On the morning of April 16, Scholz's three-day trip to China has come to an end, during which both China and Germany have released signals to actively promote trade between the two countries, but now under the voice of the EU's "de-risking", the German Chancellor's attitude towards China is completely different from the EU's main tone, Germany as the leader of the European economy, can Scholz once again become a bridge to improve Sino-European relations?
Two years have passed since Scholz's last meeting, and China attaches great importance to his presence since his last visit to China, which has played a positive role in Sino-European relations.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's three-day visit to China can be described as very tightly arranged, and its purpose is to strengthen Sino-German cooperation in the economic, scientific, and technological fields.
He hoped that through this visit, the two countries will promote cooperation in the fields of high-tech and new energy, especially hydrogen power, as well as automobiles and other industries in which Germany has advantages in traditional industries.
During this period, Scholz and Chinese leaders exchanged views on international and regional issues, and discussed how to deal with global challenges.
In Scholz's recent remarks, we see a shift in his attitude towards strengthening Sino-German communication and coordination, which not only reflects the strengthening of mutual trust between the two sides, but also hints at more areas of cooperation between China and Germany.
It is worth mentioning that during his last visit to China, Scholz expressed his willingness to enhance understanding and mutual trust with the Chinese side, which sent a positive signal and showed that he was open to China policy.
However, his visit sent a clearer message: Germany will play a more proactive role in promoting the sound development of Sino-European relations, which is undoubtedly a major commitment made by Scholz to China.
As an important member of the European Union, Germany's willingness to bridge between China and Europe at this time will undoubtedly arouse widespread concern in the West.
It can be expected that while China and Germany contribute to global stability and development, those countries that are still on the sidelines will understand the importance of friendly exchanges with China.
In the current global economic environment, the economic situation of the EU is not optimistic, as one of the core countries of the European Union, Germany is under multiple pressures from within the EU and the international community, in this context, Germany's policy towards China is also constantly adjusted.
Although the current Chancellor Olaf Scholz has taken a pragmatic attitude and formed a coalition government with other parties, he is still constrained by the Greens in his foreign relations, which makes it difficult for Germany to deal with economic and trade relations with China.
Germany is now at a crossroads, and only a reasonable balance of domestic and international interests can ensure its success in the future.
In today's globalized world, Sino-German economic and trade relations play a crucial role as ballast, and although resistance from the EU and the Greens remains, these obstacles are no longer the main obstacle to development on both sides, driven by China's pragmatic concept of cooperation.
As a European economic leader, Germany has come to realize the importance of its economic development with its close ties to China, which has not only a large market but also a strong production capacity.
This makes the economic and trade exchanges between China and Germany close and stable, and it is this interdependence that ensures that the two countries can jointly uphold the principles of free trade and multilateralism on the international stage.
Looking back over the past 10 years, China has always maintained its position as Germany's largest trading partner, which is enough to prove the solidity and irreplaceability of Sino-German economic and trade relations.
In this context, which country can ensure sustained and stable economic growth for such a long period of time as China, whether it is a traditional industrial manufacturing industry or an emerging strategic industry, and has contributed to the global economic recovery, the answer is obviously very few.
Due to the Russia-Ukraine war, the relationship between the EU and NATO and Russia and China has become complicated and tense, although China remains neutral, but because of the close economic relationship between China and Russia, the EU has imposed economic sanctions on Russia at the same time, but also on a certain basis to resist the development process of Chinese companies in Europe, but Germany is an exception in the EU.
Since the previous German Chancellor, Angela Merkel has brought long-term political stability to Germany, and her pragmatic and neutral approach to domestic and foreign policy has allowed Scholz to draw inspiration from her successful experience and bring more benefits to Germany.
Therefore, for Germany, Scholz's in-depth cooperation with China this time is undoubtedly a wise choice, as can be seen by looking at the economic level of the EU countries last year.
According to statistics, the total trade volume between China and Germany has reached an astonishing 250 billion euros, which undoubtedly shows that the development momentum of economic and trade exchanges between the two sides is steadily rising.
Despite the recent rhetoric of "de-risking" within the European Union, it does not seem to have affected the prosperity of bilateral trade between Germany and China.
In fact, during his visit to Shanghai and Chongqing, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his confidence and expectations in the prospects of Sino-German cooperation, which is enough to prove that the Chinese market is very important to German industry, and China, as the world's second largest economy, has huge consumer demand and market potential, providing a broad space for German companies to develop.
It is hoped that there will be more peaceful trade between China and Germany in the future, jointly promote international economic cooperation, and push the friendly relations between the two sides to a higher level.
Main sources: 1. The original article was published on Xinhuanet on April 17, 2024 about "First Observation: Moment | Chinese and German leaders strolling through the Diaoyutai "report
2. This article was originally published in Global People Magazine on April 17, 2024 on "Scholz, China's Three Days of Spring".
3. This article was originally published on 17 April 2024 on "Why is Scholz's visit to China a 'wise choice'?"
4. The original article was published in China Youth Daily on November 3, 2022 on "German Chancellor Olaf Scholz: It is important for me to go to Beijing".