MERICS China Podcast

From August 31 until September 1, China’s party and state leader Xi Jinping will chair the annual Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in the Chinese port city Tianjin. Among the leaders expected at the summit is Russian president Vladimir Putin. In a new episode of our podcast, MERICS Analyst Claus Soong explores the role of the group in China-Russia relations. He argues that the SCO, w...

Biotechnology is strategically important because of its potential to transform humanity’s control over nature. Governments worldwide are racing to secure their positions in the field – and China is no exception.  MERICS experts Alexander Brown and Jeroen Groenewegen-Lau join Johannes Heller-John to discuss the rise of China in biotechnology. They are the authors of the report “ Lab leader, market...

In this episode, long-time Financial Times journalist and former MERICS Senior Fellow James Kynge joins Johannes Heller-John to look at China’s technological development in the last decades and ahead into the next ones. He talks about his work as a journalist in China since the mid-1980s and China’s rise as a technological power. James argues that “China is now leading the world as a technological...

Artificial Intelligence is reshaping the way we live and work, and its potential use in military applications could alter the global balance of power. The Chinese Communist Party is taking note of this development. During a Politburo study session focused on AI in April, China’s party and state leader Xi Jinping urged a nationwide mobilization to achieve “self-reliance and self-strengthening” in A...

„China in 25“ – in maximal 25 Minuten sprechen Mikko Huotari , Bernhard Bartsch und Claudia Wessling über aktuelle Entwicklungen in China.  In dieser Folge geht es um die Beziehungen zwischen China und der EU im Licht der Europareise des chinesischen Außenministers Wang Yi und vor dem EU-China Gipfel in Beijing, um Xi Jinpings Abwesenheit auf dem BRICS-Gipfel und um Chinas wachsende Fähigkeiten in...

The next EU-China Summit will take place in Beijing at the end of this month. In this episode of our podcast, Abigaël Vasselier , Director of Policy and European Affairs and Head of Program for Foreign Relations at MERICS, joins Claudia Wessling , Director Communications and Publications, to talk about her expectations for the summit, the state of EU-China relations and outcomes of Chinese Foreign...

With an uncertain geopolitical environment and ongoing competition with the US and Europe, national security has become even more important than before in China. So much so that a National Security White Paper, the first of its kind, was published in May of 2025. How has China’s approach to security changed under the changing international environment? What new risks does the paper identify domest...

„China in 25“ – in maximal 25 Minuten sprechen Mikko Huotari , Bernhard Bartsch und Claudia Wessling über aktuelle Entwicklungen in China.  In dieser Folge geht es um die Eskalation zwischen dem Iran und Israel und wie Chinas Reaktionen darauf einzuschätzen sind, um die Forschungsinvestitionen des chinesischen Telekom Riesen Huawei sowie um die EU-chinesischen Beziehungen.  Mehr über die Themen in...

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is widening its influence over private companies. Since Xi Jinping took office as party and state leader, the CCP has increased its control over the private economy by guiding capital, controlling shares and engaging in corporate governance.  In this episode, Kasper Ingeman Beck , Postdoc at the Copenhagen Business School, and Nis Grünberg , Lead Analyst at MERICS...

Chinese outbound foreign direct investment in the EU and UK rose for the first time in 2024 after seven consecutive years of decline. In this episode we look at what has changed, where the money is going, and what is happening in the particularly important sector of electric vehicles. Armand Meyer , Senior Research Analyst with Rhodium Group’s China Data Services team, and Andreas Mischer , Analys...

The Labor government in the UK launched an audit of the country’s relations with China in 2024. The results are set to be released in June. In this episode of the MERICS China Podcast, Charles Parton joins Johannes Heller-John to talk about the UK’s China Audit and the importance of science and technology in the China context. Charles Parton is a member of the UK think tank Council on Geostrategy,...

„China in 25“ – in maximal 25 Minuten sprechen Mikko Huotari , Bernhard Bartsch und Claudia Wessling über aktuelle Entwicklungen in China.  In dieser Folge geht es um eine neue Eskalation zwischen den USA und China im Bereich Hochleistungschips und Künstliche Intelligenz, um Chinas Sicherheits- und Rüstungspolitik sowie um Chinas erstmals seit Jahren wieder gestiegene Investitionen in Europa. Die...

„China in 25“ – in maximal 25 Minuten sprechen Mikko Huotari , Bernhard Bartsch und Claudia Wessling über aktuelle Entwicklungen in China. In dieser Folge geht es um die überraschende Einigung im Zollstreit zwischen den USA und China in Genf, die eine Senkung der gegenseitigen Zölle für 90 Tage vorsieht. Außerdem beleuchten wir die enge Beziehung zwischen China und Russland, die während der Feierl...

After weeks of fierce confrontations, the US and China are making first steps to negotiate in the ongoing tariff row. Ahead of a meeting of representatives of both sides in Geneva, MERICS Director Communications and Publications Claudia Wessling talked with Thomas E. Kellogg , Executive Director of the Georgetown Center for Asian Law. In the new episode of our podcast, Thomas shares his expectatio...

High US tariffs on China have raised concerns in the EU of Chinese goods being rerouted from the US to Europe. This has also rekindled an ongoing discussion about overcapacities in the Chinese industry. Why are they a danger to European industries? What drives them in China? And what options do European decisionmakers have? Max J. Zenglein , Chief Economist at MERICS, and Jacob Gunter , Lead Analy...

„China in 25“ – in maximal 25 Minuten sprechen Mikko Huotari, Bernhard Bartsch und Claudia Wessling über aktuelle Entwicklungen in China. In dieser Folge geht es um die Reisediplomatie von Partei- und Staatschef Xi Jinping, der sich bei Besuchen in Südostasien darum bemüht hat, Unterstützer im Handelskrieg mit den USA zu gewinnen. Wir sprechen auch über die – überraschend positiven – Wachstumszahl...

Global tariffs introduced by the US government under the second Trump administration on April 2nd have rocked global markets. While they have been reduced to a blanket rate of 10 percent a week later, they have increased for China to 145 percent. In retaliation, the Chinese government raised tariffs on all US goods to 125 percent. Johannes Heller-John talks to Jacob Gunter , Lead Analyst at MERICS...

„China in 25“ – in maximal 25 Minuten sprechen Mikko Huotari , Bernhard Bartsch und Claudia Wessling über aktuelle Entwicklungen in China im laufenden Jahr 2025. In dieser Folge geht es um den eskalierenden Handelskrieg zwischen den USA und China sowie um den Koalitionsvertrag zwischen CDU, CSU und SPD. Diese Folge wurde am 10. April um 15:30 Uhr aufgezeichnet. Zu dem Zeitpunkt war von US-Seite no...

The widening rift between the United States and Europe will have an effect on the EUs relationship with China. How does Beijing see the EU in the first months of the second Trump administration? Is there an appetite for closer engagement? And what does this mean for Europe? Johannes Heller-John talks to Grzegorz Stec , Head of our Brussels Office and Senior Analyst at MERICS to get a better unders...

Die Wahlen zum Deutschen Bundestag vom 23. Februar wurden auch in China aufmerksam verfolgt. Kristin Shi-Kupfer , Professorin für Sinologie an der Universität Trier und Senior Associate Fellow bei MERICS, berichtet in dieser Ausgabe unseres Podcasts, warum Alice Weidel in den Online-Foren so stark diskutiert wird, was die Netizens über Friedrich Merz denken und wie Deutschlands Rolle im transatlan...

Einige der weltweit größten und erfolgreichsten Social Media Plattformen sind in China – mehrere davon mit hunderten Millionen Nutzern. Sie sind Ort für soziale Interaktion, Unterhaltung, Nachrichten und Wissensaustausch. Auch politische Themen werden diskutiert wie beispielsweise Debatten zur Anhebung des Rentenalters, zur Familienplanungspolitik sowie zur Rolle von Künstlicher Intelligenz für de...

„China in 25“ ist ein neues Podcast-Format von MERICS: In maximal 25 Minuten sprechen Mikko Huotari , Bernhard Bartsch und Claudia Wessling über aktuelle Entwicklungen in China im laufenden Jahr 2025. In der ersten Folge geht es um den Zollstreit zwischen den USA und China, die Herausforderungen einer transatlantischen Koordination in der China-Politik – und dem Thema China in deutschen Wahlprogra...

The Chinese startup DeepSeek has rattled Silicon Valley’s confidence in the United States’ lead in artificial intelligence (AI) technology. DeepSeek’s first free Chatbot App became the most downloaded app on the iOS App Store as well as on the Google Play Store by the end of January.  These developments come ahead of the French AI Action Summit, which will take place from February 10 to 11 and con...

Abigaël Vasselier , Director Policy & European Affairs at MERICS, just returned from a trip to Washington DC where she discussed transatlantic China policies with US counterparts. In this conversation with Claudia Wessling , MERICS Director of Communications & Publications, Abigael talks about the challenges that lie ahead for the EU in the coming months in managing its relations with Chin...

China’s economy ended 2024 on a stronger-than-expected note. GDP expanded by 5.4 percent in the fourth quarter, bringing full-year growth to five percent – exactly as forecasted by the Chinese leadership. This momentum gives the leadership a good position to face an uncertain 2025, but significant challenges remain. In this episode Johannes Heller-John talks to MERICS Chief Economist Max Zenglein...