April 16, 2024 (EIRNS)—German car manufacturers are against punitive tariffs against China, as it is their largest market and they fear countermeasures from the Chinese, Global Times reports in its coverage of the German Chancellor’s visit to Shanghai yesterday. Maximilian Butek from the Shanghai Foreign Chamber of Commerce adds: “The automotive industry is not just made up of manufacturers, but also suppliers. And if you ask them, they are actually doing quite well. The market shares that the German car manufacturers are losing and giving up to Chinese manufacturers can be covered by the suppliers. If you look at the Chinese manufacturers, there is a lot of German technology from German suppliers in them.”
On April 15, German materials manufacturer Covestro welcomed Scholz at the company’s Asia-Pacific Innovation Center in Shanghai, where it develops sustainable products for dynamic markets such as renewable energy and consumer electronics. “Our decades-long presence in China epitomizes the spirit of Sino-German collaboration, which has been strongly beneficial for both sides,” Covestro CEO Markus Steilemann was quoted as saying in a statement sent to the Global Times on April 15.
“Scholz’s itinerary in China indicates that green energy cooperation may be one of the most important focuses for the Chancellor’s visit to China, given the energy crisis in Europe over the past two years,” Yang Chengyu, an associate research fellow at the Institute of European Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times yesterday. Germany is accelerating its green transition, while China has advantages in production capacity and costs. Thus, the two sides can expand pragmatic cooperation in the emerging field, Yang said.
