A Global Times editorial praises a call by Dirk Panter, economy minister of the German state of Saxony, who has called for “a more pragmatic approach to cooperation with Chinese carmakers at a time when Germany’s automotive industry faces mounting pressure from a slowing electric vehicle (EV) transition, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Wednesday,” May 13. Panter points to a joint venture between Volkswagen and Chinese automakers as one possible model, under which Chinese partners can produce vehicles using currently underutilized facilities in Saxony.
Global Times notes: “His comment merits attention because the state has been one of the country’s key vehicle manufacturing hubs, hosting production sites for giants such as Volkswagen, BMW and Porsche. Amid complex challenges in China-EU economic relations, the local official’s economic rationality is an attitude that the EU would do well to ponder.”
