Four EU members, France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands, presented a non-paper ahead of the EU meeting on June 5, which amounts to a declaration of war against Germany because of its China policy. The non-paper, issued on the eve of the important mission to China by a German economic delegation led by Economic Affairs Minister Katharina Reiche, calls for tough measures against China because of the latter’s “unfair competition,” the Financial Times reported.
Nevertheless, “Germany resists EU members’ push for a tougher stance against China,” and refused to sign the non-paper, commented pro-EU outlet Euronews.
China is Germany’s largest trade partner. After a failed attempt to “de-risk” by the Scholz government (dependance from China increased instead of decreasing), the Merz government changed policy and went back to “cooperation,” as Merz himself announced when he visited China earlier this year. Ms. Reiche’s current mission, composed of roughly 40 CEOs, Mittelstand and start-up managers, is pushing ahead with a cooperation agenda, while paying lip service to the “overcapacity” narrative.
Many industry leaders place great importance on cooperation with China, as expressed by Thyssenkrupp manager Michael Lopez in an interview to the early morning ZDF TV political magazine “MoMa” on Tuesday. Speaking from Beijing, Lopez said that “It is very important that economic relations” with China “continue in a very positive manner…. I would like to emphasize that China is a very, very important trading partner (…) Of course, the goal is to ensure a reliable supply of materials,” such as rare earth minerals, “and to regulate competition"; however, “I am firmly convinced that just as the German industry came to China 30 years ago and we established ourselves here—we set up manufacturing here, we trained our experts here, and we received great support from the Chinese government—we are now at a point where, in my opinion, this should also work in the other direction. That is, we should invite Chinese companies to come to Europe, to produce in Europe so they can fulfill their part for society in Europe and in Germany, and I think that if we conduct the discussions in this manner, we will find a solution.”
This view, which hopefully reflects the spirit of the entire delegation, is consistent with the approach suggested at the recent Schiller Institute conference in Berlin on “China-Europe dialogue on global governance as well as civilizational exchange and reciprocal learning.”
On the other hand, Lopez emphasized the need of an “industrial policy” in Europe, aimed at keeping strategically relevant productions, such as steel, at home. In this context, he welcomed the import tariffs and the quota reduction which is going to be effective in July.
In a related development, the Chamber of Commerce of Germany in China has published the results of a flash survey among its member companies in the country in connection with the visit. These companies are seeking support from the German government for partnerships with Chinese firms. For just over half of those surveyed, this is the most important pillar for business development in China. “We hope that the visit will help to bring the insights gained on the ground into the political discussion in Berlin in a targeted manner and further develop bilateral exchange,” says Oliver Oehms, Executive Director of the German Chamber of Commerce in Northern China.
