Geoeconomic Competition

In this episode of Geoeconomic Competition, Francesca Ghiretti speaks with Dr. Jost Wübbeke is Managing Partner at Sinolytics, about the content of China's 15th Five Year Plan (2026-203). What are the new priorities? Does the plan tackles some of China's economic challenges? What about consumption? What does the plan tell us about the trajectory of China's tech self-reliance? 

In this episode of Geoeconomic Competition, Francesca Ghiretti speaks with Garima Mohan, Senior Fellow in the Indo-Pacific Program at GMF, about the future of the EU–India agreement and what it reveals about shifting geoeconomic priorities. The conversation explores the details of the EU-India FTA and the future of the relationship as Brussels and New Delhi deepen engagement amid global economic competition.

In this episode of Geoeconomic Competition, Francesca Ghiretti speaks with Cory Combs, Associate Director at Trivium, about the intensifying global competition over critical minerals and the strategic responses taking shape in Washington and beyond. The conversation explores how US policy is evolving, how allies are aligning - or diverging - and what this means for China’s central role in global mineral supply chains and the future of economic security.

How is the European Union redefining economic security in an era of geopolitical tension? In this episode of Geoeconomic Competition, Francesca Ghiretti sits down with François Chimits, Head of the Europe Program at Institut Montaigne, to examine the EU’s progress, its strategic direction, and the challenges it still must overcome.

At the end of January 2026, Qiushi published a 2024 speech by Xi Jinping that, among other themes, underscored the strategic importance of having a global reserve currency. In this episode of Geoeconomic Competition, Gerard DiPippo breaks down China’s evolving ambitions for an internationalised renminbi, and how realistic Beijing’s ambitions are.

Europe and the US are racing to bring manufacturing back home - but should they be? Inspired by an article from The Economist, Chris Miller, Professor of International History at Tufts’ Fletcher School and author of Chip War, digs into the real economic benefits of manufacturing. We unpack why policymakers are so keen on factories, whether manufacturing still delivers meaningful gains in jobs and growth, and what it might mean for advanced economies to fully embrace a service-led future.

With the EU and China reaching price undertakings on Chinese EV imports, this episode features Ágnes Szunomár, Associate Professor at Corvinus University of Budapest, to unpack the scale, motives, and consequences of Chinese investment in Europe’s BEV sector. The discussion probes whether Chinese investments in the sector can become genuine growth poles for European supply chains or remain technologically self-contained enclaves. We examine what Europe gains in terms of strategic know how, industrial competitiveness, and market share. Finally, we assess how these developments reshape Europe’s economic dependencies and strategic autonomy in the green transition.

In the final 2025 episode of Geoeconomic Competition, Yanmei Xie tackles the big questions behind China’s anti-involution campaign. What distinguishes involution from overcapacity, and why does that distinction matter? Why is China’s overcapacity treated as a  problem when similar conditions elsewhere are not? And can the anti-involution drive meaningfully address China’s economic challenges? Finally, could it ease some of the core tensions between China and the EU?

On the 18th of December, the leaders of the EU will discuss the much debated reparation loan, a proposal to use the frozen Russian assets to finance the Ukrainian war effort. In this episode, Lucas Guttenberg, Director of the programme Europes Future at Bertelsmann Stiftung unpacks what the reparation loan is, how it works and why this decision is so important for Europe.

On 5 November, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral argument on the use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) by Donald Trump to impose sweeping tariffs. The decision, which is expected in the next few months, will determine the future of both Fentanyl tariffs as well as Liberation Day tariffs. The decision, however, will have much wider and deeper implications for Trump's wider approach to trade as well as the functioning of check and balances in the United States. Francesca Ghiretti unpacks the story with Geoffrey Gertz is a senior fellow with the Energy, Economics, and Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) and co-host of the Derisky Business podcast.