We are pleased to invite you to the launch event of the report Standardisation with Chinese Characteristics? The Missing Pillar in Rebooting Europe’s Industrial Policy, commissioned by the China Knowledge Network (CKN), with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy as lead ministry.

The report explores the crucial yet often overlooked role of technical standardisation in European industrial policy. It argues for a more strategic orchestration of standard-setting by governments in cooperation with industry, offering a Blueprint for Action across five domains: (1) Programming; (2) Promoting; (3) Protecting; (4) Partnering; and (5) Process.

We are honoured to welcome lead author Alexandre Gomes to present the key findings. The presentation will be followed by a panel discussion with key stakeholders from government and industry. The event will conclude with a Q&A session with all participants, moderated by co-author Maaike Okano-Heijmans.The panelists will be announced soon.

Please note that a camera crew will record the presentation and the panel discussion. This video will be published online later on the CKN website. The Q&A will not be recorded, and only the authors and panellists will appear on video.

The report will be shared under embargo with the people that have registered, a day before the presentation.

We look forward to your participation in what promises to be a timely and forward-looking discussion on aligning European standardisation efforts with strategic industrial goals.

About the authors:

Alexandre Gomes is a Research Fellow at the Netherlands Institute for International Relations ‘Clingendael’ in The Hague, where he is part of the EU and Global Affairs Unit and of the ‘Geopolitics of Technology and Digitalisation’ programme. His research focuses on the role of technology in geopolitics.

Maaike Okano-Heijmans is a Senior Research Fellow at the Netherlands Institute for International Relations ‘Clingendael’ in The Hague, where she leads the ‘Geopolitics of Technology and Digitalisation’ programme. She is also a Visiting Lecturer in the Master of Science in International Relations and Diplomacy (MIRD) programme of the University of Leiden.

Miriam Sainato is a former Research Assistant at Clingendael’s EU and Global Affairs Unit, where she contributed to the Geopolitics of Tech and Digitalisation programme.

Niels ten Oever is an assistant professor in the European Studies department and co-principal investigator of the critical infrastructure lab at the University of Amsterdam. Additionally, he is a coordinator of the Tech, Power, and Policy theme group at the Amsterdam Centre for European Studies and a visiting professor at the Centro de Tecnologia e Sociedade at the Fundação Getúlio Vargas in Rio de Janeiro. His research focuses on how norms, values, and ideologies get inscribed, resisted, and subverted in communication infrastructures through their transnational governance.

Susann Lüdtke has an educationalbackground in China Business and Economics. She achieved her doctoral degree ineconomics and worked as a research fellow for Prof. Dr. Sebastian Heilmann atthe University of Trier and Prof. Dr. Doris Fischer at the University of Würzburg.Dr. Lüdtke was invited to Zhejiang University in Hangzhou (China) as a visitingscholar. After working as a consultant for the automotive industry, Lüdtke hasworked as a consultant for patent analytics and patent management since 2018. Dr.Lüdtke is frequently working as an external expert for projects on technicalstandards and quality infrastructure.