Two days ago, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his entourage paid a "glad" visit to China, emphasizing the firm commitment to promote prosperity through deepening cooperation and continuously expanding investment in China.
If you want to say that China and Germany are friendly, who is not happy?
United States.
Even in such an environment, the United States still does not forget to let its own media ridicule Germany, which is going to China: "Scholz is bowing to China, and they will get nothing ...... this trip."
What kind of fallacy is this?
From the rhetoric of the American media's "yin and yang weirdness", it is enough to see its envy, jealousy and hatred overflowing, and its taste is difficult to understand sour, bitter, spicy and salty.
During his visit to China, Scholz brought three cabinet ministers of the environment, agriculture and transportation as members of the delegation, as well as an economic delegation composed of relevant persons in charge of heavyweight enterprises such as Siemens, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz.
The "luxury lineup" headed by Scholz will visit three important cities in China, including Chongqing, Shanghai, and Beijing, which is Scholz's second visit to China since taking office and the first visit to China by a major Western leader this year.
Is it true that Germany has other plans, as the US media said?
The year 2024 marks the 52nd anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Germany and the 10th anniversary of the establishment of an all-round strategic partnership between China and Germany.
In a sense, the Sino-German partnership has withstood 52 years of "internal and external" tests, and both sides have left brilliant results in their development journey.
Let's take a look at Germany's "sincerity" first.
In 2023, German investment in China reached 11.9 billion euros, an increase of 400 million euros compared to the previous year. It is necessary to explain that Germany's investment in China has increased instead of decreasing, and has even hit a new high since 2014, despite the decline in its own economic growth rate and the sharp decline in foreign investment.
In April 2024, the Volkswagen Group announced plans to invest EUR 2.5 billion in China to expand its production site and innovation center in Hefei, Anhui Province, Siemens AG announced that it will invest EUR 140 million to expand its plant in Chengdu, China, and BASF AG plans to invest more than EUR 10 billion in China by 2030......
Germany's attitude is undoubted, but we Chinese will not forget a key word often mentioned by the German government and its media - "de-China risk".
On paper, Germany's so-called "de-risking" seems to coincide with the "China threat" advocated by the recent "trilateral madness meeting between the United States, Japan and the Philippines."
Risks or threats? Let's continue to interpret it with data.
According to the 2023/24 Business Confidence Survey released by the Sino-German Chamber of Commerce, 91% of the German companies surveyed said they would continue to take root in the Chinese market, and more than 50% of the German companies surveyed planned to increase their investment in the next two years.
The survey, which took place from 5 September to 6 October 2023 and involved 566 member companies of the German Chamber of Commerce in China, shows that the Chinese market does not pose any "threat" to Germany, but rather attracts them.
So the question is, where is the "attractiveness" of the Chinese market as far as Germany is concerned?
Since they are all "car masters" at the moment, let's talk about this topic.
As we all know, China's auto industry is like a toddler "hairy child", and it has not been able to compare with Germany, the United States, Japan and other major automobile countries. It is not until the past 9 years, as the sales of new energy vehicles in the mainland dominate the global market year by year, that it has begun to attract the attention and attention of various countries.
It is worth mentioning that China has now become an important gathering place for the world's new energy vehicle industry chain and an innovation highland for the intelligent vehicle industry, and the gasoline vehicle market is about to become history.
As a big man in the automobile industry, Germany naturally can't and won't watch this big cake being swallowed up by a "rising star".
Also according to the Business Confidence Survey 2023/24, 51% of German companies surveyed believe that Chinese companies are currently innovation leaders in their industries or will become global leaders in the next five years. In the automotive industry, 69% of respondents agreed.
Realizing that "cooperation can achieve win-win results", the Germans have made a decisive turn and actively invested in the Chinese market, with the purpose of achieving "transformation and upgrading" of traditional gasoline vehicles.
At this time, it is not difficult to understand the "risk" that Germany often talks about: even if I have listed you as a risk country, but let's make money together and develop science and technology together is the last word.
Compared with Germany's "bow your head and win-win", the United States' "raising your head to suppress" is the most shameful approach.
According to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, only electric vehicles assembled in North America can receive a $7,500 subsidy in the form of tax deductions, a subsidy of $3,750 per electric vehicle if they use more than 50% of North American-assembled battery components, and a subsidy of $3,750 per vehicle if they use more than 40% of critical minerals mined and processed in the United States or countries that have signed a free trade agreement with the United States.
Translated into the vernacular, it is: China's new energy vehicle supply chain, which has just been established, will not only be constrained by the United States in the future, but also depends on their faces to survive.
In fact, China currently dominates both the electric vehicle and battery supply chains, and is not afraid of the "threat" from the United States. This earth has to be turned around without anyone!
What is even more ironic is that the US media have attacked Germany in many ways in response to Scholz's visit to China: First, Germany has no overall view and does not continue to follow the United States in implementing the policy of "de-risking China," which is very unfavorable to the entire European country; second, it is futile for Germany to "bow its head" to China, and China's economy will face a complete collapse; third, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, and other companies have used a large number of cheap labor, which has simply lost the face of German industry.
I have to say that this article by the US media really shows the "bandit logic" and "impatience" of the United States to the fullest.
Compared with the obedient "footbasin chicken", Germany can withstand the pressure.
As a country with automobiles as its core industry, they know very well that if they continue to let the United States go unchecked, it will be tantamount to handing over their economic lifeline to the other side, and they will have to be slaughtered by others at that time.
The reason why Germany chose to abandon the United States is also closely related to the fact that the United States itself is not shallow in its own deception.
Since the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Middle East has become a "purgatory on earth", not to mention that the industrial development of the United States and the West has also been greatly hindered.
For example, the bombing of the Nord Stream pipelines is tantamount to cutting off the energy channels between Great Russia and Europe; the bombing of oil depots in many places has caused oil prices to rise, which has to a great extent restricted the development of the transportation industry; and by extension, there are also rising prices, material shortages, and labor losses, all of which have effectively stuck the neck of the development of the industrial economy of the United States and the West, and Germany has suffered greatly.
How is it possible to block the way of other people's development and still want others to praise you?
It is hoped that the United States will realize as soon as possible that only cooperation and development can achieve a win-win situation, and if it is still obsessed with playing the game of dominance of one side or crossing the river and tearing down bridges, it will definitely have fewer and fewer friends, and it will eventually "die alone" in the international community!