Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess warns against a confrontation with China. The German government’s basic attitude toward China (export credit guarantees were abandoned because of the Xinjiang issue) worries him, he told Der Spiegel on June 30. “We need even more dialogue,” Diess said, and that “the Chinese leadership can also deal with tough European positions—but you should talk about it—and you should understand the economic impact.”
The global economy is in danger of tipping right now, he said: Inflation, energy shortages and rising interest rates worldwide are highly problematic, he said. “Without doing business with China, inflation would explode even further,” Diess said. In Germany it is underestimated “how much our prosperity is co-financed by China.” If Germany should decouple itself then “Germany would look completely different,” there would be much less growth, prosperity and employment, according to Diess. Volkswagen has a production site in Xinjiang, and its production in China is 56% of all the company’s international production.
