European Chamber Podcasts

Episode 33: European Businesses’ Wish List for China’s 15FYP

The European Chamber’s annual flagship report, the European Business in China Position Paper, was released on 17th September. As 2025 is the last year of China’s 14th Five-year Plan (FYP), this year’s Executive Position Paper reviews the plan’s outcomes and provides constructive recommendations for the upcoming 15FYP, based on feedback from our member companies. In this episode, our host Carl Hayward, director of communications at the European Chamber, sat down with European Chamber President Jens Eskelund and Vice President Stefan Bernhart, to discuss the past five years from the perspective of European business in China, and to look forward and highlight some of the areas that European companies hope will characterise China’s economic development over the next half decade. What to listen for: 01:07 Key events that had the greatest influence on China and EU-China relations 03:14 Outcomes of the 14FYP for China’s economy and European businesses 12:30 Most important challenges that need to be addressed 15:19 Core principles of the 14FYP to be adopted in the 15FYP 17:18 Top 5 topics that European businesses hope to see addressed by the 15FYP 21:53 Recommendations to European companies that are caught in the crossfire of global trade frictions Contact: We’d love to hear your feedback. Contact us at website@europeanchamber.com.cn. Follow the European Chamber on LinkedIn, Twitter, WeChat (europeanchamber), and sign up for our newsletter here, to get notified on new episodes.

Episode 32: 2024 Year in Review

At the end of 2024, three of the European Chamber’s Beijing colleagues – Beijing General Manager Carl Hayward, Head of European Affairs Ester Cañada Amela and Policy and Communications Manager Mariann Nagy – sat down with our host Gao Rui, senior marketing manager, to review the year and look forward to 2025. The last episode focused on the keywords from 2024. In this episode, our guest speakers talked about some of the most overhyped and the most under-appreciated things of the past year and gave projections on things we should keep our eyes on in 2025. What to listen for: 01:29 The most overhyped things in 2024 05:47 The most under-appreciated things in 2024 14:04 Projections on things we should keep our eyes on in 2025 Contact: We’d love to hear your feedback. Contact us at website@europeanchamber.com.cn. Follow the European Chamber on LinkedIn, Twitter, WeChat (europeanchamber), and sign up for our newsletter here, to get notified on new episodes.

Episode 31: 2024 Keywords

At the end of 2024, three of the European Chamber’s Beijing colleagues – Beijing General Manager Carl Hayward, Head of European Affairs Ester Cañada Amela and Policy and Communications Manager Mariann Nagy – sat down with our host Gao Rui, senior marketing manager, to review the year and look forward to 2025. This episode focused on keywords of the year, featuring four of the Chamber’s Executive Committee and board members sharing their choices of keywords followed by comments and keywords from our guest speakers. In the next episode, our guest speakers will discuss the most overhyped and the most under-appreciated things of the year and look forward to things we should keep our eyes on in 2025. Stay tuned. What to listen for: 01:24 President Jens Eskelund’s keyword 07:44 Tianjin Chapter Chair Christoph Schrempp’s keywords 19:49 States’ Representative Gianni Di Giovanni’s keyword 23:58 Vice President Massimo Bagnasco’s keyword Contact: We’d love to hear your feedback. Contact us at website@europeanchamber.com.cn. Follow the European Chamber on LinkedIn, Twitter, WeChat (europeanchamber), and sign up for our newsletter here, to get notified on new episodes.

Episode 30: EU-China Relations after the 2024 Elections

EU-China Relations after the 2024 Elections 2024 has been an extraordinary year of elections. Two of the world’s largest economies, the European Union and the United States, voted for their new leadership. Due to the strong economic ties between China, the EU and the US, the ramifications of both elections could be enormous for European companies operating in China. In this episode, our host Gao Rui, senior marketing manager at the European Chamber, is joined by Stefan Bernhart, vice president of the European Chamber, and Ester Cañada Amela, head of European Affairs at the European Chamber. They will focus on the results of the EU elections and its policy direction in relation to China, and also touch on the implications of Trump’s second term as the US President. What to Listen For 01:01 Introduction of the general process of EU elections and the its latest update 03:35 The roles of the European Parliament and the main differences this time around compared with the last Parliament. 09:09 The roles of the European Commission and its policy continuities and expected changes. 18:28 Introduction of the Council of the EU and the European Council.Changes to the internal dynamics of the Council in 2024. 22:32 Member states’ and industries’ reactions to the Commission guidelines. 25:50 How have the engagements between individual member states and Chinese leaders impacted the EU’s overall approach to China? 27:10 The impact of Trump’s re-election on the EU’s overall foreign policy as well as its relations with China. 29:08 What could China do to improve the EU-China bilateral relationship? 30:00 Key asks from European companies in China to the new EU leadership. Contact: We’d love to hear your feedback. Contact us at website@europeanchamber.com.cn. Follow the European Chamber on LinkedIn, Twitter, WeChat (europeanchamber), and sign up for our newsletter here, to get notified on new episodes.