European Guanxi Podcast

What is it like to sit across the table from Xi Jinping? Former President of the European Parliament and Chairman of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Martin Schulz shares first-hand insights about his meetings with China’s leader. In this episode, European Guanxi Vice President Hannah Preuß talks with Martin Schulz about his fight to strengthen the European Parliament, why even Germany and France are too small to face China and the US on their own, and why access to the single market’s 450 million consumers is the EU’s strongest lever. His formula for dealing with Beijing: reciprocity and Realpolitik. His message to young Europeans: don’t fall for populists who promise a golden future by describing a golden past.As the third-place winner of the 2026 Charlemagne Youth Prize, European Guanxi was honoured to speak to a recipient of the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen, a prize awarded for distinguished service on behalf of European unification. Martin Schulz received the Charlemagne Prize in 2015. Show notes: Martin Schulz: https://www.fes.de/martin-schulzFriedrich-Ebert-Stiftung: https://china.fes.de/Recent Publication on China by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung:https://www.fes.de/news/eu-china-handelskonflikt-wie-china-auf-europa-blickt

The EU officially describes its relationship with China as simultaneously a partner, a competitor, and a systemic rival. In this episode, Dr Lola Woetzel joins us to unpack what that framing actually looks like in practice, and whether rivalry is the most useful lens to understand the relationship.Hosted by Francesca Pala, we discuss the current state of EU-China relations, where cooperation remains possible, especially on climate, how European engagement is perceived from the Chinese side, and what 照镜子 (zhào jìngzi), looking in the mirror for self-examination, might mean for both sides moving forward.We also explore China's rise in global technology and what that means for European competitiveness, market opportunities for European green business in China today, and whether there's a more constructive framing of the relationship, one that does not necessarily require zero-sum winners and losers. Dr Woetzel draws on her own experience navigating both business and policy across the two regions, reflecting on areas for cooperation and what that process of self-examination might look like for European institutions in the years to come.

In this episode, we welcome Lea Sahay, China correspondent for the German Süddeutsche Zeitung in Beijing. We talk about Lea’s experience as a journalist in a rapidly changing China over the past decade and explore what shapes Europe's image of China in a contradictory era of derisking, dancing robots, and China-maxing. We ask what European political delegations may miss about China’s societal model among high-tech factory tours, and look at the role journalism can play in translating a country full of contradictions. The conversation also asks where EU-China relations are heading looking forward and where room for engagement remains. Lea Sahay is the China correspondent of the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung in Beijing and the author of “Das Ende des Chinesischen Traums: Leben in Xi Jinpings neuem China” (2024). You can follow Lea on Instagram @lea.sahay and subscribe to the “China und wir” Podcast on Spotify.

In Conversation with Ambassador MassimoFor centuries, Italy and China have been linked by explorers, missionaries, and traders, from Marco Polo's journey along the Silk Road to Matteo Ricci's arrival during the Ming dynasty. Today, that relationship is carried forward through the essential role of diplomats, described by Ambassador Ambrosetti as "intellectuals in action," balancing intellectual and cultural depth with concrete, strategic results.How does the current security and strategic environment shape the way we understand European Union-China relations today? How does the European Union's framing of China as partner, competitor, and rival actually manifest in practice? And what can young Europeans learn about engaging with China diplomatically, at a time when artificial intelligence and emerging technologies are reshaping the very nature of that relationship?In this episode, we are joined by Ambassador Massimo Ambrosetti, Italy's Ambassador to the People's Republic of China, a diplomat, scholar, and one of Italy's foremost experts on China. Ambassador Ambrosetti first arrived in Beijing in 1994 and has since built a career spanning the Permanent Representation of Italy to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Brussels, the Italian Embassy in Washington, and the National Cybersecurity Agency of Italy, before taking up his current post in May 2023.Hosted by Francesca Pala, this episode explores his personal journey with China, the historical roots of Italy-China relations, and how Italy positions itself within the broader European Union-China dynamic. Ambassador Ambrosetti also offers candid advice for the next generation of young Europeans preparing to navigate a diplomatic landscape increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence and emerging technologies.

PARIS, July 9, 2026 — In this inaugural episode of the European Guanxi × Asia Society Policy Institute Center for China Analysis podcast series, host Xaver Haack, Secretary-General of European Guanxi, sits down with Jing Qian, vice president of the Asia Society and co-founder and managing director of the Center for China Analysis; and Philippe Le Corre, senior fellow for Foreign Policy and National Security at the Center for China Analysis, to unpack the state of EU-China relations in mid-2026. Recorded live at the Asia Society's Paris Summer Summit 2026, the conversation covers Europe's €360 billion trade deficit with China, the real drivers behind Chinese EV and solar overcapacity, the EU's de-risking strategy, prospects for clean-tech technology transfer, and Jing Qian's new framework for "rightsizing competition" between the US, EU, and China. A must-listen for anyone tracking EU-China economic relations, industrial policy, and transatlantic strategy in 2026. Visit the Center for China Analysis for more:https://asiasociety.org/km/node/32662?page=15https://centerforchinaanalysis.asiasociety.org/

The WTO is supposed to govern global trade relations. But that promise is increasingly under strain. Unilateral tariffs, a paralysed dispute settlement mechanism and deepening rivalry between major powers have pushed the WTO into deadlock, with reform now firmly on the agenda. What is really behind the WTO’s current crisis? How can China and the EU be characterised within it? What is important to consider when advancing WTO reform? And where does that leave the rest of the world, particularly the Global South?In this episode, Kiara Link hosts Dr. Clara Weinhardt, professor and researcher at Maastricht University. Together, they diagnose the WTO’s deadlock, contextualise China’s role within the institution and discuss how the EU and China might shape international trade relations under the “geoeconomic turn”, as growing economic uncertainty urges both powers to rethink their strategies. Thereby, Dr. Weinhardt shares insights from a Global South perspective to complement the dynamics of multilateral trade relations. Stay tuned as we unpack WTO dynamics from not only a Sino-European perspective, but beyond! Check out Dr. Weinhardt’s publications if you want to know more about the WTO and the EU’s and China’s role in international trade: Expanding the WTO’s Scope in a Shifting Geopolitical LandscapeRevitalising and Reforming the World Trade Organization in an Age of GeopoliticsThe WTO Between Two Worlds: Strategic Choices for EU Action

How can the EU balance economic pragmatism with strategic prudence when facing a growing Chinese interest in European seaports? What does it mean when China acquires port authority, and how can the EU react?Increasingly, Beijing's investment in European ports has revealed a sensitive structural dilemma, exposing not only differences between EU Member States but also a lack of a comprehensive strategy that organises an adequate response guaranteeing European interests.In this episode, Kiara Link and Ariel Cardozo Calatrava co-host with Marc Moquette and Simon van Oortmerssen from the China Knowledge Network to dive into Europe’s strategic response to Chinese investment in ports, its diverse stakeholders, and possible strategies for action.Stay tuned if you want to hear more about European port politics and dynamics!

China is leading the world in solar, wind, EVs, battery storage, and clean-tech manufacturing. It is also adding coal capacity at a massive scale. How does that even work?In this episode of European Guanxi, Audrey Berder speaks with Belinda Schäpe from CREA about the real forces shaping China's energy transition; a story far more complex than conventional analysis suggests.Some key points of often omitted in this story:🏭 Provincial governments and state-owned enterprises pursuing overlapping policy objectives📊 How emissions have actually started leveling off despite coal expansion💰 Clean energy becoming a genuine economic growth driver, not just policy implementation🚗 The explosive rise of EVs and electric trucks reshaping industrial capacity🔌 Battery storage solving flexibility challenges the grid desperately needsBut here is what matters most: understanding China's transition means recognising the interplay of tensions and opportunities shaping energy markets globally.The implications extend across trade, industrial competitiveness, Belt and Road, green exports, and carbon markets. Europe must engage thoughtfully with China's transition, considering both competitive and cooperative dimensions.This is the China energy analysis the moment demands.

Are we witnessing the slow erosion of dollar dominance?For decades, the US dollar has been the undisputed backbone of the international financial system. Yet growing geopolitical tensions, sanctions, and shifting patterns of trade have posed a question once considered unthinkable: can the world reduce its dependence on the dollar?In this episode, we explore China’s ambitious effort to internationalise the Renminbi, the realities behind the de-dollarisation debate, and whether the future monetary order will be defined by a single hegemon or a growing constellation of competing currencies.Ariel Cardozo Calatrava hosts Marc Moquette and Simon van Oortmerssen from the China Knowledge Network once again, to unpack this complex interplay between political soft power and geoeconomics.

Indonesia is now the world's largest nickel producer, supplying 64% of global output in 2024 — yet the mineral powering the EV revolution remains one of the most carbon-intensive to produce. Most of Indonesia's fast-growing nickel processing industry relies on captive coal, locking in one of the world's most carbon-intensive industrial pathways — and China, which controls about three-quarters of Indonesia's smelting capacity, sits at the centre of both the problem and its potential resolution. Audrey Berder speaks with Dr. Muyi Yang, Senior Energy Analyst at Ember, on whether the green transition can reconcile its own contradictions. An insightful conversation for anyone interested in critical minerals, EU-China relations, or the geopolitics of the energy transition.