• German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has arrived in China for a three-day official visit to strengthen economic ties and address differences over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. [gazeta.ru, rbc.ru, finance.yahoo.com]
  • Scholz’s delegation includes high-ranking representatives of German businesses, and the main topic of the negotiations will be economic cooperation between Germany and China. [rbc.ru, gazeta.ru, finance.yahoo.com]
  • Scholz is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang in Beijing, where the main topic will be economic cooperation, and he will also visit Chongqing, a major hub for the China-Europe freight rail network. [rbc.ru, gazeta.ru, finance.yahoo.com]
  • Despite the challenges, China remained Germany’s top trading partner for the eighth straight year in 2023, with 254.1 billion euros ($271 billion) in goods and services exchanged. [finance.yahoo.com]
  • The West is deeply concerned about the massive overcapacity in China, which is becoming a global issue, and new ideas are needed to tackle the problem. [sueddeutsche.de]
  • Scholz has adjusted his visit program in China after the Iranian attacks on Israel, condemning the “irresponsible and unjustifiable” attacks and expressing Germany’s firm support for Israel’s security. [welt.de]
  • It will take “decades” for Germany’s manufacturers to reduce their dependence on China, and Scholz is visiting China with a delegation of business leaders, the first European leader to do so since the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. [ft.com, news.yahoo.com]
  • Scholz’s visit conveys Germany’s willingness to maintain cooperation with China, but it is being closely monitored due to concerns over China’s support for Russia and human rights issues, and Scholz is expected to address these concerns during his visit. [timesofindia.indiatimes.com, news.yahoo.com, dw.com]
  • German corporations have made little progress in “de-risking” their China exposure and reducing their critical import dependencies since 2022, and Germany’s economy has benefited from China’s demand, but those ties have frayed amid increasing competition from Chinese companies and tightened regulations. [ft.com, yahoo.com, dw.com]
  • Germany’s economic dependence on Chinese supplies, particularly in the chemical and electronic sectors, as well as in raw materials and rare earth elements, remains a concern, and China is likely to put pressure on German partners to not support the EU’s restrictive measures on certain products. [rbc.ru, finance.yahoo.com]
  • China has refused to criticize Russian aggression, maintained trade relations with President Vladimir Putin’s government, and aligned its foreign policy with Moscow in opposition to the U.S.-led liberal political order, and the EU is carrying out several probes into whether Chinese green tech exports like battery EVs have benefited from state subsidies, which could lead to a trade war. [yahoo.com, economictimes.indiatimes.com]

Sources:

  • Gazeta.ru [Russian]
  • RBC.ru [Russian]
  • Finance Yahoo.com [English]
  • Sueddeutsche.de [German]
  • Welt.de [German]
  • Financial Times [English]
  • News.Yahoo.com [English]
  • Times of India [English]
  • DW.com [German]
  • Economic Times [English]

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