MERICS
@merics.bsky.social
The Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS) is a European research and analysis institute established in 2013.
China’s domestic debates under the shadow of geopolitics are the topic of the new @chinaspektrum.bsky.social report. Alexander Davey, Christina Sadeler, Kristin Shi-Kupfer and Wutao Wen explore how views about the economy, commercial culture, and trending topics reveal self-perceptions. 1/2
November 14, 2025 at 3:50 PM
China’s domestic debates under the shadow of geopolitics are the topic of the new @chinaspektrum.bsky.social report. Alexander Davey, Christina Sadeler, Kristin Shi-Kupfer and Wutao Wen explore how views about the economy, commercial culture, and trending topics reveal self-perceptions. 1/2
The new MERICS China Essentials is out! In this issue, you can read about:
🤖 China's AI investments
🌏 The China–ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 protocol
⚖️ Beijing’s new program to tackle trade imbalances
🎓 A UK investigation of Chinese state interference in academia
merics.org/en/merics-br...
🤖 China's AI investments
🌏 The China–ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 protocol
⚖️ Beijing’s new program to tackle trade imbalances
🎓 A UK investigation of Chinese state interference in academia
merics.org/en/merics-br...
Chinese AI investments + Import expansion plan + Academic interference
Top Story China is making a costly bet on cheap energy and massive infrastructure in AI race Earlier this month, China’s government reportedly directed state-funded data centers to get rid of foreign ...
merics.org
November 14, 2025 at 9:51 AM
The new MERICS China Essentials is out! In this issue, you can read about:
🤖 China's AI investments
🌏 The China–ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 protocol
⚖️ Beijing’s new program to tackle trade imbalances
🎓 A UK investigation of Chinese state interference in academia
merics.org/en/merics-br...
🤖 China's AI investments
🌏 The China–ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 protocol
⚖️ Beijing’s new program to tackle trade imbalances
🎓 A UK investigation of Chinese state interference in academia
merics.org/en/merics-br...
We are very honored to host @iandenisjohnson.bsky.social and @josephtorigian.bsky.social for a discussion with @helenalegarda.bsky.social and Bernhard Bartsch on “Why China’s past matters: Understanding Xi Jinping and the CCP’s tight grip on history”.
November 10, 2025 at 5:52 PM
We are very honored to host @iandenisjohnson.bsky.social and @josephtorigian.bsky.social for a discussion with @helenalegarda.bsky.social and Bernhard Bartsch on “Why China’s past matters: Understanding Xi Jinping and the CCP’s tight grip on history”.
The late-October agreement between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping shelved some of China’s sweeping export controls on rare earth elements. MERICS Senior Analyst Antonia Hmaidi says that “Europe finally needs to use the window now open to de-risk its economic ties with China.” merics.org/en/comment/t...
Trump-Xi trade truce gives Europe one last chance to finally de-risk from China
The late-October agreement shelved some of China’s export controls. Antonia Hmaidi warns Europe must stop relying on luck and take real action to reduce economic vulnerabilities. At their late-Octob...
merics.org
November 7, 2025 at 2:08 PM
The late-October agreement between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping shelved some of China’s sweeping export controls on rare earth elements. MERICS Senior Analyst Antonia Hmaidi says that “Europe finally needs to use the window now open to de-risk its economic ties with China.” merics.org/en/comment/t...
For China, "involution" is a blessing and a curse, says MERICS Senior Associate Fellow Yanmei Xie: “The same mechanism that generates wasteful investment and a race to the bottom also forges China's national champions primed to crush foreign rivals.” merics.org/en/comment/c... (via Financial Times)
For China, "involution" is a blessing as well as a curse
The same mechanism that generates wasteful investment and a race to the bottom also forges China's national champions primed to crush foreign rivals, says MERICS Senior Associate Fellow Yanmei Xie.Spa...
merics.org
November 7, 2025 at 9:46 AM
For China, "involution" is a blessing and a curse, says MERICS Senior Associate Fellow Yanmei Xie: “The same mechanism that generates wasteful investment and a race to the bottom also forges China's national champions primed to crush foreign rivals.” merics.org/en/comment/c... (via Financial Times)
🗓️Join us for our discussion on “Why China’s past matters: Understanding Xi Jinping and the CCP’s tight grip on history” with Joseph Torigian, @iandenisjohnson.bsky.social, @helenalegarda.bsky.social and Bernhard Bartsch on Nov. 10, from 18-20:00 pm (CET) at MERICS.
merics.org/en/events/wh...
merics.org/en/events/wh...
Why China’s past matters: Understanding Xi Jinping and the CCP’s tight grip on history
MERICS is delighted to invite you to a discussion on “Why China’s past matters: Understanding Xi Jinping and the CCP’s tight grip on history” on Monday, November 10, from 18:00 to 20:00 (CET) at MERIC...
merics.org
October 31, 2025 at 3:13 PM
🗓️Join us for our discussion on “Why China’s past matters: Understanding Xi Jinping and the CCP’s tight grip on history” with Joseph Torigian, @iandenisjohnson.bsky.social, @helenalegarda.bsky.social and Bernhard Bartsch on Nov. 10, from 18-20:00 pm (CET) at MERICS.
merics.org/en/events/wh...
merics.org/en/events/wh...
🎙️A new episode of China in 25, our German-language podcast, is out! Our topics: the eagerly awaited Trump-Xi meeting, the state of German-Chinese relations following the cancellation of Foreign Minister Wadephul's trip to Beijing, and the next Five-Year Plan: merics.org/en/podcast/c...
October 31, 2025 at 1:34 PM
🎙️A new episode of China in 25, our German-language podcast, is out! Our topics: the eagerly awaited Trump-Xi meeting, the state of German-Chinese relations following the cancellation of Foreign Minister Wadephul's trip to Beijing, and the next Five-Year Plan: merics.org/en/podcast/c...
In a special issue of MERICS China Essentials, our experts share their takeaways from the Fourth Plenum of the Chinese Communist Party’s current Central Committee which charted the course for China’s forthcoming 2026-2030 Five-Year Plan (FYP). Read it here: merics.org/en/merics-br...
MERICS China Essentials special issue: China's next Five-Year Plan
Top Story China bets on manufacturing to carry growth in the next 5 years By Alexander BrownEuropean businesses need to prepare themselves for ever fiercer competition from Chinese firms in a growing ...
merics.org
October 31, 2025 at 1:33 PM
In a special issue of MERICS China Essentials, our experts share their takeaways from the Fourth Plenum of the Chinese Communist Party’s current Central Committee which charted the course for China’s forthcoming 2026-2030 Five-Year Plan (FYP). Read it here: merics.org/en/merics-br...
European countries have made only limited progress in strengthening resilience-building measures and reducing vulnerability towards China over the past year. This is the conclusion from the 2025 MERICS Europe-China Resilience Audit: merics.org/en/report/me... 1/5
October 30, 2025 at 1:31 PM
European countries have made only limited progress in strengthening resilience-building measures and reducing vulnerability towards China over the past year. This is the conclusion from the 2025 MERICS Europe-China Resilience Audit: merics.org/en/report/me... 1/5
China’s economy faced growing challenges in Q3 as GDP growth slowed to 4.8%. Alexander Brown and Andreas Mischer stress that this latest economic slowdown will, however, not derail Beijing’s policy priorities. Read a free excerpt from the new MERICS Economic Indicators: merics.org/en/tracker/c...
October 27, 2025 at 12:20 PM
China’s economy faced growing challenges in Q3 as GDP growth slowed to 4.8%. Alexander Brown and Andreas Mischer stress that this latest economic slowdown will, however, not derail Beijing’s policy priorities. Read a free excerpt from the new MERICS Economic Indicators: merics.org/en/tracker/c...
New Q&A: Katja Drinhausen, Head of Program of the research team "Politics & Society" at MERICS, shares her first assessments on the outcomes of the Fourth Plenum and the course charted at the Plenum for the next Five-Year Plan (2026-2030): merics.org/en/press-rel...
October 24, 2025 at 3:21 PM
New Q&A: Katja Drinhausen, Head of Program of the research team "Politics & Society" at MERICS, shares her first assessments on the outcomes of the Fourth Plenum and the course charted at the Plenum for the next Five-Year Plan (2026-2030): merics.org/en/press-rel...
Reposted by MERICS
Happy to contribute to urgent @merics.bsky.social Forum, expertly hosted by Grzegorz Stec and colleagues! I argue that risky promote policies (price floors, state investment, guaranteed offtake) that "plug holes" are necessary...
But not enough...
merics.org/en/comment/m...
@euiss.bsky.social
But not enough...
merics.org/en/comment/m...
@euiss.bsky.social
October 24, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Happy to contribute to urgent @merics.bsky.social Forum, expertly hosted by Grzegorz Stec and colleagues! I argue that risky promote policies (price floors, state investment, guaranteed offtake) that "plug holes" are necessary...
But not enough...
merics.org/en/comment/m...
@euiss.bsky.social
But not enough...
merics.org/en/comment/m...
@euiss.bsky.social
Beijing’s expanding export controls pose a critical challenge to EU industry and could hinder efforts to strengthen its defense sector. How can the EU navigate China’s rare earths export restrictions? In a new MERICS Forum, leading experts share their takes: merics.org/en/comment/m...
MERICS Forum: How can the EU navigate China’s rare earths export controls
Beijing’s expanding export controls and practice of leveraging other actors’ dependencies pose a critical challenge to EU industry and could hinder efforts to strengthen its defense sector. China’s Mi...
merics.org
October 24, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Beijing’s expanding export controls pose a critical challenge to EU industry and could hinder efforts to strengthen its defense sector. How can the EU navigate China’s rare earths export restrictions? In a new MERICS Forum, leading experts share their takes: merics.org/en/comment/m...
Reposted by MERICS
New from @merics.bsky.social's Jacob Gunter & @mikkohuotari.bsky.social: Beijing’s brute-force technology push is doing more than triggering a second “China shock”; it is submerging global markets and pulling under Europe’s industrial competitiveness.
ip-quarterly.com/en/shockwave...
ip-quarterly.com/en/shockwave...
Shockwaves Made in China
Beijing’s brute-force push in technology and industry is doing more than triggering a second “China shock.”
ip-quarterly.com
October 23, 2025 at 1:05 PM
New from @merics.bsky.social's Jacob Gunter & @mikkohuotari.bsky.social: Beijing’s brute-force technology push is doing more than triggering a second “China shock”; it is submerging global markets and pulling under Europe’s industrial competitiveness.
ip-quarterly.com/en/shockwave...
ip-quarterly.com/en/shockwave...
Help us to get China right and participate in our 🔮MERICS China Forecast Survey for 2026:
🖊️https://de.surveymonkey.com/r/WYLC7DT
The results will help to forecast opportunities and challenges in Europe’s future relations with China. We guarantee participant's anonymity and confidentiality.
🖊️https://de.surveymonkey.com/r/WYLC7DT
The results will help to forecast opportunities and challenges in Europe’s future relations with China. We guarantee participant's anonymity and confidentiality.
October 23, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Help us to get China right and participate in our 🔮MERICS China Forecast Survey for 2026:
🖊️https://de.surveymonkey.com/r/WYLC7DT
The results will help to forecast opportunities and challenges in Europe’s future relations with China. We guarantee participant's anonymity and confidentiality.
🖊️https://de.surveymonkey.com/r/WYLC7DT
The results will help to forecast opportunities and challenges in Europe’s future relations with China. We guarantee participant's anonymity and confidentiality.
On its road to becoming a global power, Beijing is expanding its dual-use presence in new strategic frontiers, including outer space, the polar regions, cyberspace and the deep sea. Read our report by @helenalegarda.bsky.social for the EU-funded project China Horizons. merics.org/en/report/ar...
October 22, 2025 at 2:06 PM
On its road to becoming a global power, Beijing is expanding its dual-use presence in new strategic frontiers, including outer space, the polar regions, cyberspace and the deep sea. Read our report by @helenalegarda.bsky.social for the EU-funded project China Horizons. merics.org/en/report/ar...
MERICS Lead Analyst Rebecca Arcesati will be joining a @dgap.org Morning Briefing to discuss China's technology and export restrictions this Thursday. Learn more and register via the post below⬇️
Join our next #MorningBriefing on Thursday! Together with Michael Laha, Rebecca Arcesati @merics.bsky.social & @leemakiyama.bsky.social, we will look at the new wave of technology & export restrictions announced by 🇨🇳 and examine the implications of these new controls.
China Strikes Back: An Update on the US-China Trade and Tech War
dgap.org
October 22, 2025 at 2:06 PM
MERICS Lead Analyst Rebecca Arcesati will be joining a @dgap.org Morning Briefing to discuss China's technology and export restrictions this Thursday. Learn more and register via the post below⬇️
New episode of our podcast with @adavey.bsky.social looks at the upcoming Fourth Plenum from October 20 to 23, the 15th Five-Year Plan, and the CCP’s priorities for the next months. Listen to the episode here: merics.org/en/podcast/c...
CCP priorities and the Fourth Plenum, with Alexander Davey
merics.org
October 18, 2025 at 8:17 AM
New episode of our podcast with @adavey.bsky.social looks at the upcoming Fourth Plenum from October 20 to 23, the 15th Five-Year Plan, and the CCP’s priorities for the next months. Listen to the episode here: merics.org/en/podcast/c...
The new MERICS China Essentials is out! In this issue, Jacob Gunter, Altynay Junusova, Katja Drinhausen and Helena Legarda cover China's rare-earths export controls, Nexperia, the upcoming Fourth Plenum and China-Russia-North Korea relations: merics.org/en/merics-br...
Rare-earths export controls + Nexperia + Fourth Plenum
Top Story Beijing’s expanded export controls mirror US measures – on a much larger scale China expanded its export controls last week in ways that are much like US controls, but on a radically larger ...
merics.org
October 16, 2025 at 5:04 PM
The new MERICS China Essentials is out! In this issue, Jacob Gunter, Altynay Junusova, Katja Drinhausen and Helena Legarda cover China's rare-earths export controls, Nexperia, the upcoming Fourth Plenum and China-Russia-North Korea relations: merics.org/en/merics-br...
"Getting China right" needs to be a joint exercise. This is why we would like to invite you to participate in our annual 🔮MERICS China Forecast 2026. Help us build a picture of prevailing expectations and opinions about China’s trajectory in the coming year.
✍️ de.surveymonkey.com/r/WYLC7DT
✍️ de.surveymonkey.com/r/WYLC7DT
October 16, 2025 at 11:48 AM
"Getting China right" needs to be a joint exercise. This is why we would like to invite you to participate in our annual 🔮MERICS China Forecast 2026. Help us build a picture of prevailing expectations and opinions about China’s trajectory in the coming year.
✍️ de.surveymonkey.com/r/WYLC7DT
✍️ de.surveymonkey.com/r/WYLC7DT
✨A warm welcome to Johanna Krebs who joined MERICS as a Fellow yesterday. Previously, Johanna worked in the Beijing office of @giz.de, @gmfus.bsky.social and @diplo.de. Her research interests are on the intersection of 🌱climate, 🏭industry, and 🛡️security. merics.org/en/team/joha...
October 16, 2025 at 7:38 AM
✨A warm welcome to Johanna Krebs who joined MERICS as a Fellow yesterday. Previously, Johanna worked in the Beijing office of @giz.de, @gmfus.bsky.social and @diplo.de. Her research interests are on the intersection of 🌱climate, 🏭industry, and 🛡️security. merics.org/en/team/joha...
🎧The Chinese Communist Party is merging public service and control at the very local level. Katja Drinhausen and Nis Grünberg unpack how Beijing has been systematically inserting itself into all spheres of society in a new episode of our podcast. merics.org/en/podcast/l...
The local reassertion of the Communist Party, with Katja Drinhausen and Nis Grünberg
merics.org
October 15, 2025 at 10:13 AM
🎧The Chinese Communist Party is merging public service and control at the very local level. Katja Drinhausen and Nis Grünberg unpack how Beijing has been systematically inserting itself into all spheres of society in a new episode of our podcast. merics.org/en/podcast/l...
Reposted by MERICS
1/ 🚨 China's new #RareEarth export controls are hitting Europe’s rearmament plans hard - but they open a strategic window. 👉Read our new article by Niklas Hintermayer & Antonia Hmaidi originally published as a part of @merics.bsky.social rare-earth series 👉 chinaobservers.eu/chinas-rare-... #China
China’s Rare-Earths Export Controls Hit EU Rearmament – but Open a Strategic Window – chinaobservers
This article was originally published by MERICS as part of its series on China’s rare-earths export controls and is republished here with the permission of the
chinaobservers.eu
October 15, 2025 at 9:47 AM
1/ 🚨 China's new #RareEarth export controls are hitting Europe’s rearmament plans hard - but they open a strategic window. 👉Read our new article by Niklas Hintermayer & Antonia Hmaidi originally published as a part of @merics.bsky.social rare-earth series 👉 chinaobservers.eu/chinas-rare-... #China
⏰Two days left to apply for our research internships from January-March 2026. This program is your chance to apply and expand the skills acquired during your studies and contribute to independent policy-oriented research on China. Learn more: merics.org/en/opportuni...
October 13, 2025 at 12:19 PM
⏰Two days left to apply for our research internships from January-March 2026. This program is your chance to apply and expand the skills acquired during your studies and contribute to independent policy-oriented research on China. Learn more: merics.org/en/opportuni...
🚘A year on from the introduction of the EU’s tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles, MERICS experts Jacob Gunter and @grzegorzstec.bsky.social share their assessment of the results so far and strategic choices ahead. Read a free excerpt from our new Europe China 360°: merics.org/en/merics-br...
October 10, 2025 at 1:51 PM
🚘A year on from the introduction of the EU’s tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles, MERICS experts Jacob Gunter and @grzegorzstec.bsky.social share their assessment of the results so far and strategic choices ahead. Read a free excerpt from our new Europe China 360°: merics.org/en/merics-br...