Digital China

Research and Insights

A worker is producing photovoltaic modules for export at a 5G smart workshop of a new energy company in Suqian, Jiangsu province, China, September 3, 2024.

Digital China

Real economy digitalization + Energy sector upgrade + Supply chains

Andreas Mischer

Esther Goreichy

MERICS China Industries

Jun 26, 2025

US swings boldly to block China’s AI progress, with fallout for other countries

Wendy Chang

Antonia Hmaidi

Comment

Feb 18, 2025

Data Marketplaces and Governance: Lessons from China (CIGI)

Rebecca Arcesati

External publication

Nov 12, 2024

The Chinese way (World Energy)

Rebecca Arcesati

External publication

Nov 01, 2024

China’s drive for self-sufficiency in critical technologies, with Antonia Hmaidi

Podcast

Oct 02, 2024

MERICS starts the China Tech Observatory

Press release

Sep 26, 2024

Large language model development in China thrives, but geopolitics may spell trouble

Wendy Chang

Comment

Sep 26, 2024

Chinese firms prepare to take a piece of the weight-loss drug market

Jeroen Groenewegen-Lau

Comment

Sep 26, 2024

Profile: Huawei

Antonia Hmaidi

Sep 26, 2024

CTO-Comment_Digital-Connectivity_306214487

Chinese telcos join rush to build AI models despite chip shortage

Rebecca Arcesati

Sep 26, 2024

staff member of the East China Sea Comprehensive Agricultural Experiment Station of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences checks the growth of tissue culture seedlings in Lianyungang, East China's Jiangsu province, Feb 29, 2024.

Public private R&D + Digital talent + Advanced manufacturing

Alexander Brown

Rebecca Arcesati

MERICS China Industries

May 08, 2024

The challenge of obtaining information from China, with Vincent Brussee

Podcast

Feb 26, 2024

Security guards stand guard at the closed gates of the Forbidden City

The increasing challenge of obtaining information from Xi's China

Kai von Carnap

Report

Feb 15, 2024

"Democratic chip supply chain" or "silicon shield" - semiconductor industry to secure Taiwan (Tagesspiegel)

Antonia Hmaidi

External publication

Jan 12, 2024

Chinese hacking activities, with Antonia Hmaidi

Podcast

Jan 05, 2024

Fragmenting cyberspace: The future of the internet in China

Kai von Carnap

Antonia Hmaidi

Rebecca Arcesati

Jeroen Groenewegen-Lau

Report

Nov 30, 2023

“Here to stay” – Chinese state-affiliated hacking for strategic goals

Antonia Hmaidi

Report

Nov 22, 2023

AI entanglements: Balancing risks and rewards of European-Chinese collaboration

Rebecca Arcesati

Wendy Chang

Antonia Hmaidi

Kai von Carnap

Report

Nov 16, 2023

Engineers work on the server cabinets in a new section of Wuhan Supercomputing Center in Wuhan.

Data export rules+ Beijing's silence on Hamas attacks + EU technology risk assessment

Oct 12, 2023

Baidu's Ernie Bot app is pictured on an iPhone

China’s censors back down on generative AI

Rebecca Arcesati

Comment

Aug 09, 2023

A mobile phone displays a E-CNY currency interface in Yichang, Hubei Province, Feb 9, 2022.

The e-CNY will not help the yuan displace the dollar any time soon

François Chimits

Comment

May 05, 2023

Residents buy drinks at a vending machine by scanning the code of a digital RMB wallet. at Nanjing East Road subway station in Shanghai, China, Feb. 24, 2021.

The digital yuan struggles to find Chinese shoppers willing to spend it

Kai von Carnap

Comment

May 05, 2023

Europe should regulate TikTok, not ban it

Kai von Carnap

Antonia Hmaidi

External publication

Apr 26, 2023

Fragmentation of the internet, with Kai von Carnap

Podcast

Mar 31, 2023

Digital data binary coding transmission effect. transferring of big data future technologies. 3D illustration

Fragmenting network protocols – China and the end of the web as we know it

Antonia Hmaidi

Kai von Carnap

Comment

Feb 24, 2023

Fragmenting data governance – Europe needs a strategy to live with China

Rebecca Arcesati

Comment

Feb 23, 2023

An employee of China Mobile Communications Group checks a 5G base station tower

Fragmenting technology – 6G mobile could divide the world

Jeroen Groenewegen-Lau

Comment

Feb 22, 2023

The Chinese flag is seen on a portable mobile device in this photo illustration

Fragmenting the internet – beyond and within the Great Firewall

Kai von Carnap

Comment

Feb 21, 2023

Why Europe struggles with US export controls on China (The Diplomat)

Rebecca Arcesati

Antonia Hmaidi

External publication

Dec 27, 2022

German government stops sale of chip factory to Chinese-owned buyer

Antonia Hmaidi

Press release

Nov 10, 2022

Digitalisation for sustainable infrastructure: The road ahead

Rebecca Arcesati

External publication

Oct 17, 2022

How China plans to engineer its way out of technology ‘strangleholds’ (ASPI)

Michael Laha

External publication

Sep 26, 2022

Chinese public databases leaks reveal growing dissatisfaction with authorities

Antonia Hmaidi

Comment

Sep 19, 2022

Didi fine marks new phase in Beijing’s rectification of tech sector

Comment

Aug 09, 2022

A man stands in police station, in Shanghai, China, 06 July 2022.

Shanghai police-database breach exposes lax data protection

Rebecca Arcesati

Antonia Hmaidi

Comment

Jul 20, 2022

Chinese National Flag on PC circuit board

Beijing’s watchful eye on all data flowing in and out of China

Kai von Carnap

Comment

Jul 08, 2022

A worker maintains equipments at a cloud computing base under construction in Zhongwei City

Oceans of data lift all boats: China’s data centers move west

Jeroen Groenewegen-Lau

Comment

Jul 06, 2022

China Shanghai The First Internet + Government Service Demonstration Zone

China activates data in the national interest

Rebecca Arcesati

Comment

Jul 04, 2022

The CCP’s vision for digital transformation, with Rebecca Arcesati

Podcast

May 06, 2022

Open-source data in China research, with Emile Dirks

Podcast

Apr 01, 2022

China’s social credit score – untangling myth from reality

Comment

Feb 11, 2022

Smart Education: Between Hype and Reality (Institut Montaigne)

Rebecca Arcesati

External publication

Nov 30, 2021

China’s social credit system is actually quite boring

Comment

Sep 29, 2021

An employee walks at an exhibition hall for the Chongqing New Type Internet of Things (IoT) Big Data Service Platform for Digital Transportation at a branch of Chongqing City Construction Investment

China’s digital paradox

Comment

Aug 13, 2021

Digital video display in Taishan District, Shandong.

China’s evolving data governance regime

Podcast

Jul 23, 2021

China’s Evolving Role in Africa’s Digitalisation: From Building Infrastructure to Shaping Ecosystems (ISPI)

Rebecca Arcesati

External publication

Jun 29, 2021

Lofty principles, conflicting incentives: AI ethics and governance in China

Rebecca Arcesati

Report

Jun 24, 2021

IoT-based Urban Traffic Management System

China sets hopes on blockchain to close cyber security gaps

Kai von Carnap

Report

Mar 26, 2021

Social Credit System Monitor lead graphic no frame

China’s Social Credit System in 2021: From fragmentation towards integration

Katja Drinhausen

Report

Mar 03, 2021

The digital Yuan will only lend a minor boost to internationalization of the currency

Maximilian Kärnfelt

Comment

Nov 16, 2020

A view of the signage of Ant Group in the headquarters compound of the fintech giant in Hangzhou in eastern China's Zhejiang province.

China’s fintech giant Ant Financial reined in by politics

Comment

Nov 12, 2020

China’s Global Initiative on Data Security has a message for Europe

Comment

Sep 24, 2020

Illustration showing the Chinese Flag and Chinese Yuan

PBOC says world’s first state-back digital currency ready for launch

Comment

Sep 24, 2020

Dispute over video app - Trump bans transactions with TikTok (Deutschlandfunk Kultur)

Kai von Carnap

Aug 07, 2020

"How dangerous is TikTok?" (Der Tagesspiegel)

Kai von Carnap

Aug 07, 2020

US campaign against Chinese vendors: The Global 5G Contest Escalates

John Lee

Comment

Aug 06, 2020

The Global War for 5G Heats up

John Lee

Aug 03, 2020

The Chinese WeChat messaging application is seen on an iPhone

Designed for Censorship

Comment

Jul 28, 2020

No credit for culprits

Comment

Jul 21, 2020

MERICS Web Seminar: China as an AI superpower? Quantifying China’s AI progress against the US and Europe

Video

Jul 01, 2020

A useful example, but no paradigm for Europe: China’s approaches to data-driven containment of Covid-19

Press release

Jun 24, 2020

MERICS Web Seminar: China’s digital platform economy: Challenges and opportunities for European actors

Video

Jun 04, 2020

China’s digital platform economy

Rebecca Arcesati

Anna Holzmann

Prof. Dr. Kristin Shi-Kupfer

Kai von Carnap

Claudia Wessling

Report

May 29, 2020

Perspectives of digital governance in China (Hanns Seidel Stiftung)

Katja Drinhausen

May 06, 2020

Close-up of a person holding a smartphone

China’s good netizens

David Lenz

Comment

Apr 30, 2020

Will China reinvent the Internet? (The China Story)

John Lee

Apr 28, 2020

The Digital Silk Road is a development issue

Rebecca Arcesati

Comment

Apr 28, 2020

Corona Apps, Big Data - Is China leading the technological response? (in German) (n-tv)

Kai von Carnap

Apr 26, 2020

Beijing Authorities Push Rapid 5G Deployment Despite COVID-19 Headwinds (New America)

John Lee

Apr 21, 2020

Made in China 2025 (Das Investment)

Max J. Zenglein

Mar 30, 2020

Power to the People: Could EU bans on Huawei provoke a Chinese consumer backlash?

Linda Liang

Comment

Mar 27, 2020

What do young Chinese think about social credit? It's complicated

Marc Oliver Rieger

Mei Wang

Mareike Ohlberg

Report

Mar 26, 2020

A man wearing a facemask looks at his smartphone

China’s fight against COVID-19 - Clicking for a cure

Kai von Carnap

Comment

Mar 19, 2020

A smartphone using Huawei's operating system Harmony OS

Open source of trouble: China’s efforts to decouple from foreign IT technologies

Caroline Meinhardt

Comment

Mar 18, 2020

5G and Huawei: Europe grapples with risk

John Lee

Comment

Feb 18, 2020

Europe's moment of truth with China

Noah Barkin

Comment

Jan 15, 2020

Rui Ma on China’s fast-changing internet industry

Podcast

Nov 22, 2019

A hearing at the Hangzhou court of the internet in 2017

Size matters: Alibaba shapes China’s first “Court of the Internet”

Alice Mingay

Comment

Oct 17, 2019

China's digital rise: Challenges for Europe

Podcast

Aug 02, 2019

Discussion with Mikko Huotari on how to deal with Huawei (Capital)

Mikko Huotari

May 03, 2019

Imports from China are increasingly managed by blockchain technology.

Worried about Huawei? Then worry about Chinese blockchains, too

Kai von Carnap

Comment

Apr 26, 2019

China’s bold ambitions to lead in digital technologies – a challenge for Europe

Prof. Dr. Kristin Shi-Kupfer

Mareike Ohlberg

Press release

Apr 08, 2019

"Even in China, more and more citizens are demanding better protection of their data" (Süddeutsche Zeitung)

Prof. Dr. Kristin Shi-Kupfer

Apr 08, 2019

Kristin Shi-Kupfer: “China sees digitalization as a chance to increase its global footprint”

Podcast

Apr 08, 2019

China's Digital Rise

Prof. Dr. Kristin Shi-Kupfer

Mareike Ohlberg

Report

Apr 08, 2019

Kai Strittmatter: "The Chinese dictatorship is getting itself a digital update"

Podcast

Mar 22, 2019

Shanghai’s new tech board might perform better than previous attempts

Maximilian Kärnfelt

Comment

Mar 18, 2019

A growing number of international tech executives see China in a leadership position in the application of the blockchain technology. ImagineChina

China’s blockchain conundrum

Kai von Carnap

Comment

Feb 06, 2019

Jeffrey Ding on AI in China

Podcast

Jan 28, 2019

A Chinese girl operates an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), or drone, in Suzhou city, east China's Jiangsu province

Emerging technology dominance

Meia Nouwens

Helena Legarda

Dec 19, 2018

He Jiankui's case raises complex philosophical questions about how new technologies infringe on human health or human rights.

A debate on ethics of new technologies is overdue in China

Comment

Dec 05, 2018

China's digital economy creates new employment opportunities for disabled people – with the government’s active support.

China's digital economy offers employment for disabled people

Karen Fisher

Haiqing Yu

Comment

Dec 03, 2018

Computers in Chinese schools cannot close the urban-rural divide

Barbara Schulte

Comment

Nov 27, 2018

Stephan Scheuer and Andre Loesekrug-Pietri on "Silicon China"

Podcast

Nov 06, 2018

"The CCP sets the criteria for China's credit rating 'plus'"

Nov 02, 2018

Serve the people

Report

Oct 18, 2018

While China still needs Western technology in the hardware sector, it can dictate the terms for Western software companies that want to enter the Chinese market.

China’s march towards cyber hegemony

Hauke Gierow

Comment

Oct 08, 2018

The social credit system: China’s tool for moral education

Aug 21, 2018

Who’s really responsible for digital privacy in China?

Shazeda Ahmed

Bertram Lang

Comment

Jun 04, 2018

Germany's export industry in a US-China squeeze

Sebastian Heilmann

Guntram B. Wolff

Comment

Apr 30, 2018

The Apple Store in front of the Oriental Pearl TV Tower in the Lujiazui Financial District, Shanghai.

Chinese hackers are expected to put their country first

Hauke Gierow

Comment

Apr 18, 2018

A boy looks at the intelligent robot "Xiaogui" at Yinghua Park metro station in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province.

China’s way to an innovation superpower

Sebastian Heilmann

Claudia Wessling

Jaqueline Ives

Comment

Mar 27, 2018

A clash of cyber civilizations

Geoffrey Hoffman

Comment

Feb 28, 2018

Experts on Digital China

Jeroen Groenewegen-Lau

Lead Analyst

Strategic emerging industries; Research collaboration; Tech transfer

Antonia Hmaidi

Head of Program (Co-lead)

Geopolitics of technology; semiconductors; data science; hacking

Rebecca Arcesati

Head of Program (Co-lead)

Technology; digital policy; artificial intelligence

Katja Drinhausen

Head of Program

China’s legal and governance system; social credit system; human rights

Wendy Chang

Senior Analyst

China's tech companies, digital ecosystem and emerging technologies including AI