The Agenda Podcast

With China's commerce Minister Wang Wentao in Europe and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in Beijing this week – accusations of overcapacity in the EV market have been top of the agenda around the world – accusations China has strongly denied. So with the need for more electric powered cars only growing as the world seeks to hit tough net zero targets, where is the sector really headed? In this edition of The Agenda, Juliet Mann speaks to Tu Le, Founder and Managing Director of Sino Auto Insights and Bill Russo, Chief Executive of consultants Automobility to find out. And with the focus on the future of EVs, Juliet also speaks to Kiva Allgood from the Centre for Advanced Manufacturing and Supply Chains at the World Economic Forum to find out why the sector can only really work if we move towards a truly circular system.

Last week, the first ever Nuclear Energy Summit took place in Brussels. Leaders and experts from around the world – including China’s Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing - gathered to discuss the competitiveness, usability, and sustainability of nuclear power in the race to net zero. So in this episode of The Agenda, Juliet Mann investigates just what role nuclear has in the world’s energy future, and whether there’s any real chance the world can reach its climate targets without it. She speaks to Sama Bilbao y León, Director General of World Nuclear Association and Nuclear policy analyst Mycle Schneider to find out.

Poverty alleviation and climate change are two of the biggest, if not THE two biggest challenges facing the world today. Both require huge amounts of international cooperation, and of course money, to solve. But is the world getting the balance of funding right? On this episode of The Agenda, Juliet Mann speaks to an expert who thinks not - Bjorn Lomborg, President of the Copenhagen Consensus Center and best-selling author of The Skeptical Environmentalist. He thinks that what he calls the “weaponization” of climate change over helping the world’s poor isn’t the smartest response.

Later this year, Azerbaijan will host the UN's COP29 climate summit. It's one of the top ten most fossil fuel dependent countries in the world - but that's all set to change as Azerbaijan looks to transition to a greener future. It's one of the many issues Juliet Mann discussed in an exclusive interview with Azerbaijan’s Minister of Economy Mikaiyil Jabbarov. They also talk about future partnerships with China and the EU and the country’s transition to a digital future. Juliet also looks at the climate change issues facing Azerbaijan in the run-up to COP29 in November with Kaveh Guilanpour, Vice President for International Strategies at the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions.

New quality productive forces. This was one of the key messages from the annual Two Sessions in Beijing. The term, coined by China's President Xi Jinping in September 2023 during a local visit, is viewed in the sessions as key to maintaining and enhancing the quality of China's growth. In wide-ranging discussions on everything from continued economic growth and upgrading to an increased desire for high quality opening up, this new approach to innovation was front and center. China's role on the world stage was also in the spotlight, with Foreign Minister Wang Yi insisting the country will be a force for peace in spite of lingering U.S. misconceptions about China. In this special program - China's Agenda - CGTN Europe examines the country's innovative future and what impact it will have on global relationships in the years to come. Host Juliet Mann speaks to a panel of global experts about China's economic modernization and what is described as "new quality productive forces" - the innovation that will transform the economy both within and beyond China's borders. David Mahon, Founder and Executive Chairman of Mahon China Investment Management tells Juliet how the tech sector will be a significant component of China's plan for 5 percent growth in 2024. Bert Hofman, former China Director of the World Bank and now Professor at the East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore examines the desire for increased foreign investment in China as companies work out how they might fit into a modernized China. And Marsela Musabelliu, Executive Director at the Albanian Institute for Globalization Studies, explains why the world's smaller nations especially welcome China's approach to upgrading its industry. The panel also addresses China's role in an increasingly globalized world.

AI is arguably the world’s most talked about technology since the birth of the internet. It is going to change the way we live and work - creating a new industrial revolution. At the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said AI is a double edged sword - if applied well it will bring huge opportunities to human civilisation, but at the same time it poses real risks to global security and ethics. So how is AI technology going to develop? And is AI something we’ll ever truly trust? On this edition of The Agenda, Juliet Mann speaks to Jürgen Müller, Chief Technology Officer of SAP, José Parra-Moyano, Professor of Digital Strategy, International Institute for Management Development and Dr Bosun Tijani, Nigeria Minister for Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy to find out.

The gap between the developed north and developing global south has never been more acute. Issues like climate change, debt and technological advances are all threatening to widen the wedge between north and south. So what needs to be done to address that problem. In this edition of the Agenda, Juliet Mann gets the views of four senior ministers from across Africa. She speaks to Yusuf Tuggar, Nigeria’s Foreign Minister, Enoch Godongwana, South Africa’s Finance Minister, Ghana’s Minister for Finance & Economic Planning, Ken Ofori-Atta, and Zambia’s Finance Minister, Situmbeko Musokotwane.

Protests by farmers have been sweeping Europe for months. Tractors have blockaded cities in France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Hungary, Romania and more in a show of frustration at EU green policies farmers say threaten their livelihoods. So, does climate policy need to be more farmer friendly? Or does the already subsidized agricultural sector need to embrace the fast pace of change needed to protect the planet? To find out, in this edition of The Agenda, Juliet Mann speaks to Cristiane Lambert, President of COPA, Dr. Patrick Schröder, Senior Research Fellow at the Environment and Society Centre at Chatham House, and Alvaro Lario, the President of International Fund of Agricultural Development.

On 31st January 2020, the UK made history when it became the first country to leave the European Union. It followed a hugely contentious referendum campaign when all kinds of promises were made by both sides as to a future inside and outside Europe. But four years on, what exactly has changed? Is the UK thriving in a post-EU world, or has Brexit left the country woefully adrift from its neighbours, and indeed the rest of the world. On this edition of The Agenda, Juliet Mann speaks to Professor Amelia Hadfield, Dean International and Head of Politics at the University of Surrey, former British Minister for Europe, Denis MacShane, and Conservative Commentator, Alex Deane.

On the 27th of January 1964, France became the first major Western nation to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. At the time, it was referred to by some as a diplomatic nuclear explosion. But what have been the real results of that decision 60 years ago? And what might the future hold for Sino French ties? On this edition of The Agenda, Juliet Mann goes to Paris to speak to former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, former Director-General of the World Trade Organisation and ex-EU trade commissioner Pascal Lamy, and the Yannick Lintz, President of the Musée Guimet - Europe’s largest collection of Chinese art.

The theme at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos was rebuilding trust and reshaping the global economic framework. During his keynote speech, Chinese Premier Li Qiang expressed concern that a lack of trust was aggravating risks to global growth, and said that as the world enters a new period of turbulence international collaboration was essential. So what can be done to increase cooperation and rebuild trust among the world’s leading powers? To find out, in this edition of the Agenda from the Swiss city of Davos, Juliet Mann sits down with President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, Pam Cheng, Executive Vice President of Global Operations at AstraZeneca and Head of the European Space Agency, Josef Aschbacher as well as Astronaut Matthias Maurer

Brussels went to Beijing last week as European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met Xi Jinping in person for the first time in four years. President Xi said the two sides need to “work together to sustain the momentum of growth in China-EU relations”. But what might that look like in practice? And what did von der Leyen mean when she spoke of “clear imbalances and differences” in trade between the two? Joining Juliet Mann with their thoughts on this episode of The Agenda are Henry Wang, Founder and President of Center for China and Globalization, Professor Jean-Marc Trouille, Director of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence and Ambassador Piet Steel - Chairman of the Europe Asia Center.

In 2023, global debt hit a new record high at more than 307 trillion dollars. That led UN Secretary General Antonio Gutteres to warn that more than 3.3 billion people - almost half the world’s population - are now living in a country where money spent on debt repayments outstrip that spent on health and education. So what can be done to solve the world’s debt issues? On this edition of The Agenda, Juliet Mann speaks to Situmbeko Musokotwane - Minister of Finance of Zambia, Vitor Gaspar, Director of the Fiscal Affairs Department at the IMF and Michael Pettis, Professor of Finance at Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management

World leaders scientists and environmentalists will gather in the United Arab Emirates this week for the latest UN Climate Conference - COP 28. And far from hitting the much discussed 1.5 degree warming target, the United Nations has warned that the world could be facing what it called a "hellish" 3 degrees if urgent action isn't taken. So can COP28 deliver where so many other gatherings appear to have failed? In this episode of The Agenda, Juliet Mann takes the global temperature ahead of the COP meeting with Kevin Conrad, Founder of the Coalition for Rainforest Nations, Dimitri de Boer, Regional Director for Asia of ClimateEarth and Andrew Morlet, CEO of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, which was named a Champion of the Earth by the UN Environment Programme earlier this year.

China's President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden have now held their first face to face meeting in a year. After the Summit in San Francisco, both sides seemed positive, with agreements to open new lines of communication, and President Xi insisting China is not going to fight a cold war, or indeed a hot war with anyone. But what does the summit really mean for global relations more widely? Especially with EU Chief Ursula von der Leyen's visit to Beijing in December? In this episode of The Agenda, Juliet Mann speaks to Professor Jia Qingguo from the School of International Studies at Peking University, Bernard Dewit, Chair of the Belgian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, and Hosuk Lee-Makiyama, Director of European Centre for International Political Economy.

Since 2020, global supply chains have come under pressure like never before. Geopolitical events - Covid and conflict - as well as increasing demand for critical minerals to underpin new technology has changed the way manufacturing operates for ever. The World Economic Forum is providing what it hopes is a beacon to companies looking to embrace change with its Global Lighthouse network – but what does this all really mean for the future of the global economy? In this episode of The Agenda, Juliet Mann speaks to Enno de Boer, Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company, Xue Rulong, Europe Region Director of Midea Industrial tech and Professor Sarah Schiffling Assistant Professor in Supply Chain Management and Social Responsibility at Hanken School of Economics, to find out.

Ten years after China’s President Xi Jinping first announced his plans for a "Silk Road economic belt", world leaders gathered in Beijing for the third Belt & Road forum. Since 2013, more than 150 countries and over 30 international organisations have signed cooperation documents. But what's been the true global impact of the initiative? And what might the next ten years hold? On this episode of The Agenda Juliet Mann speaks to Jean-Claude Trichet, Former President of the European Central Bank, and Erik Solheim, Norway’s former Environment Minister and now President of the Green Belt & Road Development Initiative.

This week on The Agenda Juliet Mann talks cultural collaboration with Tim Yip, costume designer, director, contemporary artist and the Oscar-winning art director of ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Renowned for his innovative reinterpretation of Chinese antiquity in the realm of culture and film, Juliet explores some of the key milestones in Yip's illustrious career and examines the profound influence his artistic contributions have left on world cinema.

As climate change catastrophes continue to hit the headlines - the transition to a greener future was of course the key talking point at the world's largest energy summit - ADIPEC in Abu Dhabi. So in this episode of The Agenda, Juliet Mann looks at whether the world is ready for a post-fossil fuel world – and whether there’s still a need for investment in oil and gas. She speaks to Francesco La Camera, the Director General of the International Renewable Energy Agency, Barbados’ Minister for Energy & Business Development, Senator Lisa Cummins and – ahead of his country’s hosting of the upcoming COP28 Climate Summit, the UAE’s Energy Minister, His Excellency Suhail Al Mazrouei.

Global economic growth exhibited surprising resilience in the early months of this year, but the outlook for 2024 is considerably less promising, with numerous experts attributing this downturn to China's slower than anticipated recovery. In this week's episode of The Agenda, Juliet Mann talks to Charles Liu, the founder of HAO Capital to ask if that's really the case, and what other underlying factors beyond China are contributing to the current economic landscape.