Mercator Institute for China Studies

Based in Berlin, MERICS was founded in 2013 by the Stiftung Mercator, one of Germany’s largest private foundations. MERICS is an independent non-profit organization. Stiftung Mercator is its only shareholder and has committed to provide the institute with 33 million euros in funding for the period from 2013 to the end of 2023.[2][3][4]

MERICS employs an international team of researchers. Its founding director is the China expert Sebastian Heilmann, who after five years at the helm of the institute returned to his position as a professor for the political economy of China at the University of Trier. In August 2018, Frank N. Pieke (Director and CEO) took over the position of director. Since February 2020, the institute is led by Mikko Huotari as director and Bettina Bubnys as Chief Financial Officer.[5] MERICS employs a staff of about 30.

MERICS conducts interdisciplinary research on major political, economic and social trends in China and their impact on Europe and the global community. The institute advises decision makers in politics, industry and civil society. It also provides information and analysis to the public.

Major research areas include:

- The future of digitization in China – from industrial upgrading (Made in China 2025,[6][7] e-mobility) and the internet economy[8] (e-commerce) to big-data enabled social monitoring[9] (Social Credit System, IT-backed authoritarianism, Digital Leninism[10])

- China’s emergence as a global player[11][12] in international institutions (G20, United Nations, WTO) and regimes (Paris Agreement on climate change), and as a shaper of new multilateral initiatives[13] (Belt and Road Initiative, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank)

- China’s growing presence as an investor in Europe[14]

- China’s political and social development under President Xi Jinping[15][16]

MERICS is an official partner of the Munich Security Conference[17] and an academic partner of the bi-annual Hamburg Summit – China meets Europe.[18] The institute also has cooperations with the Faculty of East Asian Studies at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum[19] and with the University of Duisburg-Essen.[20] MERICS organizes the annual “Trierer China-Gespräche“ (Trier China Talks[21]) in cooperation with the alumni association of Trier University, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, and the Bundesakademie für Sicherheitspolitik (BAKS). The institute hosts regular events from internal expert roundtables to public panels at its offices in Berlin.

• Official Website
• Stiftung Mercator