As international relations are increasingly reorganized around the US-China rivalry, the tensions between these two great powers are shaping a growing number of sectors, and the exchange of sensitive technologies in particular. This is a critical issue for European companies today. <...>

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
...At first glance, China and Turkey have many interests to cooperate. The deployment of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Turkey's colossal investment and financing needs, as well as President Erdogan's mistrust of the West, appear as many converging interests. Yet economic cooperation...
Xi Jinping’s announcement of carbon neutrality is impeccably timed, but the hard part lies ahead.
When politics catches up to the economy. In the wake of the EU-China summit, what can we expect from the bilateral relations? 2020 was supposed to be the year of EU-China relations. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has quickly disrupted the positive expectations.
The coronavirus pandemic has thrown a harsh spotlight on the state of global governance. Faced with the greatest emergency since the Second World War, nations have regressed into narrow self-interest. The concept of a rules-based international order has been stripped of meaning, while...
As a frontline zone and a pivot, Southeast Asia is both a testing ground and a showcase of China’s ambitions in developing a grand cooperative scheme. Creating mutually positive linkages is crucial for both partners, if not for the same reasons.
Will China rise stronger from the pandemic? A flow of media reports and op-eds have recently flourished, forecasting the decline of the West and the triumph of China on the world stage amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have declared the dawn of a “post-Western world”.
In February 2020, the Ifri Center for Asian Studies and the Research Institute for Peace and Security (RIPS) held a conference on the Asian security environment.
Analysis from 19 countries reveals the complexities of Europe’s relations with China amid the Covid-19 crisis.
China is rapidly emerging as a formidable power in the development of technical standards, transforming the international standard-setting landscape and reintroducing an element of geopolitics into what are too often considered as benign, technical processes.
Democracy in Asia: Models, Experiences and Challenges
Assessing the state of democracy in Asia is a challenge. While some countries, such as Japan and India, have been showing the way from early days, some others, such as in Southeast Asia are still struggling to ensure stable and sustainable democratic institutions and practices.
Competing Worldviews and the Changing Order in Asia
As the regional balance of power in Asia continues to evolve and tensions in a number of hot spots - from the Korean Peninsula to the East and South China Seas and the Taiwan Strait - either simmer or intensify, the future of regional stability is increasingly uncertain. Within this context,...
A Brave New World for Trade? Discussing the Trade Strategies of the US, EU, Japan and China
The global environment for trade is undergoing significant changes.
The Balkans Silk Road - New Perspectives for the Western Balkans as China and the European Union Connect in South Eastern Europe Séminaire international d'experts
A seminar of the Reflection Forum "The Western Balkans in the European Union" - Participation upon invitation only
China’s Belt and Road – Towards Globalization with Chinese Characteristics? Ifri-OCP Policy Center Roundtables
In 2013, Chinese president Xi Jinping first unveiled his broad vision to develop regional connectivity and infrastructure across Eurasia that would later be officially named the Belt and Road Initiative (or yi dai yi lu, One Belt, One Road, or OBOR).
Japan's Relations with China and South Korea: The Way ahead
Japan-China relations and Japan-South Korea relations, both very important pillars of international relations in East Asia, are instable and often fraught with bitterness. Controversial...
Europe and China's New Silk Roads
As China elaborates on the design of its "Belt and Road Initiative" (OBOR), the place of Europe within this project is slowly but surely taking shape.
China’s Stability at Risk: Economic, Social and Environmental Challenges
As economic jitters and environmental mismanagement are fueling social protest in China, this seminar will examine how these factors can eventually undermine economic and political stability in the country. Asian, European and American experts will gather to share their views on the economic,...
China's New Silk Roads and China-Europe Relations Seminar
As China elaborates on the design of its "Belt and Road Initiative" (OBOR), the place of Europe within this project is slowly but surely taking shape.
Transforming Asia: What impact of international politics and grand strategies on regional stability?
As the regional balance of power in East Asia continues to evolve and tensions in a number of hot spots - from the East and South China Seas to the Korean Peninsula and the Taiwan Strait - either simmer or intensify, the future of regional stability is increasingly uncertain....
Despite the political tensions that oppose Japan, China and South Korea, recent months have seen a certain rapprochement between Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing. The first trilateral summit in three years was held in November 2015.
Reports have emerged that China has set up a missile launch base on Woody Island, part of an archipelago disputed with Taiwan and Vietnam. This comes just as the US President was wrapping up an ASEAN summit to strengthen ties after the recent Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. How will this...
Después de haber rehuido durante años implicarse en una región que considera un avispero, China quiere finalmente mostrarse como un participante más activo en Oriente Medio. La visita que el presidente chino, Xi Jinping, comienza este martes a Arabia Saudí, Irán y Egipto señala la creciente...
John Seaman answers questions from the China Daily on the recently concluded negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and their consequences for China and for Europe.
...While China may be setting the bar high for itself in it's commitments for the COP21 climate negotiations this December, these ultimately serve to foster necessary progress on environmental issues and economic...
During his state visit in the United States, the Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a new model of relations between the two countries. In Alice Ekman’s opinion, the notion of a
Los actos que esta semana organiza China para conmemorar el 70 aniversario de su victoria ante Japón, coronados por un desfile militar en la plaza de Tiananmen, plantean un nuevo desafío a los lazos entre Pekín y Tokio, ya dañados en los últimos años por desavenencias históricas y...
Alice Ekman comments the defense posture of China as Beijing is holding a large military parade on September 3rd.
El régimen comunista chino hará el miércoles una exhibición de poderío ante el mundo sin reparar en medios. Doce mil soldados, 500 piezas de armamento —muchas nunca vistas en público— y 200 aeronaves participarán en un desfile militar en la plaza de Tiananmen con motivo del 70º aniversario de...