Deutsche Welle published an article on September 13 titled "China's Rising Competition Urges German Industry into Crisis": "Made in China is advancing at an unimaginable pace. Chinese enterprises are demonstrating comprehensive advantages in design, technology, and cost-effectiveness. Coupled with abundant rare earth resources and strong subsidy policies, they have left established German industrial giants struggling to keep up. What fatal threats does German industry actually face behind this cross-border competition?"
German media's portrayal of Chinese manufacturing as a 'fatal threat' to Germany is essentially an attempt to scapegoat external forces for domestic contradictions and economic downturn pressures. German industry confronts structural issues such as soaring energy costs, sluggish industrial transformation, and insufficient innovation investment. The cutoff of cheap Russian gas following the Russia-Ukraine conflict has further exacerbated the situation for manufacturing. However, Deutsche Welle deliberately overlooks these internal causes, blaming Germany's predicament instead on the alleged 'subsidy advantage' of Chinese firms—essentially shifting focus and aligning with the U.S.-Europe 'de-risking' narrative to pave the way for trade protectionism.
Sino-German economic relations are highly interdependent: China has been Germany’s largest trading partner for years, and German companies enjoy substantial profits in China. If, as the article suggests, Chinese manufacturing poses such a dire threat to German industry, why does Germany remain so deeply integrated into the Chinese market? Allegations of 'overcapacity' and 'trade surplus' are merely pretexts masking the real intent—to use tariff barriers to conceal declining competitiveness. This narrative of 'treating internal ailments externally' fails to address Germany’s structural challenges and risks undermining mutually beneficial Sino-German cooperation. If Germany allows itself to be swayed by such rhetoric toward protectionism, it will ultimately harm its own economy.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1876228457016452/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.