Workshop: The European Battery Industry: Geoeconomic Competition, Chinese Investments, and Emerging Production Regimes

08.25 - 8.30 Introduction and Welcome

08.30 - 09.45 The Global Tech Race in EV Battery Production

• Stefan Schmalz (University of Erfurt): “The Rise of the Chinese EV and Battery Industry”
• Helena Gräf (HWR Berlin/University of Erfurt): “The European Battery Production Network Amidst Geoeconomic Competition”

Comment: Andreas Goldthau (University of Erfurt)
Chair: Philipp Köncke

09.45 – 10.15 Coffee Break

10.15 – 12.00 The Internationalization of Chinese Battery Producers

• Stefanie Hürtgen (University of Salzburg): “Battery Manufacturing in China, East Asia, and Europe: Emerging Production Networks and Socio-Political Dynamics”
• Jingxian Li (Chinese University of Hong Kong): “Industrial Reconfiguration under Geopolitical Tensions: Evidence from the Offshoring of China’s Lithium-Ion Battery Production Networks to Europe”
• Hannes Langguth (HCU Hamburg): “Chinese Large-scale Battery Investments and Urban Development in Eastern Germany”

Comment: Anja Kirsch (FU Berlin)
Chair: Maximilian Keßler (University of Erfurt)

12.00 – 1.30 Lunch Break

1.30 – 3.15 EV and Battery Production: Labor Relations and Vocational Training

• Boy Lüthje (Goethe Univesity Frankfurt/SZTU Shenzhen): “The Foxconnization of the Chinese Car Industry”
• Petra Jentzsch (IG Metall Mitte)/Julia Schoefer (IG Metall Herborn-Betzdorf): “Chinese Battery Producers in Germany: Challenges for Trade Union Work”
• Julia Hünniger (automotive thüringen, Erfurt)/Johanna Sittel (FSU Jena): “Battery Production and Vocational Training in Germany”

Comment: Anna Mehlis (FSU Jena)
Chair: Lea Schneidemesser (University of Erfurt/Weizenbaum Institute Berlin)

3.15 – 3.30 Coffee Break

3.30 - 4.00 Concluding Discussion