loan, a proposal to use the frozen Russian assets to finance the Ukrainian war effort. In this episode, Lucas Guttenberg, Director of the programme Europes Future at Bertelsmann Stiftung unpacks what the reparation loan is, how it works and why this decision is so important for Europe.

On 5 November, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral argument on the use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) by Donald Trump to impose sweeping tariffs. The decision, which is expected in the next few months, will determine the future of both Fentanyl tariffs as well as Liberation Day tariffs. The decision, however, will have much wider and deeper implications fo...

In October, the Dutch government took over Nexperia, a Dutch chip maker owned by the Chinese Wingtech. The initial and main reason for the takeover was bad management. In the meantime, tensions between The Netherlands and China have escalated, a Chinese delegation visited Brussels and Trump and Xi met. To understand why this is so important and what is happening with Nexperia, Francesca Ghiretti h...

The 4th Plenum unveiled information about what to expect from China's 15th Five Year Plan (March 2026). Francesca Ghiretti chats with Gerard DiPippo, an Associate Director, RAND China Research Center and expert in China's economy to analyse what we can expect, clarify key point and untangle contradictions. 

This episode is a deep dive into the details of the development of China's export controls, from 2022 to the updates of October 2025. Rebecca Arcesati is Lead Analyst, in the Science, Technology and Innovation Programme at MERICS. 

Francesca Ghiretti speaks with Jason Bedford, Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore. In his paper RARE EARTHS AND INDUSTRY: WHY DEPENDENCE ON CHINA ENDURES, Jason explores the details of China's REE leverage. In this episode, we unpack why the difference between heavy and light REE matters and stands at heart of China's ability to i...

In this episode, Francesca Ghiretti hosts Alberto Rizzi, Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations' Rome office. In his policy brief "Markets, migrants, microchips: European power in a world of demographic change", he tackles an issue at the heart of European ability to compete economically. demographics. What's Europe's demographic situation? What are som...

In this episode, Francesca Ghiretti hosts the leader of Project Lion Cage, Tor Indstoy and Arild Tjomsland . The project "explores how everyday connected technology—such as smart vehicles and IoT systems—could be exploited in future security crises". How do connected vehicles work? What type of data they collect and where are they stored? Can these vehicles be remotely hijacked? What are...

In this episode, Francesca Ghiretti chats with Iana Dreyer, Founder and Editor ot Borderlex, a magazine specialised in trade. With Iana, we try to understand the implications of the EU-China summit as well as the tariff "deal" between the EU and the US. We touch upon EU resilience and strategic autonomy and what are the options for the EU ahead. 

In this episode, Francesca Ghiretti chats with Stuart Dee, Research Leader and co-Director of the Centre for Defence Economics and Acquisitions at RAND Europe. Stuart joined RAND after spending over a decade in industry, most recently at Rolls-Royce plc where he was involved in a number of large defence programmes including Eurofighter Typhoon, the Future Combat Air System and AUKUS. In light of t...