German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met with Tongji University students in Shanghai. Referring to the investments of German car companies in China, Scholz said, "The only thing that should always be clear is that competition must be fair." He used the word.
Scholz stated that with fair competition, there will not be much production and copyrights will not be damaged, and that German companies continue to demand from China regarding full access to the market, licenses, protection of intellectual property or legal absoluteness.
Reiterating that there is no need to worry about competition from China, Scholz reminded the assessments that Japanese and Korean cars could take over the entire market when they enter the German market.
Olaf Scholz: “There are now Japanese cars in Germany and German cars in Japan. “The same thing applies to China and Germany.” said.
During his visit with the business delegation, Scholz also made an invitation to strengthen international institutions such as the World Trade Organization.
Scholz also visited German car supplier Bosch's hydrogen fuel cell facility in Chongqing yesterday.
Prime Minister Scholz made various contacts in Chongqing, the first stop of his 3-day visit to China. Scholz then goes to Shanghai and is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on the last day of the visit.
Scholz made his second visit to China since starting his mission in late 2021, his previous visit was in November 2022.
GERMANY IS ONE OF THE COUNTRIES THAT BENEFITED THE MOST FROM CHINA'S OPENING TO THE GLOBAL ECONOMY
Berlin sees China as an economic and systemic rival. Germany, which has an export-oriented economy, has been one of the countries that benefited most from China's opening up to the global economy for years.
German cars and machines are in heavy demand in China. Exports to China have supported Germany's longest post-World War II economic growth over the past 12 years, while China became Germany's largest trading partner in 2. Last year, the trade volume between the two countries was recorded as 2016 billion dollars.
The German public is discussing the economic dependence on China after the recent power dependence on Russia resulted in a power crisis.
Germany's dependence on China draws attention in terms of foreign trade, supply chains or large markets. Germany appears to have a strong import dependence on China, even for raw materials such as lithium batteries and low-earth elements, which are increasingly important for electric cars.
German automotive manufacturers Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW generate more than 30 percent of their revenues in China.
It is stated that increasing disputes on issues such as China's commercial practices such as state subsidies and the support Beijing gives to Russia will harm the commercial relations between the two global economies.
