“Concerning China, we shouldn’t blindly follow America’s agenda”

In recent years, it has become increasingly clear that Western countries have erred with their naive attitude toward China. While the US opts for confrontation, European countries struggle to formulate a common strategy and speak with one voice. The fact that competition from China is increasing was rubbed in again last week by the report “Konkurrenzdruck durch China auf dem EU-Markt.” This research from the German Economic Institute (IW) notes that export champion Germany is losing ground to China in Europe.

Author Jürgen Matthes outlines a painful development. The five product groups that are most important from a German perspective show significantly more negative share changes in the 2010s than in the 2000s. These include motor vehicles, motor vehicle parts, pharmaceutical preparations, plastics in primary forms and air and spacecraft and related machinery. Add to that the fact that Chinese companies are improving their offerings. “In five of the ten most important product groups, the approximated quality of imports from China has risen significantly in recent times, for the most part,” writes Matthes. The 23-page report echoes an article by the website Politico, a year ago, headlined “How Germany opened the door to China — and threw away the key.”