Is China really "the only adult in the room"? My take on the Iran war and what it means for the mid-cap segment.
Xiaolong Hu invited me onto episode 179 of China Manager News - and the question has it all.
China looks calm - but calm is not neutral
Behind the composure there is a very clear geopolitical calculus: Iran invited into the SCO, sanctions undercut, oil purchased - but not a single shot fired.
While I am framing this in the podcast, I am living it in parallel in the operational mandate: our sister plant in the aluminium industry has not received any rolling slabs from the UAE since March - because EGA was bombed and the Strait of Hormuz is blocked. Geopolitics is no longer theory, it sits in the production plan.
My core message for the mid-cap segment
- China for China is essential.
- But take care not to get caught between the fronts.
π§ Listen: The full episode on China Manager News:
Episode 179 - "News: US-Iran crisis: What it means for your China business" (China Hot Pod, 2026-04-25, in German)
Originally published as a LinkedIn post on 2026-04-26 (in German). View original on LinkedIn ›