Financial observation: A large business delegation opens up a new track for Sino German economic and trade cooperation

Editor's note: Following French President Macron, Irish Prime Minister Martin, Finnish Prime Minister Aalborg, and British Prime Minister Stamer, German Chancellor Mertz has become the second European leader to visit China in the past three months. According to German media, a "large business delegation" will accompany Mertz on his visit to China, including about 30 senior business representatives from German companies such as Bayer, Volkswagen, Siemens, and BMW. As the tariff friction between Europe and the United States resurfaces, what new attention is China, as Germany's largest trading partner, attracting?

The German economy is at a critical moment

M ö tz led a large business delegation on their first official visit to China during their tenure. The Deutsche Welle website emphasized on the 24th that China has surpassed the United States in 2025 and once again become Germany's largest trading partner. At this critical moment for the German economy, one of the purposes of M ö tz's visit to Beijing is to strengthen economic and trade cooperation between Germany and China and reduce the risks posed by the uncertain tariff policies of the United States to the German economy.

According to German media reports, a delegation of about 30 companies will accompany Mertz on his visit to China, covering Germany's major pillar industries such as automobiles, machinery, chemicals, and new energy. According to the personnel list obtained by the German newspaper "Handelsblatt", the accompanying personnel include Bayer CEO Bill Anderson, Volkswagen Group Chairman of the Board of Management Obomur, Siemens CEO Boleren, Adidas Global CEO Bjorn Gulden, Mercedes Benz AG Chairman of the Board of Directors Kang Linsong, Henkel CEO Carsten K ö Nobel, DHL CEO Tobias Meyer, Deutsche Bank CEO Bettina Orlop, BMW Group Chairman Zipper. The delegation also includes senior executives from chemical company Covestro, pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, and Airbus. The report believes that this is the largest economic delegation accompanying the German leadership on a foreign trip since the Merkel era, highlighting the high dependence of the German business community on the Chinese market and its determination to continue to increase.

According to the German newspaper Rheinfaltz, China, with its huge market, is the engine of global economic growth and the guarantee of the German economy. Prior to his visit to China, Zipser called for strengthened cooperation between the two countries. In an interview with Reuters, he stated that China is one of the most important industrial technology centers in the world, and any enterprise that wants to maintain competitiveness on a global scale must establish a strong local influence in China and achieve success. Those companies that overlook China's huge market and innovation potential are missing out on tremendous opportunities for global growth and economic success

On the 23rd, the Augsburg Report reported that the German Beidafu Group has two production bases in Wuxi. This industrial filter enterprise has 550 employees in the local area and mainly supplies the local market with its products produced in China. Maximilian Overman, the head of the company, said he sees the potential of China: "China is ahead of us in many aspects. We must now learn technology from China." Hubert Aiwanger, the Bavarian State Minister of Economy, said in an interview with the newspaper, "We need to maintain a continuous dialogue with China

Zheng Chunrong, Director of the German Studies Center at Tongji University, told Global Times reporters that the visit of a large economic and trade delegation led by Mertz to China sends a strong signal that the Chinese market is crucial to the German economy. It is worth noting that the voice of "de risking" China is more based on previous statements from the German political circle, while the logic of the economic circle is completely different. In the view of German enterprises, the Chinese market has stability and certainty, and is a high-quality investment opportunity. Therefore, in recent years, many German enterprises have continued to increase their investment in China, not only setting up research and development centers, but also promoting the production, investment, and research and development layout of the entire industry chain, forming a development model from "in China, for China" to "in China, for the world". From a deeper perspective, the German economy is currently facing downward pressure, with a decline in exports to the United States and increased uncertainty in investing and operating in the US. There is an urgent need for the Chinese market to hedge risks. At the same time, the high-level opening-up promoted by China's "15th Five Year Plan" proposal also provides new development opportunities for German enterprises, which is also an important reason for the enthusiastic registration of German enterprises and the active participation of many industry leaders in the visiting delegation.

Can former technology leaders keep up with the pace

Given the recent tariff ruling by the US Supreme Court, which has intensified uncertainty about future trade between the US and Europe, the task of Mertz's trip to China is arduous. According to the Rheinland Palatinate newspaper, a senior White House official has stated that a 15% tariff will be imposed on many EU goods exported to the US. At the same time, the European Parliament has suspended the implementation of the previously reached EU-US tariff agreement.

For decades, German companies have been leading the way in technology by providing high-tech mechanical equipment to the Chinese market, but now some power relations have changed. China is far ahead in fields such as robotics, electric vehicles, and photovoltaic power generation, and its products are flooding into the European market. During the two-day visit, Mertz will attend a symposium of the German Chinese Economic Advisory Committee, visit Chinese humanoid robot company Yushu Technology, German automotive company Mercedes Benz, and energy equipment manufacturer Siemens, with a focus on cooperation with Chinese enterprises in new energy vehicles and artificial intelligence technology.


The competition for humanoid robots nowadays seems to be increasingly led by China and the United States. Can Europe keep up with the pace? "An analysis of a report by European news television on the 21st stated that robots from Yushu Technology shone brightly at China's Spring Festival Gala. Compared to the high cost of Tesla Optimus robot habitat, Chinese companies' humanoid robots are priced at around 11000 euros. According to the analysis of the report, the advantages of China's robot industry stem from its huge manufacturing scale and supply chain integration. China has established a robot value chain with vertical integration capabilities. The South China Morning Post in Hong Kong reported that the attitude of the German industry towards China is changing at an unprecedented speed. Oliver Rishteberg, head of the foreign trade department of the German Machinery and Equipment Manufacturing Association, which represents over 3000 "hidden champions" companies in Germany, said, "The pace of change in member companies' perception of China's technological capabilities is rapidly accelerating

Now, we can learn a lot from China, a digital powerhouse. Former President of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, Woodck, commented in the Business Daily on the 23rd that the German government should open up the business environment to Chinese companies and attract Chinese technology to land in Germany.

Zheng Chunrong stated that Mertz's visit to Chinese robotics companies sends a clear signal: on the one hand, the German government leadership hopes to personally experience China's technological innovation; On the other hand, the German industry is also well aware that if its traditional manufacturing, chemical and other advantageous industries continue to follow the old path, not only will their market share in the Chinese market face challenges, but their brand's attractiveness to Chinese consumers may also weaken. Therefore, the German industry has chosen to actively embrace China's high-tech.

In fact, many traditional German manufacturing companies are already cooperating with emerging technology companies in China. This time, Mertz specifically visited the field of robotics, not only to gain a visual understanding of China's strength in future technology, but also to send a signal to the outside world - hoping to explore new cooperation spaces with Chinese enterprises in emerging fields such as robotics and artificial intelligence, and seize new opportunities, "Zheng Chunrong analyzed.

The more we understand each other, the more we can benefit

According to the German news platform Table, the Chinese market still holds significant strategic importance for German companies. In the future, more and more models developed by Volkswagen Group in China will be exported to third-party markets to maintain global competitiveness. Volkswagen Group's Chairman of the Board of Management, Obomu, stated in an interview with the media, "The technology and products developed in China have opened up new export opportunities for us - entering regions that we previously could not effectively cover from Europe." The report believes that the low cost and short development cycle of "Made in China" have brought advantages to German companies.

German car companies have a huge production layout in China. The Guardian reported that Volkswagen refers to China as its "second domestic market", and BMW and Mercedes Benz also heavily rely on sales in China for profitability. BMW Group Chairman Zipser said, "In the process of accelerating the evolution of the industry, we must deeply recognize that only through close cooperation on a global scale can we promote industrial prosperity and sharing. Germany and China can join hands to become important forces leading this technological change

In late January this year, the German government launched a new round of subsidies for new energy vehicles with a scale of 3 billion euros, targeting all car manufacturers including Chinese car companies. Ferdinand Dudenhof, director of the Bochum Automotive Research Institute in Germany and hailed as the "godfather of automobiles" by the industry, stated in an interview with a special correspondent for the Global Times on the 23rd that for German industry, China represents the future. Without China, we would suffer heavy losses. At the same time, China also benefits from the good trade relations and cooperation between Chinese and German enterprises. This is a win-win situation for both sides. Therefore, Germany and China should strive to cooperate in more fields. The more we understand each other, the more we can benefit. In the next few years, cooperation with China should be the focus of our work

Fu Yuwu, Honorary Chairman of the China Society of Automotive Engineers, stated in an interview with Global Times that the economic cooperation between China and Germany will continue to adhere to a long-term approach in the future. During the early stages of reform and opening up, German companies helped promote the development of China's automotive industry. In recent years, China's automotive industry has had an increasingly significant impact on global car companies in the new energy technology revolution. In the future, cooperation between China and Germany in the automotive industry can leverage each other's comparative advantages. "The Chinese automotive market is large in scale and rapidly transforming, and for German car companies, especially luxury brand car companies, it is not only an important commercial market, but also an important strategic demand experimental field

Zheng Chunrong stated that in the global competition of the new energy industry, European companies either lack technological advantages or have high costs. However, cooperating with Chinese companies can significantly shorten the research and development cycle, accelerate product iteration, and reduce costs, thereby enhancing international competitiveness. Many companies have actually regarded the Chinese market as a 'training ground'. As long as one can be competitive in the Chinese market, they can win corresponding market share in the global market.