Feature

Roadmap to carbon neutrality

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has drafted a carbon neutrality roadmap for China. According to the plan, solar energy will become the number one energy source by 2045, and coal consumption has to be cut back to one-fifth by 2060. Greater efficiency and a massive expansion of renewable energies are needed. There is even implementation of technologies that do not exist yet. This all costs a lot of money. But the IEA believes that China is capable of making the transition even faster.

By Christiane Kuehl

HNA: Rise, fall – and rise again?

One of China's most complicated insolvency cases enters the next round: The HNA Group from Hainan in southern China is split into four independently managed business units. HNA is the parent company of the renowned Hainan Airlines, the only airline that services direct routes from Beijing to Berlin. The tourism company definitely still has a future – if it operates more frugally and efficiently in the future.

By Frank Sieren

Launch of liquid salt reactor tests

Salt also melts under enough heat – and is then suitable as a carrier for nuclear fuel. China sees this as an alternative technology for future nuclear reactors. The breakthrough of liquid salt reactors is anything but certain. But it does have some amazing advantages.

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Jean Pisani-Ferry: it could be more complicated with Lindner

For Jean Pisani-Ferry, the decisive factor is not whether Germany will be governed by a traffic light or a Jamaica coalition. In an interview with Tanja Kuchenbecker, the renowned economist says it is more important who occupies the key government posts. Pisani-Ferry is a senior fellow at the think tank Bruegel and was an advisor to President Emmanuel Macron.

By Till Hoppe

Situation in Berlin: sorting before probing

The FDP and the Greens, the two coalition partners-to-be, plan to meet today, Wednesday. According to the plan of the election winners in the Willy Brandt House, the traffic light coalition will meet later this week for the first time. Meanwhile, there is rising pressure on Armin Laschet in the CDU/CSU parliamentary group.

By Falk Steiner

Chronicle of a political crime

A major matter between the US and China has been resolved. Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou is allowed to return home without punishment. At the same time, Canadian citizens Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig are granted amnesia after more than 1,000 days in Chinese custody. The chronology of events presents a politically loaded economic thriller caught between a power struggle between the rising and the acting world power.

By Frank Sieren

"What happened to the economy cannot be allowed to happen to science"

China is striving to become the leader in innovation and high-tech in decades to come. In our interview, Almuth Wietholtz-Eisert from the Leibniz Association describes the implications for German scientists and researchers. International cooperation partners must not close their eyes to the fact that research in China often serves military, economic or repressive purposes of the CCP. Wietholtz-Eisert warns against forced technology transfers and targeted cyberattacks. The interview was conducted by Michael Radunski.

By Michael Radunski

Brussels urges Berlin to hurry

By Eric Bonse

Jean-Claude Juncker: 'An adjourned game is inappropriate'

Only one person has ruled longer than Angela Merkel: Jean-Claude Juncker. The former Luxembourg prime minister and EU Commission president comes from the same party family. In an interview with Charlotte Wirth, he advises the CDU/CSU to let the SPD form the government. Juncker does not expect a sharp change of course in German European policy.

By Charlotte Wirth

Merkel: Witness to the rise of a major power

During her time as chancellor, Angela Merkel has accompanied China's rise to become a major power. In 16 years, she always sought a middle path between cooperation and confrontation – and always had German companies in mind. At the same time, she showed a genuine interest in the country. A stronger China policy is expected after the end of her chancellorship.

By Christiane Kuehl