Merz’s China tightrope: warm words, but hard questions for Beijing
Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz travelled to Beijing with a delicate brief: vouch for a shrinking slice of big German firms still bullish on China, while defending the growing number being squeezed.
On day one of his first official visit, Merz trod the line carefully – voicing openness to resetting beleaguered bilateral ties, even while gently nudging his hosts on bugbears including subsidies, currency devaluation and Russia.
A day of meetings with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, President Xi Jinping and a business round table yielded a rare joint statement, a flurry of minor deals and – according to Merz – the promise of a large-scale purchase of Airbus planes, with more juicy contracts to come.
The conservative leader said unequivocally that Germany was open to Chinese investment, talked up hi-tech cooperation and made clear that trade barriers would be his last resort.
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Balancing trade and economic rivalry: the future of Sino-German relations
Balancing trade and economic rivalry: the future of Sino-German relations
“Because of the sharp increase in Chinese imports, calls for protection are growing louder in Europe. I want to be frank with you, and I already told you this in our conversation earlier: I want as little protection and safeguarding as possible,” Merz said in comments directed at Li at a business event.