BEIJING (AP) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrived in China on Sunday for a visit that focused on the two countries’ strained and divergent economic ties over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Scholz’s first stop was the industrial hub of Chongqing, where he and a delegation of ministers and business leaders took part in a partially German-owned business in the vast city that is a production hub for China’s auto and other industries. was scheduled to visit companies and other facilities.
Scholz will also visit the financial capital of Shanghai during his three-day visit, before heading to the capital Beijing to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang.
German companies such as BMW and Volkswagen are highly dependent on the Chinese market, but Beijing’s support for Russia is causing friction with Western countries.
Germany’s economy has benefited from Chinese demand for investment and manufactured goods from cars to chemicals, but the relationship is fraying amid increasing competition from Chinese companies and tightening regulations. Political interference has also been pointed out as a cause of the sharp decline in foreign investment.
German companies claim they face unfair market barriers in China, and the government is promoting “risk aversion” policies to reduce dependence on Chinese markets and suppliers.
Nevertheless, China will continue to be Germany’s largest trading partner for the eighth year in a row in 2023, with goods and services exchanged between the two countries reaching 254.1 billion euros ($271 billion), making Germany’s trade with the U.S. However, it was still 15.5% smaller than Germany. one year ago. According to Germany’s Federal Statistical Office, Germany’s exports to China total 97.3 billion euros ($104 billion), but figures fluctuate due to exchange rate fluctuations and rounding.
Exclusive: Lithuanian MP says German companies bowing to ‘Beijing’s wishes’ are destroying the EU single markethttps://t.co/nBkMd1TcGa
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) January 22, 2022
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV showed Scholz disembarking from a plane in Chongqing and departing in a motorcade, but did not comment on the welcoming delegation.
Ahead of his arrival, Scholz posted on the social platform I will stand,” he declared.
China refuses to criticize Russia’s aggression. Russia maintains trade ties with President Vladimir Putin’s government and aligns foreign policy with the Kremlin against the U.S.-led liberal political order, while touting an authoritarian one-party system as a superior alternative. I’ve done it.
After visiting a hydrogen motor manufacturing facility run by the German company Bosch, Scholz was scheduled to tour the city with young architects and take a boat cruise on the famous Yangtze River. The Yangtze River is one of two huge waterways that encircle parts of the city on cliffs overlooking it.
After Monday’s visit to Shanghai, Mr. Scholz will fly to Beijing and meet Mr. Xi at the Diaoyutai Guest House on Tuesday, before receiving military honors from Mr. Li at the Great Hall of the People, the ceremonial legislature in central China. be. capital. Further visits and meetings are expected to follow before he departs late Wednesday night.
Scholz’s visit to China will be his second since becoming Prime Minister at the end of 2021. My last visit was in November 2022, and it was basically a day trip as strict new coronavirus infection regulations were still in place at the time.
His visit will be the first since the German government announced its China strategy last year, which drew criticism from Beijing. Premier Lee and his high-level delegation visited Berlin in June.
China overtook the United States in 2020 to become the European Union’s largest trading partner, as ties between Brussels and the communist dictatorship in Beijing continue to deepen. https://t.co/RzgCixukoq
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) February 17, 2021
