Germany wants “fair” cooperation with China, says Merz
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in his meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang that Germany wants to deepen economic exchanges with Beijing.
However, Merz added that Germany had specific concerns on cooperation and wanted to ensure that cooperation is fair.
The chancellor stressed that the two nations must speak openly with each other.
The comments from Merz came as he began his inaugural visit to China, Germany’s largest trade partner.
Li urged Germany to help safeguard free trade, as he referred to US President Donald Trump’s trade war, that has sent ripples down the global trading system.
“China and Germany, as two of the world’s largest economies and major countries with important influence, should strengthen our confidence in cooperation, jointly safeguard multilateralism and free trade, and strive to build a more just and fair global governance system,” the premier said.
Merz’s visit comes as Germany no longer sees the United States as a reliable partner and is scouring for global partners.
China beat the US to become Germany’s most important trading partner, with a volume of over €250 billion ($294 billion) in 2025.
Germany’s trade relationship with China has seen a significant shift.
Germany’s trade deficit reached a record high in 2025, estimated at around €90 billion according to the German Economic Institute. This marks an increase of €30 billion over 2024 alone.
Chinese industries are also increasingly leading in sectors once dominated by German firms. The German automobile industry was successfully serving the market in China, but now both countries are now witnessing a transition to electric cars. German electric cars have become very expensive in China while China is exporting cheaper vehicles to Europe.
China shock: Rivalry tests Merz and German economy
While the United States had decades to absorb the first China shock at the turn of the century, those now confronting the second — above all Germany — have had far less notice.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz is scrambling to defend German industry from the economic upheaval in Beijing — but what options does he have?
Merz arrives in Beijing
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz landed in Beijing on Wednesday for his first visit to China.
Merz is accompanied by a large delegation of business leaders.
The German chancellor will first be received by Premier Li Qiang with military honours.
Merz is scheduled to hold talks and have dinner with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the evening.
Ukraine: ‘If China says stop, the war will stop’
Friedrich Merz’s visit to China comes one day after the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine — with the war still ongoing and no end in sight.
The German Chancellor has been publicly critical of Beijing relationship with Moscow, accusing China of supporting the Russian war effort via oil imports and technological exports.
“If [Chinese President] Xi Jinping said tomorrow: ‘Stop it’ — then it would stop the day after the tomorrow,” Merz told the dpa news agency on Monday.
On Tuesday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry stressed that the war in Ukraine should not strain relations between Europe and China and that Beijing supports diplomatic efforts to find a political solution.
However, just as Russian President Vladimir Putin considers parts of eastern Ukraine as part of Russia — and indeed the entirety of Ukraine as belonging to Moscow’s sphere of influence — as the Chinese government considers the island nation of Taiwan to be Chinese territory.
Like most countries, Germany follows a so-called “one-China policy” in only officially recognizing the People’s Republic of China. However, Merz insisted that “we will determine the precise details [of that policy] ourselves” — and Germany does maintain unofficial economic, cultural and scientific relations with Taiwan.
Merz: ‘It would be a mistake to decouple from China’
China overtook the United States as Germany’s principle trading partner in 2025 and is set to remain a key market for German business in 2026.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz is therefore being accompanied on his visit to China by a large delegation of German industry representatives.
German businesses have called on Merz to raise issues such as overcapacity and export controls on critical raw materials, while German carmakers in particular have long complained of fierce Chinese competition boosted by domestic subsidies and unequal market access.
“It would be a mistake to seek to decouple from China,” Merz said on Tuesday before leaving Berlin, adding that severing ties with China would be like “shooting ourselves in the foot. We would be ruining our own economic opportunities.”
Merz’s five key principles for Germany-China relations
Ahead of his departure for Beijing, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz used a Chinese proverb to sum up the message he wants to convey during his trip, making reference to China’s Year of the Horse, which began last week.
“A horse does not make the most of its strength alone, but by pulling the cart together with others,” he said, thereby calling on China, the second largest economy in the world after the United States, to work with its international partners tackle global issues.
As for Germany, Merz outlined five guiding principles for Berlin’s approach to Beijing:
- Dealing with China from a position of European strength. “A smart China policy begins at home,” Merz said. “Only when we in Germany and Europe are united, strong and competitive can we build a balanced partnership with China.”
- A common European policy towards China. It’s no coincidence that Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer are all visiting China in such a short space of time. “We want our partnership with China to be balanced, reliable, regulated and fair,” he said. “That is our offer and it is also what we hope for from the Chinese side.”
- Fair competition. This is the key demand from German industry, representatives of which are accompanying Merz on his trip. German businesses have long complained about market access, untransparent regulations and state-subsidized domestic competition in China, leading Merz to insist: “We must be able to rely upon agreed rules.”
- Risk-reduction rather than decoupling. Despite the ideological differences between Germany and China, Merz insists that decoupling from China is not an option, saying it would be like “shooting ourselves in the foot” economically. Nevertheless, it won’t have gone unnoticed in Beijing that Merz visited India first.
- International cooperation. In a changing world order in which great powers are playing bigger and bigger roles, Merz believes China has to be reckoned with as a major geopolitical player, and that global challenges such as the battle against climate change can only be tackled together. China’s alliance of convenience with Russia and its rivalry with the United States in the Pacific also have knock-on effects on Europe and Germany.
