German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will travel to the People’s Republic of China from February 24 to 26, with talks planned in Beijing and Hangzhou 2026. He will be accompanied by a delegation of about 30 leading CEOs of German industry—this alone being an indicator of the strong interest of companies in China, which is characterized by visibly increased direct investments in 2025. The seven billion euros of new investments show that industry’s answer to the EU Commission’s “de-risking” strategy is not a pullout from China but increased production right there. Geopolitically motivated institutions with strong sinophobe views like the Berlin MERICS and the Guetersloh Bertelsmann Foundation are nervous about this Merz trip and try urging Merz and the delegation not to walk into the alleged trap of “Chinese charme offensive” but to keep the distance. But industry’s intent not to have frictions trade war and instead expand cooperation with Chinese companies, implies the potential of a positive and constructive perspective for German-Chinese economic cooperation. This includes the option of having joint ventures also producing for exports to thirds countries.
The CEOs accompanying Merz are, among others: Bill Anderson, Bayer; Oliver Blume, Volkswagen; Roland Busch, Siemens; Björn Gulden, Adidas; Ola Källenius, Mercedes-Benz; Carsten Knobel, Henkel; Tobias Meyer, DHL; Bettina Orlopp, Commerzbank; Oliver Zipse, BMW; Markus Steilemann, Covestro; Hubertus von Baumbach, Boehringer-Ingelheim, and Lars Wagner, Airbus. According to information from the Handelsblatt newspaper, interest from the business community in participating in the trip was significantly greater than the number of places available.
