Ep 87 - Joerg Wuttke: China told Europe exactly how it would beat us. We didn't listen.

Back in 2017, China’s former SASAC chairman told Joerg Wuttke, then president of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China, precisely which industries China’s overcapacity machine would roll through next: EVs, batteries, solar, wind, basic chemicals.

Fast forward a decade, and it happened exactly as he predicted.

• Joerg’s very blunt take: “China, in essence, is kind enough to tell us when and how they’re going to roll over us.”

On this episode, Trivium China Podcast host Andrew Polk, along with co-host Cory Combs, sits down with Joerg – now a partner at DGA-Albright Stonebridge Group – to unpack:

• Why “China Shock 2.0” isn’t really a shock at all, but a systemic feature of how Beijing plans its economy – which was written out in black and white years in advance
• The shipping container math that captures the trade imbalance better than any dollar figure: one container now leaves Europe for China for every four that come back
• Why Wuttke thinks a stronger renminbi, not tariffs, may be China’s real concession on the table before October’s EU-China trade negotiation deadline
• The key Chinese tech sector Wuttke says Europe should consider closing its market to (and it’s not the one you’d guess)
• Why demographic collapse, not trade policy, might ultimately be China’s biggest vulnerability – and Europe’s unlikely opportunity

This episode is another banger, y’all. You won’t want to miss it!