[Text/Observer Network Qi Qian] On November 4, German Chancellor Scholz will lead a delegation of senior business leaders to visit China. This visit is the first visit of European leaders to China since the outbreak of the epidemic, and it is also the first visit to China since the Prime Minister of Scholz.
Previously, both Germany and the West had complained about Scholz's visit to China. Before leaving, on November 2 local time, Scholz published an article in Germany's " Frankfurt Report ", explaining some of his thoughts about this trip to China: Even if the world situation changes, China is still an important economic and trade partner of Germany and Europe, and Germany does not want to and cannot decouple it from China.
Shultz also said that China plays a key role in global issues, and Germany and China should seek cooperation that is in line with the interests of both sides.
German Chancellor Scholz (data photo)
Scholz was straight to the point and wrote that it had been three years since his predecessor visited China, and the world and regional situation has undergone profound changes in the past three years. Based on the above situation and the reasons for the epidemic, "now, direct dialogue has become more important."
"China today is different from fifty years ago." Scholz said that China now pays more attention to national security and autonomy, and with the drastic changes in the world situation, Germany needs to change its way toward China. Even so, he firmly opposes economic decoupling and emphasizes the importance of cooperation with China.
Scholtz wrote that even though things change nowadays, China is still an important economic and trading partner of Germany and even Europe. Therefore, while promoting diversification of supply chains, Germany "we do not want to decouple, we do not want to decouple from China."
He pointed out that as a country that "experienced the Cold War in a particularly painful way", Germany opposed the emergence of new group confrontations. "China, a country with a population of 1.4 billion and strong economic strength, will certainly play an important role in the future world stage, as China has done for a long time in world history. From this point, some people's demand for isolating China is as trivial as some of the claims of 'China will establish hegemony and even establish a China-centered world order'."
Scholz also mentioned the German government's resistance to pressure to approve COSCO Shipping's stake in the container terminal of the Hamburg port, Germany's largest port, and said that the transaction reflects the position of Germany and EU : to promote trade diversification and achieve reciprocity, rather than implementing economic protectionism.
Not long ago, after many twists and turns, COSCO Shipping successfully acquired a stake in the Hamburg Port container terminal. On October 26, the German government approved the Chinese enterprise COSCO to hold 24.9% of the container terminal of Hamburg Port "Fudi" . Scholz believes it was the "right" decision, but the German Federal Minister of Economy and Foreign Ministers (both Greens) tried to prevent the deal from completing.
Scholtz admits that in recent years, the "competitive factors between China and Europe have undoubtedly increased." But he added that competition should be treated correctly, while accepting it, “it is more important to identify areas that are still in the interests of both parties and seek cooperation.”
"After all, the world needs China", Scholz said that China plays a key role in the epidemic, global food crisis and climate change.
Shultz then gave an example: "Without China taking decisive emission reduction actions, we would not be able to win the fight against climate change. This is why China promotes renewable energy and sets ambitious emission reduction plans without any harm. I advocate that China and Germany should maintain cooperation in climate protection and assume more international responsibilities."
He added that China and Germany are also competing on "climate-friendly technologies". This competition is "to develop the most effective products, propose the smartest ideas, and finally implement their respective plans most successfully", so "reduced competition also means a decrease in innovation."
Finally, Scholz said: "The above is what I want to talk about when I visited China for the first time. We will seek cooperation in areas that are in the interests of both sides, and will not avoid controversy - this is part of the open exchange between China and Germany.”
screenshot of German media report
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, German Federal Prime Minister Scholz plans to make an official visit to China on November 4. Bloomberg quoted news that Scholz will lead a delegation of senior business leaders to visit China, including Adidas, Deutsche Bank , Siemens , Byrntek (BioNTech), Volkswagen and other German companies CEO (CEO).
My Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on November 1 that this year marks the 250th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Germany. China and Germany are all-round strategic partners. This visit is the first visit of European leaders since the outbreak of the epidemic and the first visit to China since Prime Minister Scholz took office. "I believe that this visit will inject new impetus into the in-depth development of the China-Germany all-round strategic partnership in the new era and contribute to world peace and stable growth. ”
It is worth mentioning that in terms of China policy, there are differences in the current German federal government. The Prime Minister's Office insists on cooperation with China, but the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (both ministers are Green Party) continue to advocate reducing the so-called "dependence on China". There are also voices of objections within the German government regarding Scholz's visit to China.
However, Scholz's visit to China is obviously in line with the interests of Germany and is widely welcomed by the German business community.
Also, according to the British " Financial Times ", when some German politicians advocated the so-called "decoupling", many German companies not only did not reduce their investment in China, but instead "double their bets." According to data from the German Institute of Economics, in the first half of this year alone, German companies' investment in China reached a record 10 billion euros.
Germany's investment in China soared in 2022, and the Financial Times produced a chart
For example, German chemical giant BASF html announced in July that it would invest in a new factory worth 10 billion euros in China and plans to "permanently" reduce its business in Europe; German famous retailer Aldi is planning to open hundreds of new stores in China; Siemens just said last week that the company is planning to expand its "digital industry" department in China on a large scale...
report pointed out that Germany has been one of the main beneficiaries of China's opening up for many years, and Germany's exports to the Chinese market have driven the 10-year economic prosperity in the past decade, and "this is one of the longest economic booms in Germany's post-war history." In 2021, China became Germany's largest trading partner for the sixth consecutive year, accounting for 9.5% of Germany's trade in goods.
On October 30, Martin, chairman of the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Commerce, , was Vanceleben (Martin) ( Wansleben said in an interview that Germany cannot decouple from China. He stressed: "Everyone should be clear: not decouple from China will not lead to our country's prosperity... Without China, Germany's economy will be more difficult; without China, Germany will become poorer.
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