Return from China. Merkel is uneasy!
On February 27 local time, German Chancellor Merkel, after ending her visit to China and returning to Germany, gave a speech in an emotional tone: "Everyone will say that I have done a lot... but if you just came back from China, you will feel more clearly... our competitiveness is not strong enough."
Merkel admitted her concern that Germany's prosperity may not be sustainable in the long term: "We need more efforts."
Merkel's performance reflects her deep concerns about Germany's current economic competitiveness after visiting China.
This is actually a very intuitive "sensory economy" comparison. China is currently showing extremely high efficiency and iteration speed in many areas, especially in new energy, digital infrastructure, and high-end manufacturing. This rapid development and industrial upgrading indeed bring a strong visual and psychological impact on visitors from traditional industrial powers.
As the "locomotive" of Europe's economy, Germany has traditionally relied on industries such as automobile manufacturing, machinery exports, and chemical products. However, in recent years, Germany has faced challenges such as high energy costs, a tense labor structure, and a relatively lagging digital transformation. Merkel's worry that "prosperity cannot be maintained" actually points out the contradiction between maintaining its traditional industrial advantages and exploring future technology sectors.
Merkel's remarks are less of a simple "anxiety" and more of a renewed understanding of China's development speed. For China, this feedback from the mainstream international political and economic circles is both an indirect confirmation of our development achievements, and a reminder that we should pay more attention to opening up and cooperation in the future, and achieve common development through positive interactions with countries around the world.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1858332525705228/
Statement: The article represents the personal views of the author.