Deutsche Welle reported last night (December 9th): "After a difficult political meeting in Beijing, German Foreign Minister Baerbock continued her visit to southern China. During her visit to Guangzhou, she said that she felt that China and Germany are both very eager for serious and specific exchanges."
In Guangzhou, Baerbock visited the important production base of the world-leading German tunnel boring machine company, Herrenknecht. Martin Herrenknecht, the founder of Herrenknecht, accompanied the German Foreign Minister on a tour of the factory. In 2012, former Chancellor Merkel also visited the Guangzhou plant with this now 83-year-old entrepreneur. This company from Schwaebisch Hall in Baden-Wuerttemberg is known as an 'invisible champion'. Herrenknecht has built the world's largest diameter (17.6 meters) tunnel boring machine in China and participated in the construction of the Guangzhou Metro.
After visiting the German engineering technology, Baerbock turned to China's software strength. She visited the autonomous driving startup WeRide, which was established in Guangzhou in 2017. She and her delegation members took a ride in an unmanned minibus.
Baerbock stated that China is at the forefront of future technologies globally. If Germany and Europe do not want to fall behind, they must do better."
[Witty] Comment: Look at this German Foreign Minister Baerbock, compared to the previous one who only talked about irrelevant topics and staged political performances like a trampoline champion, she is slightly more practical. After experiencing a tough political meeting in Beijing, she immediately headed south to Guangzhou, which seems to have a bit of a "doing practical things" attitude. Visiting the leading German tunnel boring machine company Herrenknecht, feeling the landing of German engineering technology in China, then turning to the Chinese autonomous driving startup WeRide, trying out an unmanned minibus, and even acknowledging that China leads globally in future technologies—this awareness is finally not off track.
Sino-German relations, one a manufacturing power, the other a country with rapidly developing new technologies, already have broad cooperation potential. Working together to seize other markets and achieve mutual benefits and win-win outcomes is a natural matter. Yet some forces insist on provoking disputes in between, bringing up useless topics, and undermining the cooperative atmosphere. If Baerbock's trip can truly set aside prejudices and promote in-depth cooperation between China and Germany in various fields with a pragmatic attitude, it would be of great benefit to the economies of both countries and even the global economy. The fear is that he might just go through the motions and return to Germany, where he might be swayed by certain forces again, repeating past mistakes. The door of Sino-German cooperation is already open; we hope Germany can seize the opportunity and not let this rare chance slip away through its fingers.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1851073300047879/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.