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Germany’s Leader Walks a Fine Line in China

Chancellor Olaf Scholz tried to promote German business interests while delivering warnings from Europe about trade and geopolitical tensions.

By Alexandra Stevenson and Melissa Eddy

Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany tried to strike a delicate balance on a trip to China this week, promoting business ties with his country’s biggest trading partner while raising concerns over its surge of exports to Europe and its support for Russia.

Mr. Scholz met with China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on Tuesday, the culmination of a three-day visit with a delegation of German officials and business leaders. He also met with Premier Li Qiang as the two countries navigate relations strained by Russia’s war in Ukraine and China’s rivalry with the United States, Germany’s most important ally.

Throughout his trip, Mr. Scholz promoted the interests of German companies that are finding it increasingly hard to compete in China. And he conveyed growing concern in the European Union that the region’s market is becoming a dumping ground for Chinese goods produced at a loss .

But Mr. Scholz chose a conciliatory tone over a combative one in his opening remarks before sitting down with Mr. Xi on Tuesday morning, in a meeting that stretched over three hours and turned into a walk and lunch.

It was the German leader’s first visit to China since his government adopted a strategy last year that defined the Asian power as a “partner, competitor and systemic rival ,” calling on Germany to reduce its dependency on Chinese goods.

Germany’s economy shrank last year, and its weaknesses have exposed a reliance on China for growth. Energy prices have risen because of the war in Ukraine, which has been facilitated by Beijing’s support for the Kremlin. German companies have pushed for more access to China and complained that they face unfair competition .

The chancellor visited German companies with extensive investments in China and met with trade representatives and officials in the sprawling industrial metropolis of Chongqing in China’s southwest and in Shanghai and Beijing.

At a talk with a group of students in Shanghai on Monday, Mr. Scholz fielded a question from a student who planned to study in Germany this year, who said he was “really worried” because the country had partially legalized cannabis. “When you study in Berlin, you can run around the whole time and never meet anyone who does that,” the chancellor assured him.

But he also used the platform to push more serious messages about trade. “Competition must be fair,” Mr. Scholz told the students. “We want a level playing field,” he said.

Mr. Scholz’s trip was an example of the difficult dance that Germany is trying to do: maintaining economic ties with China while managing U.S. pressure to align itself more closely with Washington against Beijing.

In his meetings, Mr. Scholz highlighted Germany’s commitment to doing business with China, but he also warned that Beijing had to curb the flood of Chinese goods into Europe. At the same time, he expressed reservations about the European Union’s investigations into China’s use of subsidies for green technology industries, saying that any discussion about trade must be based on fairness.

“This must be done from a position of self-confident competitiveness and not from protectionist motives,” Mr. Scholz told reporters on Monday.

China’s manufacturing push in green sectors like electric cars and solar panels has touched off trade disputes with Europe and the United States, where such industries have also received government support. But with 5,000 German companies active in the Chinese market, Germany stands to lose more than many of its European partners would if Beijing were to retaliate against the European Union.

“If the E.U. goes too hard against China, we could expect countermeasures and this would be a catastrophe for us,” said Maximilian Butek, the executive director of the German Chamber of Commerce in China.

“For us it’s extremely important that the Chinese market remains open,” he said.

In his meeting with Mr. Xi, Mr. Scholz indicated that Russia’s war on Ukraine and its arms buildup were high on his agenda. “They directly affect our core interests. Indirectly, they damage the entire international order,” he said in opening remarks at the meeting, a transcript of which was provided by Mr. Scholz’s office.

Despite pressing the issue with Mr. Xi, he did not appear to win the commitment that he had sought from the Chinese leader to take part in an international conference for Ukraine planned in June. Germany had hoped that China could use its influence over Russia to help work toward a peace agreement.

Germany would also like China stop selling goods to Russia that have potential uses on the battlefield, and Mr. Scholz told reporters that he had brought up the issue in his meeting. “The point has been made,” he said. “There can be no misunderstanding about how we see things.”

China is hoping to drive a wedge between Europe and the United States by courting leaders such as Mr. Scholz. State media reports depicted his visit as demonstrating the strength of China’s relations with Europe, playing up its economic ties with Germany.

In his opening remarks to Mr. Scholz, Mr. Xi said cooperation between China and Germany, which have the second- and third-largest economies, was beneficial to the world, a remark that could be read as directed at those who have urged Berlin to distance itself from Beijing.

“The two countries should view and develop bilateral relations from a long-term and strategic perspective and work together to inject more stability and certainty into the world,” Mr. Xi told Mr. Scholz, emphasizing the importance of seeking “common ground.”

Beijing is sure to welcome the message that German businesses are committed to China. The Asian giant is trying to court foreign investment to reinvigorate its economy, which has faltered because of a housing slowdown. Some Western businesses and investors have also been rattled by Mr. Xi’s emphasis on national security, which they regard as making it riskier to operate in the country.

From China’s perspective, Germany may be its best hope of delaying or watering down any trade restrictions from Europe, said Noah Barkin, a senior adviser in the China practice at the Rhodium Group, a research firm.

German carmakers have invested billions of dollars in China, and much of their revenue comes from there. Many worry that if the European Commission imposes higher tariffs on Chinese exports, and Beijing retaliates, German businesses will suffer most.

Chinese officials “know that German companies are heavily invested and they use that politically to influence political decision making in Berlin,” Mr. Barkin said.

Germany’s biggest companies, including BMW, Mercedes-Benz and BASF, have large operations in China and strong, effective lobbies in Berlin, Mr. Barkin added. Executives from those companies, along with several others, traveled with Mr. Scholz to China.

“The supply chain in China is stuffed with German goods,” said Joerg Wuttke, a former president of the E.U. Chamber of Commerce in China. “If China has a price war with Germany, then no one will make money anymore.”

Mr. Scholz also brought along the German ministers for agriculture, the environment and transportation, officials who experts said would be particularly interested in working with China.

“You set an agenda with these three ministers, the tonality is overall a cooperative one, these are areas that we want to work on,” said Janka Oertel, director of the Asia Program at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

Chinese officials, for their part, have brushed off the European accusations of unfair trading practices, calling them groundless and an act of “ typical protectionism .” They have hinted that they could retaliate for any actions taken by the European Union, saying that China was “strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposes” its investigations.

In an interview with the German newspaper Handelsblatt, Wu Ken, China’s ambassador to Germany, said the competitive edge of Chinese electric vehicles “relies on innovation, not subsidies.”

“The challenge faced by developed countries lies more in the fact that Chinese companies are more efficient,” the ambassador said.

Vivian Wang contributed reporting from Beijing and Zixu Wang from Hong Kong.

Alexandra Stevenson is the Shanghai bureau chief for The Times, reporting on China’s economy and society. More about Alexandra Stevenson

Melissa Eddy is based in Berlin and reports on Germany’s politics, businesses and its economy. More about Melissa Eddy

Germany's Scholz arrives in China on a visit marked by trade tensions and Ukraine conflict

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has arrived in China on a visit focused on the increasingly tense economic relationship between the sides and differences over Russia's invasion of Ukraine

BEIJING -- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrived in China on Sunday on a visit focused on the increasingly tense economic relationship between the sides and differences over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine .

Scholz's first destination was the industrial hub of Chongqing, where he and his delegation of ministers and business leaders were to visit a partially German-funded company and other sites in the vast city, which is a production base for China’s auto and other industries.

Scholz is also scheduled to visit the financial hub of Shanghai during his three-day visit, before traveling to the capital, Beijing, to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang.

German companies such as BMW and Volkswagen are highly reliant on the Chinese market, but Beijing's support for Russia creates frictions with the West.

Germany's economy has benefited from China's demand for investment and manufactured items from cars to chemicals, but those ties have frayed amid increasing competition from Chinese companies and tightened regulations. Political interference has also been blamed for a sharp drop in foreign investment.

German companies have argued they face unfair market barriers in China and the government has pushed for a policy of “de-risking” to reduce reliance on the Chinese market and suppliers.

Despite that, 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 between the sides, slightly more than what Germany traded with the U.S. but a 15.5% contraction from the year before. German exports to China totaled 97.3 billion euros ($104 billion), according to Germany's Federal Statistical Office, although figures have varied depending on exchange rate fluctuations and rounding of numbers.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV showed Scholz descending from his plane in Chonqing and leaving in a motorcade, but did not carry any comments made to the welcoming delegation.

Prior to his arrival, Scholz posted on social platform X that he had discussed the “massive” Russian air attacks on civilian energy infrastructure with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday, and declared that Berlin will “stand unbreakably by Ukraine’s side.”

China has refused to criticize Russian aggression. It has 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, while touting its authoritarian one-party system as a superior alternative.

After visiting a hydrogen motor production facility run by German firm Bosch, Scholz toured the city with young architects and was to go on a boat cruise on the famed Yangtze River, one of two mighty waterways that partly surround the city perched on overlooking cliffs.

Following a visit Monday to Shanghai, Scholz will fly to Beijing and meet with Xi Tuesday at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse before being received with military honors by Li at the Great Hall of the People, the seat of the ceremonial legislature in the heart of the Chinese capital. Further visits and meetings will follow before he departs late Wednesday night.

This is Scholz’s second trip to China since he became chancellor in late 2021. His previous visit was in November 2022 and essentially was a one-day trip because of the strict COVID restrictions still in place at the time.

It is his first visit since the German government last year presented its China strategy, which met with criticism from Beijing. Premier Li and a delegation of senior officials visited Berlin in June.

Associated Press reporter Geir Moulson contributed to this report from Berlin.

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The German chancellor presses China on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping, second from left, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, second from right, walk together in Beijing, China, on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. (Ding Haitao/Xinhua via AP)

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping, right and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz pose for a photo at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China, on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. (Xie Huanchi/Xinhua via AP)

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks during a press conference in Beijing, China, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is on a 3 day visit to China. (Andres Martinez Casares, Pool Photo via AP)

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping, right and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz pose for a photo in Beijing, China, on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. (Xie Huanchi/Xinhua via AP)

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BEIJING (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he asked Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Tuesday to pressure Russia to end its “insane campaign” in Ukraine, the latest in a parade of European leaders and senior officials to make such an appeal.

The Chinese side gave no sign of any change in its position, which has been to blame Europe and the U.S. for prolonging the fighting by supplying Ukraine with weapons and calling for peace negotiations that recognize Russian as well as Ukrainian concerns.

“China is not a party to the Ukraine crisis but has consistently promoted talks for peace in its own way,” read a Chinese statement following talks between Xi and Scholz in the Chinese capital.

Scholz, winding up a three-day visit to China, told journalists that he believes “a building block has been put in place” that will contribute to discussions on diplomatic efforts to end the war .

Earlier, he said in a post on the social media platform X that he had asked Xi to use his influence with Russia.

“China’s word carries weight in Russia. So I asked President Xi to bear upon Russia so that Putin finally breaks off his insane campaign, withdraws his troops and ends this terrible war,” he wrote.

China has broken with the West in refusing to criticize Russia’s invasion. While the government says it is not sending military aid to Moscow, it has provided an economic lifeline by growing trade with Russia, helping it cope with Western sanctions. A U.S. intelligence report last week found Beijing has increased equipment sales to Moscow to indirectly boost its war effort against Ukraine.

Scholz said the talks had addressed China’s exports of so-called dual-use goods, which can have both civilian and military purposes.

“There is an absolute insistence that there be no weapons exports, but the question of dual-use also must not be ignored,” he said. “And it was possible to bring up everything that is necessary here in a way that it can’t be misunderstood.”

Scholz also said the use of nuclear weapons should not even be threatened, according to a German government transcript of his remarks at the start of the meeting with Xi.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned last month that his government is ready to use nuclear weapons if its sovereignty or independence is threatened, his latest such threat since invading Ukraine.

A Chinese statement said the two leaders noted that China and Germany stand committed to the U.N. Charter and oppose the use of nuclear weapons.

“China encourages and supports all efforts that are conducive to the peaceful resolution of the crisis, and supports the holding in due course of an international peace conference that is recognized by both Russia and Ukraine and ensures the equal participation of all parties and fair discussions on all peace plans,” the Chinese statement said.

On trade, Xi told Scholz that their two countries should stay vigilant against the rise of protectionism and take an objective view of the issue of manufacturing capacity, according to the statement.

The German leader’s visit has underscored trade-related tensions as the European Union and the United States complain that China is competing unfairly through the use of subsidies that have created massive production capacity, particularly for solar panels, electric cars and other green-energy products.

The EU is mulling tariffs to protect its producers against cheaper Chinese electrical vehicle imports , which some fear will flood the European market.

Scholz, meeting separately with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, called for concrete improvements in several areas for German companies operating in China, including market access, fair competition, intellectual property protection and the legal system.

“In order for these companies to be able to continue doing so, they need the right conditions,” he said.

Despite the political and trade frictions, China was Germany’s top trading partner for the eighth straight year in 2023, with 254.1 billion euros ($271 billion) in goods and services exchanged between the sides, slightly more than what Germany traded with the U.S. but a 15.5% contraction from the year before.

This is Scholz’s second trip to China since he became chancellor in late 2021. It is his first visit since the German government last year presented its China strategy, which met with criticism from Beijing . Li, the Chinese premier, visited Berlin in June.

Associated Press writers Geir Moulson in Berlin and Christopher Bodeen in Taipei, Taiwan, contributed to this report.

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German chancellor arrives in Chongqing to start China visit

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrived in Chongqing Sunday morning to kick off his three-day official visit to China.

Scholz is the first leader of Western powers to visit China this year. This is his second visit to China following the one-day whirlwind trip in November 2022 amid the COVID-19 pandemic less than a year after he took office.

Accompanied by a business delegation, he will first visit Chongqing on Sunday before heading to Shanghai on Monday.

President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang will meet with Scholz respectively to discuss China-Germany ties and issues of common concern, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

According to German media, Roland Busch, chief executive officer of Siemens and also chair and president of the Asia-Pacific Committee of German Business, BMW Chairman of the Board of Management Oliver Zipse, Bayer CEO Bill Anderson and ThyssenKrupp CEO Miguel Lopez are part of the business delegation.

Chongqing, a mega city of 34 million on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, is a traditional industrial powerhouse.

As the gateway to Southwest China, it has established as one of the world's largest IT industrial clusters and one of China's biggest auto manufacturing bases.

It aims to build itself into a renowned smart city and a smart manufacturing powerhouse with over 5,000 high-tech companies that contribute 19 percent of the city's industrial output, local authorities said.

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German Chancellor Scholz to visit China for talks with President Xi

The German government says Chancellor Olaf Scholz will visit China for talks with Chinese President Xi and other senior officials.

A government spokesperson told reporters on Monday that the chancellor will leave for the three-day visit on Saturday.

He is expected to hold talks with Xi Jinping in the capital, Beijing, next Tuesday. He will also visit the cities of Chongqing and Shanghai.

It will be Scholz's second visit to China and the first since November 2022. He will be accompanied by three ministers.

The spokesperson said major items on the agenda will include responses to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the situation in the South China Sea.

China is Germany's largest trading partner. But Berlin intends to reduce its dependence on the country based on lessons learned from its reliance on Russian natural gas and other energy resources.

The visit comes as China is opposing an investigation by the European Union into electric vehicles imports from the country. Beijing is concerned that the probe could lead to additional tariffs on Chinese EVs.

The German spokesperson said Scholz is generally skeptical about the protective tariffs.

German businesses, mainly large companies, still see Germany-China relations as important.

Germany’s Olaf Scholz meets China’s Xi Jinping as trade in focus

Scholz’s trip to China has been criticised over his willingness to do deals with an increasingly authoritarian Beijing.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has met with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the first visit by a leader of the Group of Seven (G7) nations to China in three years.

Leading a high-level business delegation to China on Friday, the German leader’s focus on boosting economic ties with Beijing has led to criticism of his apparent desire to strike deals with a nation growing more authoritarian under President Xi.

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German industry’s heavy dependence on China has also faced renewed scrutiny, particularly over Berlin’s over-reliance on Russian energy imports, with the country deeply exposed when Moscow cut off supplies in retaliation for sanctions imposed over its invasion of Ukraine.

Scholz’s arrival in Beijing marked the first visit by a leader of the G7 – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and United States – since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019.

Received by a smiling Xi at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, Scholz said he hoped to “further develop” economic cooperation – while alluding to areas of disagreement.

“It is good that we are able to have an exchange here about all questions, including those questions where we have different perspectives – that’s what an exchange is for,” Scholz said.

“We also want to talk about how we can further develop our economic cooperation on other topics: climate change, food security, indebted countries,” he said.

Xi told Scholz that as large nations with influence, China and Germany should work together during “times of change and turmoil” for the sake of world peace, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Scholz also spoke with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang later in the afternoon at a meeting in which he called for fair trade between the two countries . He urged Beijing to do more to press its ally Russia over the war in Ukraine.

“I told President (Xi) that it is important for China to use its influence on Russia,” Scholz said at a meeting with the press during which the Chinese side insisted there was “not enough time” for questions.

‘Going it alone’ on China

Ahead of the visit, German opposition politician Norbert Roettgen told the Rheinische Post newspaper that Scholz’s approach to Beijing appeared to be underpinned by the idea that “we want to keep doing business with China, no matter what that means for the dependence of our economy, and for our ability to act”.

“The chancellor is pursuing a foreign policy which will lead to a loss of trust in Germany among our closest partners,” said Roettgen, from the conservative CDU party, accusing Scholz of “going it alone” in his approach to China.

Berlin says there were consultations with key partners in the US and Europe ahead of the visit and Scholz also promised a “candid exchange” with Chinese leaders on sensitive subjects.

The German and Chinese economies are deeply intertwined. China is a crucial market for German goods, from machinery to vehicles made by the likes of Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

Chinese state media has lauded the visit.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will soon meet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. pic.twitter.com/zjs4DqNV5f — Global Times (@globaltimesnews) November 4, 2022

Patrick Fok, reporting from Beijing for Al Jazeera, said that state media in China had described the visit in terms of “hitting the brakes on the EU’s extreme confrontational stance on China”, and the visit will likely be framed as an endorsement of Xi’s new government.

Xi was re-elected for a third, five-year term at the Chinese Communist Party Congress in Beijing last month, an endorsement that propelled Xi to the status of the most powerful leader in China since Mao Zedong.

“Olaf Scholz’s visit has come under extreme scrutiny with many in Europe saying that it signals a lack of a unified voice within the bloc on how to deal with Beijing, and that Germany is making the same mistakes as it did with Russia,” Fok said.

“That is perhaps why this is such a fleeting visit,” he added, noting that the German chancellor will only be in China for about 24 hours.

Scholz said in a newspaper interview that “we will not ignore controversies” and listed several sensitive topics that would be addressed in talks with his Chinese counterpart. They include respect for civil liberties in China, human rights in the Xinjiang region , where the United Nations has said the treatment of the Uighur Muslim minority could amount to crimes against humanity, and the status of Taiwan.

In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Thursday that China was looking forward to a “successful” visit, and that “cooperation far exceeds competition” between China and Germany.

“China and Germany are partners, not rivals,” the spokesman said.

“Both countries have benefitted from each other’s growth and practical bilateral cooperation. A sound China-Germany relationship is good not only for the two countries, but also for China-EU ties and the world,” he said.

The spokesman also warned that China will not countenance criticism on matters that are “internal affairs”.

“For example on Xinjiang, China’s position is consistent and clear. These are China’s internal affairs, which brook no foreign interference. On the so-called ‘human rights’ issues, China respects and protects human rights,” he said.

“China is against using human rights discussions as a pretext to interfere in China’s internal affairs or smear and discredit China,” he added.

Ahead of the visit, Chinese dissidents and the World Uyghur Congress had called on Scholz to cancel his trip.

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Germany's Scholz begins visit to China in city of over 30 million

• Oops! Something went wrong. Please try again later. More content below

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz begins his three-day visit to China on Sunday in the metropolis of Chongqing, which is home to some 32 million inhabitants.

Scholz plans to visit a Bosch hydrogen drive production facility and talk to students about urban planning.

Scholz's programme also includes a meeting with the regional Communist Party secretary, Yuan Jiajun, and a boat trip on the Yangtze.

On Monday, his visit is expected to continue on to the economic and financial centre of Shanghai and on Tuesday to Beijing for political talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang.

The German chancellor is accompanied by a dozen top managers. Among them are the chief executives of the car manufacturers Mercedes-Benz and BMW as well as the chemical company BASF. Volkswagen, Europe's largest car manufacturer, is not taking part this time.

In Beijing, Scholz is also expected to be supported by Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir, Transport Minister Volker Wissing and Environment Minister Steffi Lemke.

This is the Scholz's second trip to China since taking office in December 2021. His inaugural visit in November 2022 was only a day trip due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. This time, he is taking three days - more than ever before for a single country on a single trip.

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Scholz's visit to focus on Sino-German ties

By CHEN WEIHUA in Brussels | CHINA DAILY | Updated: 2024-04-13 07:00

President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang will meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz respectively to discuss China-Germany ties and issues of common concern during Scholz's three-day official visit to China starting from Sunday.

China has always deemed Germany as an important partner for win-win cooperation, and supports Germany in playing a more important role in Europe and the world, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a regular news conference on Friday.

Both countries benefit from each other's development, and have promoted the steady and sustained development of China-Europe ties, Mao said.

Scholz's upcoming visit to China indicates the importance of bilateral relations between China and Germany and between China and the European Union, observers said.

German federal government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said at a news conference on Monday that Scholz will travel to China over the weekend, accompanied by a business delegation. He will first visit Chongqing on Sunday before heading to Shanghai on Monday.

Jochum Haakma, chairman of the EU-China Business Association, said Scholz's visit with three federal ministers and a very high-profile corporate delegation is not only of great importance for Germany, but also for China's relationship with the EU.

He said that China is the biggest trading partner of Germany and Germany is by far the biggest European investor in China, adding that the German and EU economies are more intertwined and integrated with the Chinese economy than many people imagine.

"This visit shows that China is of great importance to Germany, and it is very good that the leaders of both countries will talk and look each other in the eye. This is the only way to build trust on both sides and keep the doors open for discussions," he said.

Haakma said he believes that Scholz will display a pragmatic approach to enhancing cooperation with China, including a willingness to maintain dialogue and rejecting any decoupling rhetoric and bloc confrontation.

Michael Borchmann, former director-general for international affairs of the German state of Hessen, said he still remembers Scholz's crucial visit to China in November 2022 amid the COVID-19 pandemic less than a year after he took office.

He was also impressed by Scholz's high-profile delegation of three government ministers and top business leaders and the fact that there were many wanting to join the delegation.

According to German media, Roland Busch, chief executive officer of Siemens and also chair and president of the Asia-Pacific Committee of German Business, BMW Chairman of the Board of Management Oliver Zipse, Bayer CEO Bill Anderson and ThyssenKrupp CEO Miguel Lopez are part of the business delegation.

"This shows the great interest our country has for close cooperation with China. They think pragmatically and not in the interest of political China bashers. So I have sound expectations for a good result from his visit."

He said that Scholz, a former mayor of Hamburg, understands the "vital importance" of China, and it might explain his engagement in the COSCO deal.

In October 2022, Scholz pushed through a deal to allow COSCO to acquire 24.99 percent of shares in the Hamburg Tollerort terminal despite the concerns of several Cabinet members.

"He looks at China rationally, having Germany's best interest in mind and not ideologically, just to support a foreign country in the West," he said, clearly referring to the US, which exerts a lot of influence in Europe.

Ding Chun, director of the Center for European Studies at Fudan University, said Scholz's visit reflects the importance of China as an economic and trade partner for Germany, especially at a time when the German economy is facing multiple challenges.

"Despite some differences in his three-party coalition government on its China policy, the consensus has been that the Chinese market is indispensable, and there should be no decoupling," said Ding, who hosted a speech made by then Hamburg mayor Scholz at Fudan in 2015.

He said he believes that Scholz wants to increase communication and coordination with China on issues such as a multilateral system and free trade, which are vital for Germany at a time when Europe is haunted by the Ukraine conflict, an economic slowdown and growing hardships in people's lives.

"Whether it's global geopolitics, the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine and between Israel and Palestine, climate change or food security, these cannot be solved without China's participation. And as a key player in Europe, Germany believes it's vital to communicate with China on hot spot issues," Ding said.

Lai Suetyi, an associate professor at the Center for European Studies at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, said that when Scholz meets with Chinese leaders, bilateral economic cooperation, the EU's anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese electric vehicles, and conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza will be among a long list of topics.

"How fruitful this trip will be is still unknown," she said, adding that Scholz's three-party coalition government means that he is somehow constrained and he also has to keep the US in mind, given Germany's heavy reliance on the US for security.

Wang Qingyun in Beijing contributed to this story.

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Germany's Scholz To Meet Xi During 3-day China Trip

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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will travel to China on Saturday for a three-day visit that will include talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, at a time when both economic giants are struggling.

Scholz will meet Xi and Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing at the end of his trip on April 16, the chancellor's spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said at a press conference on Monday.

He will also travel to the central city of Chongqing on Sunday, before heading to Shanghai on Monday.

Along the way, Scholz will hold talks with German business executives and give a speech at a Shanghai university.

He will be accompanied by a trio of cabinet ministers and a German industrial delegation.

The visit to China is Scholz's second since he became chancellor, with the first in November 2022.

That trip took place under strict Covid pandemic restrictions, which limited the visit to one day.

The 2022 visit also took place against the backdrop of a heated debate over the need to reduce Germany's lopsided reliance on China, prompted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and rising concern over geopolitical risks.

Scholz has insisted there will be no "decoupling" from its biggest trading partner, but Germany has also been cautiously nurturing relationships with other countries in southeast Asia.

As well as trade issues, the war in Ukraine will also be on the agenda during the talks with Xi, who has maintained closer ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"I think China has influence on Russia and our wish would be for China to be able to exercise the influence it has," Hebestreit said.

Germany's Scholz To Meet Xi During 3-day China Trip

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Top German CEOs Join Scholz's China Trip Despite 'De-Risking' Push

Top German CEOs Join Scholz's China Trip Despite 'De-Risking' Push

FILE PHOTO: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks during a press conference with Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina, in Berlin, Germany, March 27, 2024. REUTERS/Nadja Wohlleben/File Photo

BERLIN/FRANKFURT/MUNICH (Reuters) -Germany's top corporate brass will join Chancellor Olaf Scholz when he visits China later this month, reflecting an ongoing dependence on the world's second-biggest economy despite efforts to spread exposure more evenly across the globe.

Roland Busch, chief executive of Siemens and chair and president of the Asia-Pacific Committee of German Business, will be among the executives on the trip at the end of next week, the company said.

Mercedes-Benz - which counts China's Beijing Automotive Group Co Ltd and Geely Chair Li Shufu as its two top shareholders - also confirmed that CEO Ola Kaellenius would participate.

Lab equipment and semiconductor chemicals maker Merck KGaA said its CEO Belen Garijo would join too.

The trip is Scholz's first to China since Berlin drew up a China strategy last summer that urged a "de-risking" to reduce economic exposure to the Asian powerhouse, but was vague on specific measures or binding targets.

German chancellors are usually accompanied by high-level business delegations on major foreign visits and the list of executives for the trip underscores China's status as Germany's biggest trading partner.

China also remains extremely important for German industry, most notably carmakers, which operate several local joint ventures with Chinese partners in what is the world's biggest auto market.

Last year, German direct investment in China rose to a record 11.9 billion euros ($12.9 billion), showing firms continue to plough money into a country that Berlin calls a systemic rival.

BMW boss Oliver Zipse and Bayer CEO Bill Anderson will also travel with Scholz, people familiar with the matter said. The same goes for Miguel Lopez, who leads German industrial conglomerate Thyssenkrupp, the steel-to-submarines maker said.

The list of CEOs is not definitive and more could join as the trip is finalised.

While Germany's biggest firms, including BASF and Volkswagen, continue to bank on China as a growth motor, some smaller firms have started to change tack.

Germany's mid-sized corporations have begun to take steps to ringfence or legally separate their Chinese businesses, walking a tightrope between staying engaged in the market and preparing for a worst-case scenario should Beijing invade Taiwan.

($1 = 0.9208 euros)

(Reporting by Victoria Waldersee, Christoph Steitz, Alexander Huebner and Ludwig Burger; Editing by Matthias Williams and Mark Potter)

Copyright 2024 Thomson Reuters .

Tags: Europe , Germany

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German Chancellor Scholz to Travel to China in April

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks at a panel during German-Chinese government consultations in Berlin, Germany, June 20, 2023. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch/File Photo

BERLIN (Reuters) -German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will travel to China with a business delegation from April 15 to 16, a person involved in the planning told Reuters on Wednesday.

The Asia-Pacific Committee of German Business and the BDI Federation of German Industries have sent invitations to companies to join Scholz, the person added, without specifying which firms were invited.

The FAZ newspaper first reported Scholz's China trip.

A government spokesperson declined to comment on the potential trip, saying that in general Scholz's public appearances are announced on the Friday before they take place.

Scholz was last in China in November 2022, when he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the first visit to China by a leader from the Group of Seven wealthy nations since the COVID-19 pandemic. Scholz pressed Xi to prevail on Russia to end its invasion of Ukraine, saying Beijing had a responsibility as a major power to do so.

China remained Germany's most important trading partner for the seventh year in a row in 2022 and is set to continue its streak in 2023 based on preliminary statistics office figures.

Photos You Should See - April 2024

However, the head of foreign trade at the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) said that the United States is set to overtake China as top trade partner by 2025 at the latest in view of the continuing growth in German exports to the United States.

European leaders have warned companies of the risks of relying too heavily on China and urged them to diversify their business away from what they refer to as a "partner, competitor and systemic rival".

Scholz heads to Washington this week, where he will meet with U.S. President Joe Biden to discuss the war in Ukraine, among other topics.

(Reporting by Kirsti Knolle and Andreas Rinke, Writing by Miranda Murray; Editing by Rachel More and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

Copyright 2024 Thomson Reuters .

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Tags: Asia , international trade , Europe , Germany

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Why Western leaders are warily watching the German leader's trip to China

Esme Nicholson

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrives at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport for his flight to China on Thursday. Kay Nietfeld / DPA / Picture Alliance via Getty Images hide caption

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrives at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport for his flight to China on Thursday.

HAMBURG, Germany — One of Europe's largest ports, Hamburg has excelled at trade since the Middle Ages. Back then, the city clubbed together with other ports along and beyond the Baltic coast to form the Hanseatic League, which dominated commerce for centuries.

China Unbound

Chinese firms now hold stakes in over a dozen european ports.

Now the city's port is joining forces with a Chinese shipping giant. The state-owned China Ocean Shipping Co., known as COSCO, is about to buy a stake in a container terminal.

China has been Germany's largest trading partner for much of the past decade. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz pushed the COSCO deal through his cabinet last week, despite opposition from six key ministers. The chancellor tried to address their concerns about selling off critical infrastructure by reducing COSCO's stake from 35% to 24.9%. And while his cabinet reluctantly agreed to this slimmed-down deal, it remains unpopular.

Speaking on background, a senior U.S. State Department official said Wednesday that the U.S. had also strongly suggested that China not be permitted to get a controlling stake in the Hamburg port terminal.

While the deal is yet to be finalized, the timing of Scholz's cabinet approval of it has raised eyebrows in Berlin and other Western capitals. As Scholz heads to China to meet with President Xi Jinping on Friday, he is under political pressure at home, and from Washington, to rethink Berlin's relationship with Beijing. Scholz will be the first leader to visit China since Xi consolidated his power at last month's Chinese Communist Party Congress .

Lawmakers — both from his own government and the opposition — are afraid of making the same mistakes with Beijing that they made with Moscow, where they were overly dependent on an autocratic state for their economic well-being.

They are anxious to reduce Germany's economic dependency on China. But like Angela Merkel before him, Scholz is traveling to Beijing with a delegation of German CEOs, who are looking to continue business as usual.

Noah Barkin, who researches European-Chinese relations for the think tank Rhodium Group , says the COSCO-Hamburg deal implies Scholz is not listening to his own government.

"The optics are not great," Barkin says. "It appears that Scholz, shortly before heading to Beijing, is offering the Chinese government a gift."

Barkin says the COSCO deal undermines previous policy pledges.

Small boats pass in front of a COSCO Shipping Corporation container ship as it is unloaded at the Port of Hamburg on Oct. 26. Axel Heimken / AFP / Getty Images hide caption

Small boats pass in front of a COSCO Shipping Corporation container ship as it is unloaded at the Port of Hamburg on Oct. 26.

"Scholz's government came in promising a new, tougher stance" on China, he says. "They're putting the finishing touches on a new China strategy which will focus on diversification away from China. And Scholz is sending signals in the opposite direction. So there are big questions abroad about where Germany really stands on China."

Scholz defends himself

In response to the widespread criticism and head-scratching, Scholz laid out his intentions in Beijing in an op-ed for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Politico on Thursday.

He writes that if China continues to become more authoritarian, Germany's policy toward it will change. He also warns that if Beijing "tightens international production chains' dependence on China," Berlin will "dismantle one-sided dependencies" where needed. German manufacturers are already sourcing "important raw materials, some rare earths or certain cutting-edge technologies" from other partners, he writes.

Scholz is also under pressure from Washington, which wants Germany to get out of China. Scholz asserts in his op-ed that "calls by some to isolate China" are not justified and that Berlin is not seeking to decouple from Beijing.

Marcel Fratzscher, president of the German Economic Research Institute, says Washington isn't the only capital that sees heavy German investment in China as a problem. Brussels and Paris are unhappy with it as well.

"Our neighbors have accused Germany of pursuing a very mercantilist approach with the short term economic gain being top priority," Fratzscher says. "And I think that is a fair criticism."

Germany's Foreign Ministry, under Annalena Baerbock, continues to oppose the COSCO deal. While all three coalition parties agreed to pen a new China policy — due to be adopted in 2023 — Baerbock's Green party is the most outspoken when it comes to China and human rights abuses.

Speaking to public broadcaster ARD this week, Baerbock argued, "It's vital that we never again make ourselves so existentially dependent on a country that doesn't share our values."

Business as usual?

But with a recession looming, German industry has no intention of upsetting its largest market, let alone cutting ties.

One of the business leaders accompanying Scholz to Beijing is from chemicals giant BASF, which is shifting production from Germany to China because of the spike in energy costs in Europe. Another executive is from Volkswagen, which sells almost 40% of its cars to China.

Hildegard Müller, president of Germany's automotive industry lobby warns that decoupling from China would be "a grave economic and geostrategic mistake."

Barkin says German companies should rebalance their global footprints rather than doubling down on China.

"There is a risk of a conflict in the Taiwan Strait," Barkin says. "If that were to happen, German firms with a heavy presence in China would be incredibly vulnerable."

Back in Hamburg, retired businessman Jörg Hellmund waits to board a harbor ferry. He's uneasy about COSCO buying into the port.

"Letting China invest in the port here is the last thing we should be doing considering the state of the world right now," Hellmund says. "Sure, Scholz is trying to keep both German industry and Beijing happy, but he has to strike a balance."

Unlike the profitable Hanseatic trading partnerships of the past, Hellmund doubts there's anything mutually beneficial about this alliance.

Germany's Scholz confirms visit to China in November with business delegation

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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Visit China

Foreign　Ministry　spokesman　Wang　Wenbin　announces：

At　the　invitation　of　Premier　Li　Keqiang　of　the　State　Council，　Chancellor 　Olaf　Scholz　of　the　Federal　Republic　of　Germany　will　pay　an　official　visit　to　China　on　November　4．

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (left) visits a Bosch factory for hydrogen drives in Chongqing, China on April 14, 2024. Photo: IC

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