Jacob Gunter is Head of Program of "Economy and Industry" at MERICS. He brings ten years of experience in China to the role, including the most recent four years as the Lead Pen of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, where he served as the Senior Policy and Communications Manager. He covers China's political economy, industrial policy, innovation, self-reliance, decoupling, and examines how the EU can better economically compete with China in third markets.

Gunter has a dual Master's degree in Sinology and International Studies from Johns Hopkins SAIS and Nanjing University through the Hopkins-Nanjing Center and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) in International Business from the University of Denver Daniel's College of Business. He has studied and worked in Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai and Yuyao, Zhejiang.

(As of Sep 2025)