German Media: China Has Become a Global Industrial Powerhouse and a Strong Competitor to Germany

Germany's economy heavily relies on China for sales markets and raw material supply, yet China has emerged as a global leader in industrial strength and a formidable competitor to Germany.

In April, China exported less than one kilogram of the rare metal germanium to Germany. As for gallium—a similarly critical element—China’s export volume in April amounted to only three kilograms, all destined for Malaysia.

Without germanium, high-speed data transmission via fiber-optic cables would be impossible; night-vision devices and efficient solar cells powering space probes and satellites would also cease to function properly.

And without gallium compounds, there would be no high-speed 5G internet. Fast-charging devices would fail due to overheating, and even supermarket barcode scanners would stop working.

Christian Hell from Frankfurt-based raw materials trading company TRADIUM offered a sobering assessment: "If even a country like Germany, which until now enjoyed relatively secure supply chains, ends up empty-handed, this sends a clear signal."

Germany is currently hesitating to adopt a tougher policy toward China, fearing that such moves could trigger retaliatory measures against domestic companies.

Producing in China, Supplying the Chinese Market

BASF vividly illustrates just how deeply German businesses are invested in the Chinese market. At the beginning of March, the Ludwigshafen-headquartered chemical giant unveiled a major new factory in Zhanjiang, a southern Chinese city; the project’s total investment reaches nearly 9 billion euros.

This new facility primarily produces basic chemicals and specialty chemicals, serving multiple industries in China—including automotive manufacturing and plastic processing. While BASF’s headquarters in Ludwigshafen has been forced to cut staff and slow production due to the loss of Russian energy supplies, in China the company still enjoys access to cheap oil and natural gas.

Today, German chemical firms are building several of the world’s largest plants in China, utilizing Russian natural gas—which they cannot obtain in Germany.

China has now risen to become one of the world’s leading industrial powers, a fact that surprises many Germans, despite this development being the result of a long-term effort. “We underestimated China—this was true in the past, and remains so in many areas today,” said Manuel Vermeer, a China expert, in an interview with DW. “Now we’re painfully experiencing it firsthand, and still complain about not having foreseen this earlier,” he lamented. For four decades, Vermeer has dedicated himself to providing consulting services for German businesses operating in China.

The Long-Term Persistence of China Finally Pays Off

In earlier years, German companies greatly benefited from joint ventures and market access. At the same time, they also imparted technical know-how to China—especially in the automotive sector. Today, roles have reversed in many respects. Vermeer said, “As early as the early 1980s, we were the first to bring German enterprises into China. Then, we were required to establish joint ventures—for example, in the automotive industry. The Chinese listened carefully, watched closely, and learned intently. As everyone knows, they have now far surpassed us in this field. They are launching a series of outstanding car products—vehicles that are not only visually appealing and affordable, but genuinely excellent in quality.”

German Arrogance Now Backfires

Vermeer continued: “At the time, our mindset was to teach the Chinese how things should be done. They could simply imitate what we did. But with typical German arrogance, we assumed they could never do it ‘properly’—meaning they could never achieve the precision and exceptional engineering craftsmanship we Germans possess.”

Yet the Chinese listened humbly, studied diligently, and aimed to not only match but surpass their German counterparts. Vermeer stated plainly, “This was something Germans never dreamed possible. No one in the mechanical engineering or automotive sectors wanted to hear such unwelcome truths.” Yet this trajectory was foreseeable from the very beginning. Over the years, initiatives like China’s “Made in China 2025” strategy and countless analyses by China experts have consistently warned of increasing competition—especially for Germany, Japan, and South Korea.

From Student to Teacher

“We also taught them in joint ventures,” said Manuel Vermeer. “They copied a great deal from us—sometimes undoubtedly using methods that were not entirely legal.” He recalled that in the case of BMW’s Chinese partner, Brilliance Automotive, the imitation went to astonishing extremes. He noted that in Shenyang’s assembly plant, the workshop assembling BMW vehicles was separated from the one producing Brilliance cars by just a single door. The same pattern applied at Volkswagen as well.

Economic Minister Altmaier, upon her first visit to this land of economic miracles, clearly felt amazed. She repeatedly marveled at how swiftly China had risen to become a global industrial powerhouse. But this development was actually predicted long ago—and meticulously documented in official industrial policy planning documents issued by China’s party and government leadership.

“Even 20 years ago, we could already see from China’s Five-Year Plans that they had staked their future on electric mobility. But back then, we didn’t take it seriously—or simply didn’t read those documents,” Vermeer said.

China’s current Five-Year Plan clearly outlines its direction: the country is making massive investments in quantum computing, artificial intelligence, humanoid robotics, and brain-computer interfaces.

Source: DW

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1867361331450888/

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone.