ATRenew: Giving Consumer Electronics a Second Life
“Consumers with a limited budget do not see buying second-hand items as shameful.” This is the mantra of Rex Chen, President and CFO of ATRenew, a Chinese company whose mission is to ext...
Italy-China Circular Economy Forum: addressing the challenges of the transition
Shanghai – Circular economy, water security, decarbonisation of hard-to-abate sectors. A packed agenda of B2B talks and meetings awaited participants at the “Italy-China Circular Ec...
The New Italy-China Circular Economy Forum Accelerates Cooperation
There is one thing that every European company today seems to prioritise: establishing new ties with the Chinese superpower. At the start of 2026, President Xi Jinping reached a series of important ...
Putin in China: the friendship is solid, but the pipeline remains on hold
The timing couldn’t have been better. Although Vladimir Putin’s visit to China had been planned for some time, the fact that it took place on May 20, just six days after Donald Trum...
Understanding contemporary China: the interviews of RM62
In the 62nd issue of Renewable Matter, we invited three experts to the Think Tank roundtable discussion to offer us an in-depth perspective on some of the key issues facing present-day China, s...
Under the Same Sky
The first Chinese character I ever learnt to write was tiān 天, which means “sky” or “heaven”. Perhaps because it’s easy to remember. It is made up of the charac...
Ecological Civilization as Ideology
The maturation of domestic environmental policies, programs and institutional capacity has contributed to the emergence of an ideology of Chinese global environmentalism that China has begun to depl...
The Chinese Century
Back in the day, when you wanted to glimpse into the future, you’d head to San Francisco or Las Vegas. Today, you travel to Shanghai, Hong Kong, Chengdu or Hangzhou. Robotics, AI, renewable en...
Trump-Xi: A summit of ambiguities - one meeting, two interpretations
Maybe it was the visit to the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, a symbol of good harvest and prosperity in the Chinese imperial tradition. Or perhaps it was simply the international situation and economi...
Asia-Pacific carbon markets: Indonesia, China, India – where Article 6 will be shaped
This article is part of the thematic channel The Carbon Observer: subscribe to the newsletter Anshari Rahman knows Article 6 from both sides of the table: he helped shape the rules as Sin...
China's five-year plan sets lower growth targets and reduces climate ambitions
On 4 and 5 March, Beijing has begun the Two Sessions, or Lianghui (两会), the key event in the Chinese political calendar, eagerly awaited this year for the official unveiling of the 15th Five-Yea...
China, Iranian oil (and Venezuelan oil)
“The international community should make clear and unequivocal voice in opposing the regression of the world to the law of the jungle.” This was how Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi resp...
China, a five-year plan for space
In a video released in November by the CGTN network, five taikonauts (from taikong: space in Chinese) are seen roasting chicken wings on board a space station. “This is the first time in ...
Critical Raw Materials, the complex European challenge
Strategic critical raw materials are the Achilles heel of European industrial recovery. Commonly known by the acronym CRM, they are essential for the EU's competitiveness, as well as for clean energ...
Attack on Venezuela: how did China react?
“It was a friendly meeting, reaffirming the strong bonds of friendship between China and Venezuela. In good and bad times!” The last words posted on Nicolas Maduro's social media profile...
Gen-Z, tariffs and elections: 2025 seen through Asia
While, contrary to popular belief, the famous Chinese anathema ‘May you live in interesting times’ is not Chinese at all, 2025 has certainly been a decidedly “interesting” ye...
RESourceEU, 3 billions for Made in Europe critical minerals
Three billion euros towards diversifying the supply of critical materials such as rare earths, cobalt and lithium: this is what the European Commission will be putting on the table over the next 12 ...
Transition and international trade: China’s role at COP30
From Belém - At COP30 in Belém, global trade was for the first time explicitly included in climate negotiations. It was inevitable: the transition is no longer just a matter of climate...
Donald Trump and Xi Jinping: 100 minutes for a truce
“Amazing.” That's how Donald Trump, aboard Air Force One on his way back home from his Asian tour, defined the highly anticipated meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, which took pl...
How Green Is the New Silk Road?
It was back in 2013 that Xi Jinping first announced his vision of an “economic belt along the Silk Road” during a visit to Kazakhstan. What later became known as the Belt and Road Initia...