Analysen Und Diskussionen Über China

December 14, 2017At the 19th Communist Party Congress in October, Chinese president and party leader Xi Jinping proclaimed a “new era”. China was ready to become a global power and move to center stage, he said. What lies behind such claims? Has China taken advantage of the global leadership vacuum left by US president Trump? “Xi Jinping is an action-oriented person”, but his foreign policy record is mixed, says Akio Takahara of Tokyo University. Listen to Akio Takahara as he talks about Xi Jinping, rivalries in the Asia Pacific and why China would not abandon North Korea.

October 19, 2017The 19th Party Congress is a “Xi Jinping Show” and China’s political system, under Xi’s rule, has lost much of its flexibility. That’s the rather blunt assessment of David Shambaugh of George Washington University in Washington D.C. Shortly before the start of the 19th Party Congress, Shambaugh visited Berlin and discussed China under Xi Jinping with Willy Lam of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, who was equally sober in his assessment of the state of the People’s Republic. The exchange between the two renowned China experts on September 28 was jointly organized by the Robert Bosch Foundation and Merics and was moderated by Merics researcher Kristin Shi-Kupfer. You can listen to an edited version of the public event in our new Merics Experts podcast.

October 17, 2017The 19th Congress of the Communist Party kicks off in Beijing this week with the focus mainly on elite politics and personnel decisions in the top leadership. But the gathering of some 2300 delegates is also an opportunity to take stock of five years of Xi Jinping rule. Internationally, China plays a much more active and assertive role on the international stage. “Xi Jinping has benefitted tremendously from the world leadership vacuum left by US President Donald Trump”, says Willy Lam of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. But, he warns, China’s power projection won’t go very far unless Beijing addresses its “soft power deficit” and starts to respect international rules and laws.

16. Oktober 2017Chinas Staats- und Parteichef Xi Jinping hat die Kommunistische Partei fest im Griff. Auf dem 19. Parteitag der KPC wird er sich als der starke Mann Chinas feiern und für eine zweite Amtszeit bestätigen lassen. Schon in den ersten fünf Jahren an der Spitze der KPC hat Xi die Macht zentralisiert und dafür gesorgt, dass das Ein-Parteien-System stabilisiert wurde. Aktiv nutzt die KPC dabei unter seiner Führung neue Technologien, Big Data und die digitale Transformation. China versuche damit, einen „perfekten Überwachungsstaat“ aufzubauen, der den Gesellschaften westlicher Prägung überlegen ist, sagt Merics-Direktor Sebastian Heilmann. Auch international wähnt sich China derzeit auf „der Gewinnerstraße“, so Heilmann im neuen Merics Experts Podcast.

Vor dem 19. Parteitag am 18. Oktober versucht die chinesische Kommunistische Partei mit aller Macht das Land auf Linie zu bringen. Doch trotz jahrelanger massiver Zensur und parteistaatlicher Durchdringung der sozialen Medien sind die öffentlichen Diskussionen über die politische Ausrichtung der Volksrepublik nicht völlig verstummt. Im neuen Merics Experts Podcast berichtet Kristin Shi-Kupfer, Leiterin des Forschungsbereichs Politik, Gesellschaft und Medien, von ihrer neuen Studie über das politische Meinungsspektrum in China und die Versuche der KPC, die Bürger ideologisch stärker an sich zu binden.

26. September 2017China hat große Fußballträume und steckt viel Geld und Energie in die Entwicklung des Sports. Dabei hilft, dass auch Bundesligavereine China längst als Markt entdeckt haben. Top-Clubs wie Bayern München und der BVB Dortmund spielen regelmäßig im Reich der Mitte und haben dort eigene Büros eröffnet. Was bringt die deutsch-chinesische Zusammenarbeit? Warum geht etwa der BVB eine Partnerschaft mit einem chinesischen Club ein? Darüber hat Kristin Shi-Kupfer vom MERICS am 5. September bei der MERICS China Lounge mit Carsten Cramer, Marketing-Direktor des BVB gesprochen. Eine gekürzte Fassung der Veranstaltung hören Sie im neuen MERICS Experts Podcast.

September 15, 2017In setting up the so called Social Credit System, China plans to monitor, rate and regulate the behavior of citizens and companies with the help of big data, rewarding those who obey the rules and punishing those who cheat or don’t conform. “Social Credit is seen as a means of making people, companies, entire industrial sectors and the government more honest by monitoring behaviors,” says Shazeda Ahmed, a Ph.D. student at the University of California, Berkeley, and former Visiting Academic Fellow at MERICS. The digital mechanism the system is based on will collect data on every single person in China by 2020. What motivates the government? What are the biggest challenges in setting up the system? And: how do people in China think about this system? Listen to our latest MERICS experts podcast.

August 2, 2017The Chinese government spends millions to develop the Tibetan areas of China. But what can investment achieve in these remote regions? Can it create sustainable jobs and change people’s lives? The economist Carsten Holz of Hongkong University of Science and Technology has spent many months on the Tibetan plateau in Western Sichuan to study how Beijing’s policies affect local people’s lives. Roads have improved and access to education has increased, he says. But restrictions on travel, unequal pay and a heavy security presence fuel resentment. The central government hasn’t managed to buy the hearts and minds of the Tibetans. Listen to Holz’s observations in the new Merics Experts podcast.

July 14, 2017The announcement by US President Trump to withdraw from the Paris Agreement is a setback for international climate policy but “it will not derail the process,” says Karsten Sach, Germany’s top climate negotiator. At a conference in Berlin, jointly organized by MERICS, the European Climate Foundation and the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) he called on the international community to place climate policy “at the heart of economic, development and fiscal policies” to reach the Paris target of limiting global warming to 2C. He talked to Björn Conrad, MERICS Vice President Research, about climate policy in the Trump era, China’s new attitude and new perspectives for cooperation.

July 10, 2017Despite US President Trump’s planned withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, many American citizens, city mayors and companies still want to move ahead with transitioning to a low carbon economy. „Trump’s power isn’t as strong as you may think,“ said Barbara Finamore, Asia Director of the American environmental organization Natural Resources Defense Council (NDRC) recently in Berlin. Still, Trump’s announcement has damaged America’s international standing, she said and called on China and Germany to now take leading roles in the fight against global warming. Finamore was talking to MERICS Communications Director Claudia Wessling at a conference jointly organized by MERICS, the European Climate Foundation and the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC).

July 7, 2017Caio Koch-Weser, chairman of the board of the European Climate Foundation (ECF), calls on the G20 to speed up the transition to a low-carbon economy – despite the announcement by US President Trump to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. In his introductory remarks at a conference on Chinese-German cooperation in global climate policy, organized by MERICS, ECF and the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) on June 30, he called for action to better price carbon, to adopt guidelines for a green financial system and to strengthen Chinese-German multi-stakeholder approaches in fighting climate change.

14. Juni 2017Mobile, bargeldlose Bezahlsysteme wie Alipay gehören in China längst zum Alltag. „Ich brauche in Shanghai kein Bargeld mehr“, sagt Clas Neumann, der sogar seinen Kindern ihr Taschengeld per App zahlt. Beim Software-Hersteller SAP leitet Neumann die Abteilung „Schnell wachsende Märkte“ und die SAP-Labs, die weltweiten Innovationslabore. Seit fünf Jahren lebt er in Shanghai. Im digitalen Bereich hätten einige chinesische Unternehmen Weltspitze erreicht, beobachtet Neumann. „Ein großer Teil der digitalen Zukunft der Welt wird in China geschrieben.“ Clas Neumann im neuen Merics Experts Podcast.

May 30, 2017Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and independent journalists have played a vital role in raising awareness in China of the dangers of air pollution and other environmental challenges. Yet under the leadership of Xi Jinping, the climate for NGOs has become noticeably chillier, especially with the introduction of a new law earlier this year on overseas organizations. But “civil society still has an enormous role to play,” says Isabel Hilton, editor of China Dialogue, an environmental website that has offices in both London and Beijing. In the new MERICS Experts Podcast, she talks about the spaces for NGOs and the media in today’s China and how to navigate a tricky political environment.

24. Mai 2017China arbeitet mit Hochdruck am Aufbau eines umfassenden gesellschaftlichen Bonitätssystems. Damit soll das Verhalten von Unternehmen wie auch von Einzelpersonen erfasst und gesteuert werden. Für dieses „Social Credit System“ sammeln IT-Unternehmen und Behörden umfangreiche Daten über Bürger und Firmen und erstellen mithilfe von Algorithmen Bewertungen, die Einfluss auf das ganz alltägliche Leben haben können. Noch ist das System im Aufbau, aber für jeden einzelnen wie auch für in China tätige Unternehmen wird es weitreichende Folgen haben. Mirjam Meissner, Leiterin des Forschungsbereichs Wirtschaft und Technologie am MERICS, spricht in diesem Podcast über Big Data, Verhaltenssteuerung und IT-gestützten Autoritarismus.

February 28, 2017China’s official media like to criticize “hostile foreign forces” and “Western values” that purportedly undermine the country. Western institutions are equally singled out for their “inefficiency” in dealing with problems and crises. But do these arguments resonate with the Chinese public? Is there rising anti-Western nationalism in China? Those questions were tackled by three eminent China experts, Susan Shirk, Orville Schell and David Bandurski, on February 22nd at the MERICS “China Dispute” in Berlin. Nationalism was a handy tool for the Chinese government to rally support, they said, but liberal voices had not disappeared – despite stringent controls and strict censorship. You can listen to an edited version of the debate, moderated by MERICS researcher Kristin Shi-Kupfer, in our latest Merics Experts Podcast.

The „New Silk Road“ or „One Belt One Road Initiative“ launched by China’s President Xi Jinping in 2013 is unprecedented in scope and reach. China wants to spend some $900bn on infrastructure projects connecting the Middle Kingdom to other parts of Asia, Africa and Europe. This, Beijing hopes, will create new markets for Chinese products and provide contracts for Chinese companies. But some projects have turned into “red elephants”, others have clear strategic and military dimensions, says James Kynge, seasoned China-watcher and former FT bureau chief in Beijing. OBOR, he argues, is much more than Chinese-style globalization. Listen to James Kynge talking about China’s ambitions and the risks and opportunities of OBOR in the new Merics Experts Podcast.

20. Januar 2017Neue Krankenhäuser, moderne Geräte und eine Krankenversicherung für alle – viel hat sich verändert im chinesischen Gesundheitssystem. Der Arzt Eckehard Scharfschwerdt hat das miterlebt: 15 Jahre lang hat er auf dem Land in der Provinz Yunnan im Südwesten Chinas gearbeitet. „Die Verbesserungen sind für jeden sichtbar“, sagt er. Aber es gebe noch viel zu tun: Das Vertrauen in die Ärzte sei gering, unnötige Untersuchungen führten zur Verschwendung von Ressourcen und trotz Versicherung könne eine schwere Krankheit eine Familie immer noch zurück in die Armut stürzen. Zudem stelle der massive Anstieg von Wohlstandskrankheiten wie Bluthochdruck und Diabetes das Gesundheitssystem vor neue Herausforderungen. Eckehardt Scharfschwerdt im neuen Merics Experts Podcast.

Chinesische Auslandsinvestitionen haben 2016 erneut ein Rekordniveau erreicht. Das Investitionsvolumen stieg weltweit auf etwa 200 Milliarden US-Dollar (180 Mrd. Euro), dies entspricht einem Zuwachs von 40 Prozent gegenüber dem Vorjahr. Die Europäische Union gehört weiterhin zu den beliebtesten Investitionsstandorten, angeführt von Deutschland. Rund 35 Mrd. Euro – ein Plus von 77 Prozent – flossen im vergangenen Jahr in europäische Länder, davon über 11 Mrd. Euro nach Deutschland.Mikko Huotari, Autor des MERICS Paper on China: Chinesische Investitionen in Europa erreichen neues Rekordniveau und befeuern Debatte über Risiken, erklärt, was Europa für chinesische Investoren so attraktiv macht und wie die politischen Debatten über chinesische Investitionen innerhalb Europas zunehmend kritischer werden. Er warnt davor, die Wachstumszahlen chinesischer Investitionen im letzten Jahr auch in die Zukunft zu projizieren. Stattdessen könnte der chinesische Expansionskurs schon bald deutlich an Fahrt verlieren.

China has launched a high-tech revolution: Beijing has devised an industrial masterplan named "Made in China 2025" and is investing billions to turn China into one of the leading industrial countries by 2049.According to the plan, the domestic market share of Chinese suppliers for "basic core components and important basic materials" is intended to increase to 70 per cent by 2025.China strives for market leadership in main growth areas for a large number of industrial countries. Information technology, computerised machines, robots, energy-saving vehicles, medical devices as well as high-tech equipment for aerospace technology, maritime and rail transport are in the focus of the major industrial revamp called "Made in China 2025."In this podcast interview, the author of the latest MERICS Paper on China, Jost Wübbeke, explains how China's ambitious strategy is starting to bear fruit. Industrial countries like Germany and the United States have to be prepared for strong compet

12 October 2016, with Kevin RuddWhat does China really want with its foreign policy? Is there a grand strategy for Xi Jinping’s new multilateralism? And is China’s „One Belt, One Road“ initiative maybe less about geopolitics and more of an encounter with the complex realities in some of the most unstable countries in the world? Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd has met Xi Jinping several times and last week shared his observations with MERICS. The experienced diplomat, politician and fluent Mandarin speaker gave a lecture at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and talked to MERICS Director Sebastian Heilmann. Listen to an edited version of the event in our new MERICS Experts podcast.