Poverty, a major consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, is set to increase exponentially throughout the world, even though it was supposed to disappear in its most extreme form by 2030.

China

In 2017, Secretary General Xi Jinping said: "This is an era that will see China move closer to the center of the world stage". The People's Republic of China is indeed at a pivotal moment in its history, gradually acquiring all the components of power and competing with, if not surpassing, the major world powers. This new status is challenging the global balance of power, raising questions and awakening fears. The European Union and its member states are seeking to adapt their position vis-à-vis China, to face its new diplomatic assertiveness, the rise of its military and technological capacities, and to deal with the Sino-American rivalry. However, since Beijing's international policy cannot be dissociated from its domestic context, it is also necessary to analyze the internal political dynamics that dictate foreign policy choices.
Through its research activities, Ifri's Center for Asian Studies aims to provide a better understanding of contemporary China and its position on the world stage.
Senior Research Fellow and Director of Ifri's Center for Asian Studies
...Research Fellow, Center for Asian Studies
...Senior Advisor, Center for Asian Studies
...The COVID-19 pandemic has led China to develop aggressive communication, with diplomatic missions using social media extensively to spread a positive image of Chinese achievements and to criticize Western countries.
2020 has been a challenging year for the world economy. Although the magnitude of the shock triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic differed widely from one country to another, no economy was left unscathed.
From the dawn of China’s space program in the mid-1950s to the ability to build, launch and operate satellites in low Earth and geosynchronous orbits from the 1980s, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is in 2021 a complete space power with autonomous access to outer space and to deep-space...
Promoting political values (democracy, human rights and the rule of law) in China is a colossal undertaking, but the EU could be more effective than we think. To do so, it must act strategically, in unity, and in concert with like-minded partners. It must also strengthen its record of...
China is in the midst of a long-term effort to develop a world-class space program with a strong military and national security component.
This report is a result of a wide-scale study of public opinion on China in 13 European countries,1 conducted in September and October 2020, on the research sample representative with respect to gender, age, level of education, country region, and settlement density. Here, we focus on the...
In September and October 2020, the Sinophone Borderlands project at Palacký University Olomouc conducted a wide-scale survey of public opinion on China in 13 European countries. The polled countries include: Czechia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia,...
On 21 July 2020, French Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire participated remotely in the High Level Economic and Financial Dialogue with Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua.
This study assesses the prospects of a hydrogen economy with Chinese characteristics. Against the backdrop of an escalating US-China trade war and the ongoing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, key Chinese stakeholders become increasingly interested in moving the hydrogen economy agenda...
QUAD 2019 Annual Meeting, London
Since 1983, the QUAD gathers every year, the SWP, RAND Corporation, Chatham House and Ifri. The QUAD was set up during the Euromissile crisis and brings together European and American diplomats, military officers, journalists and research fellow to debate on current geopolitical issues....
The US-China Rivalry: Adjusting Strategies in Asia and Europe Conference
The deepening strategic rivalry between the United States and China has repositioned geopolitics at the center of the international system today.
The US-China Trade Conflict and its Implications for Asia Conference
Growth prospects in developing Asia are dimming. Slowing activity in major advanced economies, a re-escalation in the US-China trade conflict, and a sharp downturn in the global electronics cycle are leading to a reassessment of the region’s outlook. How much will Asia’s growth slow? How might...
G7 / Think Tank7 Summit G7 Engagement Group
The Think Thank 7 (T7) is an engagement group that brings together the leading Think Tanks from the G7 countries in order to analyze and make recommendations on key issues of the G7 presidency.
Power Competition and Regional Stability in Asia
Annual Conference of Ifri's Center for Asian Studies
Europe in data geopolitics
Data no longer should be understood as a sole commercial or regulatory issue, but rather as an actual stake of international politics. For Europe, in a context of transatlantic tensions, the impact of the digital economy’s center of gravity moving towards China is potentially significant....
Between Giants: The Sino-Indian contest for influence in the Indian Ocean Seminar
China and India are emerging as major maritime powers as part of long-term shifts in the regional balance of power.
Approaching the Indo-Pacific: American, French, Indian and Japanese Visions
The Indo-Pacific has become a buzzword since 2017, as it came to be used by all major players in the region stretching from East Africa to the Pacific.
The Rise of China in the Pacific Islands: Strategic Threat or Economic Opportunity? Séminaire
China's growing influence in the South Pacific is raising an increasing number of sensitive questions about the region's development and its role in regional geopolitics.
Chinese Investments in Europe: A country-level approach
This seminar will present and discuss the findings and recommendations from the latest report on Chinese investements in Europe by the European Think-tank Network...
Increasingly, China’s diplomacy is using key words commonly used by liberal democracies, but the meaning differs greatly. This evolution is changing the terms of the debate without changing a single term.
20 years after its retrocession to China, the 1st July 1997, what are the political and institutionnal autonomy guaranties for Hong Kong, while Carrie Lam is about to take its lead? How long will Hong Kong youth claim its own identity? What challenges for the World City?
A closer look at China’s vision for remaking Asian security, and what the United States can do about it. In October, China hosted the seventh Xiangshan Forum in Beijing, during which Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin outlined a framework for a regional security architecture...
Beijing has a plan for a new regional security architecture, and it’s not based around alliances.
Mapping Europe-China Relations: A bottom-up approach -- a recent report of the European Think-tank Network on China (
Alice Ekman gave her opinion on the international development of Chinese think tanks at a roundtable in Shanghai, organized by the Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies, Fudan University and Phoenix International Think Tank.
The Chinese government recently passed a law to bring foreign NGOs under stricter control.
The first freight train from Wuhan, in China, to Lyon, in France, reached its destination Thursday, carrying a cargo of mechanical, electrical, and chemical products — goods that are generally transported between the two countries by ship.