But by chance, although this former trading partner broke up, he had a tacit understanding in one thing, that is, do business with China and establish good relations with China.

The Nord Stream Pipeline was damaged due to explosion, closing the last door to ease Germany and Russia. Germany-Russia relations, like the Nord Stream Pipeline, entered an indefinite "freezing", and the day of repair is far away. But by chance, although this former trading partner broke up, he had a tacit understanding in one thing, that is, do business with China and establish good relations with China.

[Russian President Putin and German Chancellor Scholz]

Today, Russia has become the target of public criticism in the West. From February this year to the present, Moscow has been implemented by the United States and the West. So the reason why Russia actively does business with China is very simple.

First of all, multiple rounds of sanctions in the West are shaking Russia's local economy. Although Russia can still fill the loopholes with exported energy, foreign capital has fled, which has caused huge gaps in the Russian market. So who will fill this vacant space? It is obvious that Japan and South Korea refuse to do so, and Indian merchants dare not. At this time, the adventurous spirit of Chinese companies is demonstrated. Many companies are willing to "reverse the trend" to go to Russia to make a breakthrough, which is naturally a good thing for the Russian market.

[Russian local enterprises "only delicious" become a substitute for American catering companies]

Secondly, China and Russia are close neighbors, cooperation can save a lot of transportation costs, and business will naturally be better done. In addition, China's market is vast and is enough to absorb Russia's various products such as energy, agricultural products, metals and wood. This advantage is difficult for some countries to achieve.

So in this context, China and Russia are indeed doing more prosperously than in previous years. Take the data from the first nine months of 2022 as an example. Bilateral trade exceeded US$136 billion, and increased by by 32.5% year-on-year. At a time when the world is shrouded in the shadow of economic downturn, this set of data is indeed very eye-catching. Therefore, expanding trade cooperation with China is a "booster" to alleviate internal pressure from Russia, and Putin is certainly aware of this.

[China-Russia trade will set two records in 2021]

However, it is natural to say that Russia and China are doing business with China. Germany has frequently shown friendly attitudes to China recently, but it is unexpected. After all, the current volume of EU calls for "decoupling" from China is very loud. The Chairman of European Commission was clamoring a while ago that he must not rely on China rare earth , otherwise the ending will be as "dismal" as relying on Russian energy. Many people within the EU also helped to force European and Russian relations to EU-China relations, trying to exaggerate the crisis.

Although the above arguments are rampant, German Chancellor Scholz is not a small situation this time. He publicly shouted to Europe that he cannot "decouple" with China and wants to do business with Beijing. This style has a bit of the " Merkel era".

[Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel]

However, it is not difficult to see that Scholz was not a verbal statement this time. Recently, he announced that he would lead a delegation to visit China in person in November, which is enough to show that he wants to enhance the sincerity of China-Germany bilateral trade, and he regarded coming to Beijing as a top priority. Scholz's "China Tour" plan is not going to lead his allies. This time he wants to be a maverick, which indirectly shows that Germany will not abide by the rules of the game set by Europe on the issue of China.

As for why I didn’t follow the EU, I must have suffered a loss. After the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Germany's relations with Russia were shaky. Unlike other EU member states, Germany's "prosperity history" contains the name of China and Russia. Behind Germany's becoming an economic power, low-priced Russian energy and a huge Chinese market are inseparable from low-priced Russian energy and the huge Chinese market. Now that Russia has become a stalemate, it has less low-priced energy to develop industries, which has led to Germany's deeper and deeper in the quagmire of economic recession and industrial crisis, so Scholz dare not take the wrong path again.

[EU Trade Commissioner: We have deeply integrated with China]

Nowadays, some people in the EU are clamoring to "decouple" and telling a lot of consequences of relying on China. Scholz is naturally the east wind of the world. After all, people are biased but the data will not lie. China has been Germany's largest trading partner for six consecutive years. Last year, China-Germany trade accounted for nearly 10% of Germany's total trade volume. High complementarity determines that China-Germany cooperation has more benefits than disadvantages.Scholz is now very clear. If the EU promotes the argument of "decoupling" with China at this time, it is to personally push Germany into fire pit .

In fact, it had sent a signal of goodwill to China long before Scholz announced his visit to China. Recently, Chinese companies want to invest in Hamburg Port, the largest port in Germany, but have been opposed by a group of German political circles. The boycotters have brought out the cliché of "afraid of relying on China". However, Scholz withstands the pressure and did not call for a suspension of transactions. Although the project is pending, it can also reflect that Scholz really wants to cooperate with China.

[Germany Chancellor Scholz]

Let’s talk about the last topic again. Germany and Russia both chose to cooperate with China. It is indeed a coincidence, but it is not a coincidence. The current world economic situation is generally sluggish. The highly inclusive Chinese market still insists on open cooperation. To put it bluntly, cooperation with China will be mutually beneficial and win-win, so why not do it? In addition, Germany and Russia have had a deep foundation for cooperation with China for many years. Now the two countries have "tactical understanding" seek to expand cooperation with China, which is reasonable to think about it.