Signal Chinese crewed lunar mission planned for 2030

Summary

The report states that Chinese space activity is developing at great speed, with a crewed lunar mission scheduled for 2030. This signal sits within the broader diagnosis that China is moving from being the factory of the world toward a high-tech economy and society. In the same passage the report explains that China is building its own chips and AI to become independent of foreign technology, so that other countries grow more dependent on Chinese technology. In the energy transition, too, China installed more solar panels in 2024 than Europe and the US combined. The report expects this technological rise to increase the dependence of the Netherlands and other countries on foreign technology and to fuel trade disputes.