MERICS China Podcast

In dieser Folge des "China in 25"-Podcasts sprechen Bernhard Bartsch, Mikko Huotari und Claudia Wessling über die China-Reise von Finanzminister und Vize-Kanzler Lars Klingbeil, über Chinas globale Handelsüberschüsse und über den Einbruch der chinesischen Inlandsinvestitionen.

Während die Reise von Vize-Kanzler Klingbeil eine Art Rückkehr zur Normalität in Zeiten turbulenter internationaler Beziehungen suggerierte, mahnt Bernhard Bartsch nicht zu vergessen, dass sich Dynamik der Beziehungen gerade grundlegend verändert. „Wir haben gesehen, wie verletzlich wir sind und China hat uns gezeigt, dass es unsere Verletzlichkeiten auch ganz hart politisch ausspielt.“

Mikko Huotari sagt hinsichtlich der Werbung der chinesischen Regierung um mehr Importe: „das symbolisiert alles Offenheit, aber ändert überhaupt nicht die strukturellen Probleme, weil die Ursachen dieser schwachen Importe unangetastet bleiben.“

The relationship between the US and China has been fraud with conflict for many years and its twists and turns have global effects. In this episode, George Yin joins Johannes Heller-John to decipher the China policy of the US and its continuities and changes over the last administrations. They also discuss what the EU can do to find its place amidst the rivalling superpowers.

George is a Senior Fellow at MERICS and a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for China Studies, National Taiwan University. He is also Senior Advisor to the Straits Exchange Foundation and holds research affiliations with Harvard and Oxford Universities. Among other topics he looks at the China policy of the US.

The conversation was recorded on September 26.

For more on the topic, read George's comment piece "Art of the deal meets great power politics: Trump 2.0’s approach to China" here.

In dieser Folge des "China in 25"-Podcasts sprechen Bernhard Bartsch, Mikko Huotari und Claudia Wessling über die mit Spannung erwartete Begegnung von Donald Trump und Xi Jinping in Südkorea, über den Stand der deutsch-chinesischen Beziehungen nach der Absage der China-Reise von Außenminister Wadephul und den nächsten Fünfjahrplan, dessen Schwerpunkte die chinesische Führung gerade auf dem Vierten Plenum des Zentralkomitees der KPC vorgezeichnet hat.

Mikko Huotari sagt, China und die USA hätten sich durch die Einigung auf eine Aussetzung der von China erlassenen Exportkontrollen Zeit gekauft. "Jetzt ist die Frage, wofür sie diese Zeit verwenden." Europa sei in dem Kontext nur "Zuschauer", merkt er kritisch an. 

Auch in den deutsch-chinesischen Beziehungen knirscht es, und die Bundesregierung muss sich strategisch klug auf schwierige Gespräche einstellen, wie Bernhard Bartsch sagt. Beijing sehe, wie europäische Staatsführer nach Washington pilgerten um Trump zu schmeicheln, und wolle "genauso respektiert und gefürchtet werden". 

Auch Chinas Entwurf für den nächsten Fünfjahrplan macht deutlich, Europa muss dringend seine Hausaufgaben machen, wie unsere Diskutanten sagen: Er reflektiert die Kontinuität, mit der Beijing industrielle Innovation ins Zentrum seiner Wirtschaftsstrategie stellt. "Der Rest der Welt muss reagieren", sagt Mikko Huotari. 

Zu Resilienz und Verletzlichkeiten von EU-Mitgliedstaaten im Verhältnis zu China lesen Sie mehr in unserem am 29. Oktober 2025 veröffentlichten "Europe China Resilience Audit". Analysen zum nächsten Fünfjahrplan und dem Vierten Plenum finden Sie im aktuellen "MERICS China Essentials". 

China has designated cyberspace, outer space, the polar regions and the deep sea as “strategic new frontiers”. It sees competition with the US and Europe extending into these areas as well. Helena Legarda, Head of the Foreign Relations Program at MERICS, joins Johannes Heller-John to talk about what interests China has in these areas and how Europe can catch up ground it has lost over time. Helena is the author of a new MERICS Report titled "The Arctic, outer space and influence-building: China and Russia join forces to expand in new strategic frontiers". Read the report here. 

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This podcast is part of the project “Dealing with a Resurgent China” (DWARC) which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement number 101061700.

Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

Ahead of the Fourth Plenum of the 20th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), this episode of the MERICS China Podcast looks at three issues that are high on the priority list for Chinese decisionmakers, namely urban development, social welfare and global trade tensions. Alexander Davey, Analyst in the Politics and Society Program at MERICS, joins Johannes Heller-John to talk about some of the CCP’s priorities for the next months, the upcoming Fourth Plenum from October 20 to 23 and the 15th Five-Year Plan.

You can also watch our media briefing on the Fourth Plenum and 15th Five-Year Plan or read our latest MERICS China Essentials for more coverage.

Governing the people and keeping society “harmonious”, stable and united is seen by the CCP leadership as a core task. The party is now systematically inserting itself into all layers and spheres of society. Johannes Heller-John talks to MERICS Experts Katja Drinhausen, Head of the Politics and Society Program, and Nis Grünberg, Lead Analyst. Together with Alexander Davey they are the authors of the report “Serving the people by controlling them: How the party is reinserting itself into daily life”. 

From their observations, the CCP is merging public service and control at the very local level. In their view “this is something that Xi Jinping really has put a lot of effort and resources into it since he came to power: to put the party as an organizing and structuring factor into social organization.”

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This podcast is part of the project “Dealing with a Resurgent China” (DWARC) which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement number 101061700.

Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

„China in 25“ – in rund 25 Minuten sprechen Mikko Huotari, Bernhard Bartsch und Claudia Wessling über aktuelle Entwicklungen in China. 

In dieser Folge geht es darum, wie China seine Position als globaler Akteur bei der UN-Generalversammlung in New York stärkte, wie Washington und China versuchen, einen Deal für TikTok aufzusetzen und wie europäische Firmen ihr Geschäft in China in einem neuen Positionspapier der EUCCC beurteilen.

„Vor zehn Jahren hat Beijing mit seiner ‚Made in China 2025‘ Strategie einen industriellen Führungsanspruch formuliert, vor acht Jahren wurde angekündigt, dass man auch zukünftig in internationalen Institutionen eine globale Führungsrolle spielen möchte, und heute kann man an beiden Stellen sagen: China erreicht Ziele.“

Mehr über die Themen in dieser Ausgabe erfahren Sie hier:

• UN-Generalversammlung + TikTok + Positionspapier der EU-Handelskammer, MERICS China Essentials

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, which has significantly widened its mandate since it was founded in 2001 as a regional forum for security issues, has become a prototype for Beijing and Moscow to institutionalize their coordination on geopolitical affairs and promote their own narratives as an alternative to the Western-led global order. 

Recommended reading:

• China and Russia are using the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to push alternative global order, MERICS Comment by Claus Soong
• China-Russia Dashboard: Facts and figures on a special relationship

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 ascender: China's rise in biotechnology”, published earlier this year. Research for the report is part of the MERICS China Tech Observatory (CTO), a project funded by the Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) under funding reference number 01DO24001.

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 power, having surpassed the US and left Europe far behind.”

More about the topics covered in this episode here:

• Streets ahead: China is winning the technology war with the US (The Observer)
• Global Tech Wars: China’s Race to Dominate (Pushkin)