2026

Vortrag von Prof. Dr. Hannes Taubenböck (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt)

The view from space allows a different perspective on our world. It shows how unique and beautiful our blue planet is – as the recent Artemis-2 mission impressively demonstrated once again. However, the view from space also allows us to show how mankind is remodelling our planet according to its needs and ideas. In this presentation, satellite data and AI algorithms form the basis for revealing new insights into past and on-going urban developments in China. On the one hand, urban processes will be shown in comparison to global developments and, on the other hand, specific developments in China will be specified. The focus will be on urban dynamics, urban dimensions, urban forms, ghost towns and air quality. 

Dr. Johannes Petry (Goethe University Frankfurt)

What is the role of capital markets in China? A key function of is to ensure that China’s capital markets “serve the real economy.” To this end, the party-state aims to control market dynamics and steer market outcomes towards the achievement of particular state objectives. How they make assessments about the social usefulness of capital markets shapes the infrastructural arrangements in these markets, influences investor structures to facilitate the achievement of specific state objectives such as poverty alleviation and the capital market-based economic reform of Chinese companies. This orientation was reaffirmed at the ‘Two Sessions’ in 2026, which highlighted the role of capital markets in directing financing toward “new productive forces,” advancing industrial upgrading, and strengthening national development priorities.

Dr. Daniel Fuchs (HU Berlin)

Technical standards—ranging from the DIN A4 paper size to the dimensions of shipping containers and the network architecture of 5G mobile technology—serve to ensure interoperability and quality assurance. The negotiation of standards is shaped both by the profit motives of transnational corporations and by the strategic calculations of government actors. Against this backdrop, international standardization has become a key arena for geopolitical rivalry: As the conflicts surrounding 5G technology illustrate, China’s growing influence in international standardization organizations is meeting with increasing resistance from actors in the Global North. The lecture provides an introduction to the political-economic significance of technical standards, explains the reasons behind China’s influence in standardization, and discusses the geopolitical implications of the global competition over standards for future technologies.