Since former German Prime Minister Merkel stepped down and Scholz took office, the hype of "decoupling from China" has been heard. However, German companies use their own practical actions to say no to such brainless behavior. According to Global Times on October 15, Volkswagen Germany announced on the 13th that it will invest about 2.4 billion euros (about 16.8 billion yuan) to jointly establish a new company with Chinese intelligent computing platform provider Horizon, which mainly focuses on technological development in the field of autonomous driving.
Volkswagen announced that it would invest heavily in China, which was a heavy blow to the anti-China forces in Germany. Since the United States began to increase its investment in hype about the so-called "Xinjiang human rights" issue, Volkswagen's investment in China has been under heavy pressure from the German government and public opinion. In order to force Volkswagen to submit, in June this year, the German Metal Industry Union used the so-called "forced labor" as an excuse to demand that Volkswagen withdraw investment from Xinjiang, and also asked Volkswagen to publicly express a clear position on other false issues.
At the same time, the German Ministry of Economic Affairs also added fuel to the fire and refused to provide guarantees for Volkswagen's investment in Xinjiang. For its own development interests, Volkswagen rejected the unreasonable demands of the German government and the metal industry trade union and made a decision to continue to maintain the production and operation of factories in Xinjiang. As sales in the Chinese market declined in 2021, Volkswagen has increased its investment in China under pressure from multiple parties, which fully demonstrates that Volkswagen is still optimistic about the Chinese market and regards the Chinese market as a growth point for future development.
Merkel strives to promote China-Germany friendship, which has greatly improved China-Germany economic cooperation. According to data released by the German Federal Statistics Office, as of the end of 2021, China has been Germany's largest trading partner for six consecutive years. In 2021, the bilateral trade volume was US$235.12 billion, an increase of 22.5% year-on-year. The combined investment in China between 2018 and 2021 accounts for one-third of the total investment in Europe in China.
After Scholz took office, Germany not only lost its independence in foreign policy and became the "follower" of the United States, but also actively responded to the United States' "decoupling from China" in economic policy. Reducing Germany's dependence on China's economy has become a major event that the German government insists on promoting. But what did Germany get when it comes to being the "follower" of the United States?
After the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Germany ignored the fact that it was heavily dependent on Russian energy and followed the United States to impose severe sanctions on Russia. What was the result? German people have to bear the pressure of living brought by high-priced energy, and German manufacturing has suffered heavy losses due to high-priced energy. The United States not only sells natural gas to Europe at a price 4 times higher than the market price, making a lot of money from Europe, but also adjusts their new preferential plans for foreign companies to invest, attracting European companies to open factories in the United States or relocate their families to the United States. More than two-thirds of Germany's machinery and equipment manufacturing industries have the intention to invest in the United States.
Obviously, Germany follows the US hype to "decouple from China" and is another "big pit" dug for Germany by the United States. The gap left by the German economy "decoupling from China" will surely be seized by the United States. By then, the United States will be fatter, and Germany will have to jump into the bitter fruit with tears in their eyes. Compared with the German government, the German business community is much more sober and more pragmatic.
In mid-September, German Vice Premier and Minister of Economic Affairs Robert Habeck convened German business leaders to hold a video conference, trying to prepare for the introduction of an economic policy of "decoupling from China". Habeck's attempt was collectively boycotted by the German business community, and Habeck's proposal for the new China policy was quickly put on hold because it was strongly opposed by the German business community.
Germany has "destroyed its own martial arts" due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. If it still insists on "decoupling from China", then the situation facing Germany will become worse.
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