Oxford Debate LIVE: Is Europe's Economy Threatened by China?

A new industrial reality is reshaping Europe's economic future. China’s manufacturing juggernaut – once focused on low-cost consumer goods – has pivoted decisively toward the high-value sectors that have long defined European prosperity: automobiles, machinery, batteries, solar technology, steel, and chemicals.

The numbers tell a stark story. By late 2025, Germany's annual trade deficit with China approached $100 billion. BYD plans 2'000 European stores by late 2026. China controls over 80% of global solar production and 75% of battery manufacturing. Meanwhile, European industries face a perfect storm: Chinese overcapacity meets slowing U.S. demand following the 2025 tariffs, with no clear path forward.

Are European industries at risk of being hollowed out by China's state-backed expansion? Or is the European economy more resilient than these concerns suggest – capable of adapting, innovating, and maintaining its competitive edge? Does China's trajectory demand a fundamental shift in European industrial policy? Or should Europe trust in market forces and resist the siren call of protectionism?

Join us for an Oxford-style debate on the motion "Europe’s Economy Is Under Existential Threat From China." Arguing in favor of the motion are Camille Boullenois, Associate Director with Rhodium Group, and Yanmei Xie, 2026 TOY Senior Fellow at Asia Society Switzerland. Arguing against the motion are 2025 TOY Senior Fellow John Lee and Michael Laha, Senior Research Fellow at DGAP.

About Oxford Debates

The Oxford Debates at Asia Society Switzerland are a format to address 'big' questions that have no one answer or solution but are inviting many conflicting views. Four renowned experts in the field form teams of two, one team arguing for the motion, the other against it.

The Oxford-style format is broken down into four sections: opening remarks, rebuttals, a moderated question-and-answer session, and closing remarks. Before and after the debate the audience is polled whether they agree with the motion or not. The voting breakdown is not shared publicly until the end of the debate. The greater percentage change between the first and second votes determines the debate's winning team.

Disclaimer: Positions presented in the debate do not necessarily represent the speakers' views.

Speakers

Motion: Europe’s Economy Is Under Existential Threat From China.

Arguing in favor of the motion:

Camille Boullenois is an Associate Director with Rhodium Group, where she works on the analysis of China’s economic system, industrial policy, and EU-China economic relations. Before joining Rhodium Group, Camille headed the Brussels office for Sinolytics, advising clients on market governance and data strategies, as well as the regulatory challenges arising from the Corporate Social Credit System. Previously, she worked as an analyst at China Policy and contributed to the EIU, Oxford Analytica, and the ECFR. Camille holds a PhD in international, political, and strategic studies from the Australian National University, where she wrote her dissertation on social mobility and entrepreneurship in the Chinese countryside.

Yanmei Xie is 2026 TOY Senior Fellow at Asia Society Switzeland, a senior adjunct researcher at the RAND Corporation and senior associate fellow at the Mercator Institute for China Studies. Her expertise covers China's political economy, industrial policy and foreign policy, its strategic, technological and industrial competition with the United States, trade frictions with Europe, and the impact of rising geopolitical risks on markets, investments, corporate decisions and supply chains. She most recently worked as a China policy and geopolitics analyst at Gavekal Research, where her analysis and forecast informed decisions by institutional investors, multinational corporations and policymakers. Yanmei has also worked as an a senior analyst and acting director of China Project at the International Crisis Group and a journalist in Washington, covering US national politics and policy. Yanmei's essays have been published in Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, The Wire China, Nikkei Asia Review, and Foreign Policy. She was educated at the Chinese Foreign Affairs University, and has a master's degree in mass communications from Miami University and a master's in finance from George Washington University.

Arguing against the motion:

Michael Laha joined Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik (DGA)P in November 2024 as a senior research fellow in its Center for Geopolitics, Geoeconomics, and Technology where he covers technology policy in China. Previously, he worked as a consultant for Sinolytics, a European research-based consultancy entirely focused on China. During his 2021–22 Alexander von Humboldt Foundation German Chancellor Fellowship, Laha was based at the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS). Before that, he worked at the Asia Society Center on US-China Relations where he most recently was a senior program officer. In this role, he coordinated high-level working groups on China. He also served as the ChinaFile books editor. Laha conducts research on China’s science and technology policy, the role of China in the transatlantic relationship, and China’s governance model. His writing has appeared in English-language media such as Nikkei Asia and The Wire China as well as in German media including Tagesspiegel and Handelsblatt. He holds an MA in East Asian languages and cultures from Columbia University and a BS in chemistry from Tufts University.

John Lee was Asia Society Switzerland’s 2025 TOY Senior Fellow on Technology and a Fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis. John is also director of consultancy East West Futures and a researcher at the Leiden Asia Centre. Previously he was a senior analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies and worked at the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Department of Defence. John’s work focuses on China’s advanced technology industries, especially semiconductors, telecoms and internet of things technologies, as well as China’s cyberspace regulation and engagement with global internet governance. He co-leads the China Semiconductor Observatory project funded by the European Union. John’s analysis and research has been published by various international media outlets and academic presses.