European Guanxi Podcast

About European Guanxi Podcast

The European Guanxi Podcast explores current affairs underpinning EU-China Relations. It includes interviews with experts on EU- China Foreign Policy and beyond, offering listeners critical insights into the challenges and opportunities that characterize EU-China dialogue. It also provides a platform for the discussion of youth perspectives and experiences on EU-China Relations.

Publisher

European Guanxi

Category

news

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

19 Feb 2023

Latest episode

30 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

55 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   30 Sept 2026

   Partner, Competitor, Rival: Navigating EU-China Relations with Dr Lola Woetzel

   The EU officially describes its relationship with China as simultaneously a partner, a competitor, and a systemic rival. In this episode, Dr Lola Woetzel joins us to unpack what that framing actually looks like in practice, and whether rivalry is the most useful lens to understand the relationship. Hosted by Francesca Pala, we discuss the current state of EU-China relations, where cooperation remains possible, especially on climate, how European engagement is perceived from the Chinese side, and what 照镜子 (zhào jìngzi), looking in the mirror for self-examination, might mean for both sides moving forward. We also explore China's rise in global technology and what that means for European competitiveness, market opportunities for European green business in China today, and whether there's a more constructive framing of the relationship, one that does not necessarily require zero-sum winners and losers. Dr Woetzel draws on her own experience navigating both business and policy across the two regions, reflecting on areas for cooperation and what that process of self-examination might look like for European institutions in the years to come.

2. 

   2 Sept 2026

   Translating Beijing: How Europe (Mis)Understands China with Lea Sahay

   In this episode, we welcome Lea Sahay, China correspondent for the German Süddeutsche Zeitung in Beijing. We talk about Lea’s experience as a journalist in a rapidly changing China over the past decade and explore what shapes Europe's image of China in a contradictory era of derisking, dancing robots, and China-maxing. We ask what European political delegations may miss about China’s societal model among high-tech factory tours, and look at the role journalism can play in translating a country full of contradictions. The conversation also asks where EU-China relations are heading looking forward and where room for engagement remains. Lea Sahay is the China correspondent of the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung in Beijing and the author of “Das Ende des Chinesischen Traums: Leben in Xi Jinpings neuem China” (2024). You can follow Lea on Instagram @lea.sahay and subscribe to the “China und wir” Podcast on Spotify.

3. 

   25 Aug 2026

   Italy's Ambassador to China: Inside EU-China Relations

   In Conversation with Ambassador Massimo For centuries, Italy and China have been linked by explorers, missionaries, and traders, from Marco Polo's journey along the Silk Road to Matteo Ricci's arrival during the Ming dynasty. Today, that relationship is carried forward through the essential role of diplomats, described by Ambassador Ambrosetti as "intellectuals in action," balancing intellectual and cultural depth with concrete, strategic results. How does the current security and strategic environment shape the way we understand European Union-China relations today? How does the European Union's framing of China as partner, competitor, and rival actually manifest in practice? And what can young Europeans learn about engaging with China diplomatically, at a time when artificial intelligence and emerging technologies are reshaping the very nature of that relationship? In this episode, we are joined by Ambassador Massimo Ambrosetti, Italy's Ambassador to the People's Republic of China, a diplomat, scholar, and one of Italy's foremost experts on China. Ambassador Ambrosetti first arrived in Beijing in 1994 and has since built a career spanning the Permanent Representation of Italy to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Brussels, the Italian Embassy in Washington, and the National Cybersecurity Agency of Italy, before taking up his current post in May 2023. Hosted by Francesca Pala, this episode explores his personal journey with China, the historical roots of Italy-China relations, and how Italy positions itself within the broader European Union-China dynamic. Ambassador Ambrosetti also offers candid advice for the next generation of young Europeans preparing to navigate a diplomatic landscape increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence and emerging technologies.

Who has been a guest on European Guanxi Podcast

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Thomas Derksen
• Sebastian Contin Trillo-Figueroa
• Dr Austin Strange
• David Lubin
• Mark Moquette

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

11,999

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Spotify

5.0 / 5

16 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 45 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

40

Social presence

0

YouTube

76

Engagement

51