DW Berlin Briefing - Inside German politics Why Germany finds it so hard to handle China
Dec 26, 2025
Noah Barkin, an analyst on Europe–China relations, and Clifford Coonan, a China specialist with extensive reporting experience, delve into Germany's precarious relationship with China. They discuss Germany's dependency on Chinese markets and rare earths, highlighting the historical ties between German industry and China. The conversation addresses the implications of China's recent export controls, the challenges Germany faces in de-risking its economy, and the rising competition from Chinese firms, especially in the EV sector. They also explore potential alternatives like India.
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Threefold Dependency That Now Bites Back
- Germany built simultaneous dependencies on cheap Russian energy, US security and China's market and supply chains.
- Breaking the China dependency looks far harder than the Russia energy split or shifting US defence ties.
Trade Missions That Normalised Dual Approaches
- Clifford recalled German trade delegations under Schröder and Merkel juggling moral rhetoric and market access in China.
- He described early VW joint ventures that turned Passats into the car of choice for Chinese cadres.
The Timing That Supercharged China Ties
- German industrial ties to China scaled rapidly after the 2008 Olympics and European debt crises.
- Angela Merkel treated China as a partial savior for markets and financial support during the Eurozone tumult.