Berlin: German exporters at China's biggest import trade show expressed hope that the visit of Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Beijing will boost bilateral trade.
The boost in confidence came after Scholz's one-day visit last Friday, during which he was accompanied by a delegation that included executives from important German businesses such as BioNtech, Volkswagen, BMW and Deutsche Bank.
Just a day before the start of the annual China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, Scholz made his first visit to China as a leader.
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This year's exhibition, which runs until Thursday, has around 200 German exhibitors. To encourage more domestic businesses to buy goods and services made overseas, China launched CIIE in 2018.
Scholz was rumored to have participated in the CIIE to promote German products and services, but he eventually changed his mind.
According to Zhang Hui, China project manager of Wilhelmshaven Container Terminal, "the chancellor's visit will stabilize trade and trade relations between the two countries."
Since bilateral economic relations are very important for both the countries, there is a dire need for stability.
The owner of the container terminal is looking to strengthen its partnership with Chinese companies to build more stops in Wilhelmshaven, a German coastal city with a deep water port, in the future.
This year's expo comes in the backdrop of heightened geopolitical tensions between China and the West on a variety of topics, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine and growing hostilities in the Taiwan Strait. The COVID-19 lockdowns and supply chain disruptions have also slowed the world economy, raising concerns about reduced cross-border investment and trade volumes.
However, some officials showed enthusiasm at the trade show.
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Han Haifeng, CEO of packaging material manufacturer Shanghai New Era Printing, said, “We feel comfortable doing business with partners in Germany. They are the most reliable business partners. The executive continued by saying that businesses are looking for new potential partners. Will continue. CIIE.
However, Scholz's visit to Beijing was not without its detractors, especially at home. Reinhard Butikofer, a member of the European Green Party, referred to it as "the most controversially debated visit in the country in the past 50 years".
According to a Reuters report, EU member states "should not be nave whenever they approve Chinese investment," according to Thierry Breton, the EU commissioner for the internal market.
The visit was the first by a leader of an important developed economy, after Chinese President Xi Jinping won an unprecedented third term as General Secretary of the Communist Party.
According to Rainer Kern, vice general manager and chief financial officer of German clean solutions provider Karcher China, "I believe that Scholz's arrival here is a very important sign, it shows appreciation." "I think these two countries can work together and focus on the right things to solve many problems," the speaker said.
Since Beijing began a major opening up of its economy in the early 1980s, German-made products have traditionally been regarded by mainlanders as high-quality and premium products, from home appliances to passenger cars. .
Trade between the two countries reached US$235 billion last year - accounting for about a fifth of China's total trade with Europe - with China now Germany's largest trading partner.
According to Hao Ye, senior marketing manager for piano maker Steinway & Sons APAC, the German chancellor's visit demonstrates the importance of Sino-German cooperation.
We will expand our presence in China by opening more showrooms and increasing our investments there.
According to Alexander Doni, head of Bosch Siemens Household Goods (BSH) China operations, home appliance makers still consider China attractive.
He said that we have high expectations from the Chinese market. “We intend to invest disproportionately in China and are here to stay for a long time.
In his televised address to CIIE last Friday, President Xi promised that China would further liberalize its markets to present significant opportunities for the global economy.
