A report by the European Think-tank Network on China (ETNC)
Edited by: Bernhard Bartsch, Claudia Wessling
Peer evaluations by: Andreas B. Forsby, Nick Nieschalke, John Seaman, Tamás Matura, Francesca Maremonti, Aurelio Insisa, Matej Šimalčík, Filip Šebok, Anastas Vangeli, Katja Zajc Kejžar, Mario Esteban, Miriam Tardell
China’s drive to grow to be a world chief in science, technology and innovation has large implications for the EU and its member states. On the one hand, China is turning into a sturdy competitor in industrial high-tech sectors and revolutionary science that was the stronghold of European actors. Advanced digital applied sciences made in China additionally more and more pose dangers to infrastructures in Europe. On the opposite hand, China presents itself as a resourceful counterpart for collaboration in analysis and growth (R&D) and retains attracting European scientists and companies alike.
This report, the twelfth compiled by the European Think-tank Network on China (ETNC), analyses how Europe is affected by China’s rise to a technological power and its growing clout in shaping and creating innovation. Authors from 22 European international locations have contributed to this examine. The purpose is to supply a nuanced image of how these states work together with China within the area of revolutionary applied sciences, and to determine commonalities and variations in how they’re affected.
Estonia: Unenthusiastic about tech relations with China, but Huawei stays and Pony.ai arrives
Chapter by Toomas Hanso (ICDS)
Over the previous ten years, Estonia’s engagement with China in tech and innovation has shifted from optimistic to destructive. An inflection level is marked by 2019, when the EU designated China a systemic rival, and Estonia signed the 5G memorandum with the US. Negative momentum has been compounded by China’s assist for Russia in its warfare towards Ukraine, which possible induced Estonia to exit China’s 16+1 cooperation format and finish BRI collaboration. Yet there has not been a full decoupling, regardless of the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service (EFIS)’s repeated warnings of the dangers of utilizing Chinese technology. While Huawei has been banned from 5G infrastructure, Huawei photovoltaic inverters stay embedded in Estonia’s vitality infrastructure, and in December 2025 Estonia’s Bolt introduced a partnership with China’s Pony.ai in self-driving technology. This highlights a divergence within the suggestions made by nationwide safety equipment, and choices made by the enterprise group.
The European Think-tank Network on China (ETNC) is a gathering of China consultants from a collection of European coverage analysis institutes. It is dedicated to the policy-oriented examine of Chinese international coverage and relations between China and European international locations as nicely as China and the EU.