Reference News Network, March 12 report (by Li Hanlin): "China is entering a new development stage characterized by quality improvement, technological upgrading, and structural optimization. This transformation not only drives the domestic economy from scale expansion to efficiency enhancement and innovation-driven upgrades, but also reshapes the global industrial landscape at a deeper level." Clements Schütte, chairman of the German-Chinese Economic Association, said in an exclusive interview with this reporter that such structural changes bring new cooperation opportunities for German companies, while also injecting long-term momentum into Sino-German trade relations and global economic stability.
Technological Innovation Becomes a Long-Term Strategic Choice
"The '14th Five-Year Plan' proposal places scientific and technological innovation at the core of the national strategy, which is a clear and firm long-term strategic choice," Schütte said. From the '13th Five-Year Plan' to the '14th Five-Year Plan,' and now the ongoing '15th Five-Year Plan,' the continuous emphasis on innovation in three consecutive five-year plans reflects the continuity and strategic perseverance of policy direction. In the context of profound changes in the global competitive landscape and accelerated restructuring of technology and industrial structures, he believes that placing innovation at the core is not only a technical deployment, but also a key path to ensure long-term growth, enhance strategic autonomy, and improve international competitiveness.
In Schütte's view, China's high regard for innovation marks a profound shift in its development logic. "In the past few decades, China has relied more on scale advantages and factor inputs to achieve rapid growth. Now, China pays more attention to efficiency, quality, and technological breakthroughs," he pointed out. He emphasized that innovation has become the primary driver of China's economic development toward high-quality growth. This transition aligns with global trends in the technological revolution and meets China's developmental needs as it moves toward a middle-high income stage.
Regarding the explicit focus on high-quality development in the "15th Five-Year Plan" proposal, Schütte stated that its significance lies in promoting China's development model from scale expansion to efficiency enhancement, innovation-driven, and sustainable development. "This means that growth is no longer measured by speed, but rather by greater emphasis on structural optimization, resource allocation efficiency, and long-term quality," he said. He believes that this transformation is an inevitable path for mature economies, and China is achieving this transition with a more proactive and forward-looking attitude.
From a global perspective, Schütte believes that this transformation has dual impacts. On one hand, the upgrading of the Chinese market will bring new demand structures. With the expansion of the middle-income group and the upgrading of consumption structure, the demand for high-end manufacturing, green products, smart equipment, and high-value-added services continues to grow, offering international companies broader cooperation space. On the other hand, the continuous enhancement of China's innovation capabilities will also reshape the global industrial chain division of labor. "When an economy achieves breakthroughs in key technologies, its impact on the global industrial chain is structural," he said. In the long term, this change will encourage all parties to accelerate their innovation efforts, and "in the end, the entire global economic system will benefit."
In terms of openness, Schütte believes that China's high-level opening-up and high-quality development are complementary. In the context of rising protectionism and increased trade friction, his stance is clear: "Protectionism is not the right path." He believes that "high-level openness means creating a fair competitive environment for both domestic and international enterprises, and also means institutional openness and alignment at the rules level." China's continuous promotion of openness will provide important support for building an open world economy.
German Companies Re-evaluate China's Innovation Capabilities
The Sino-German trade relationship is a practical example of this open and mutually beneficial cooperation. In 2025, China once again became Germany's largest trading partner. Schütte believes that this is the result of deep-seated industrial complementarities. "Germany is an export-oriented manufacturing economy, while China is a vast industrial market and an innovation center," he pointed out. He explained that German companies produce locally in China to serve the Chinese market, while China's intermediate products are integrated into the German manufacturing system. The supply chain network formed over many years is highly intertwined and mutually dependent.
At the corporate level, Schütte summarized the current attitude of German companies toward China with "strategy, prudence, and long-term vision." He pointed out that the Chinese market is still seen as a core market of strategic importance. "Currently, more than 5,000 German companies have invested in China, and about 3,000 Chinese companies have invested in Germany. A large number of jobs are closely related to two-way investment," he said. This deep integration of investment and industrial links indicates that Sino-German trade and economic cooperation has a solid foundation and real driving force. The stable signals released by German Chancellor Merkel's recent visit to China also help to enhance business confidence and policy predictability.
This long-term layout is closely related to the transformation of China's role in the global industrial system. Schütte pointed out that in the context of accelerating adjustments in global supply chains, China's role has undergone a profound change. "China has shifted from a single manufacturing base to a core demand market and a high-tech manufacturing innovation center." In many areas, China has formed a relatively complete industrial ecosystem, with highly concentrated suppliers, research institutions, engineering talents, and digital infrastructure.
Referring to German companies, Schütte pointed out that companies such as BMW, Volkswagen, Siemens, and BASF are expanding their R&D and engineering capabilities in China to enhance market responsiveness. "Today's localization is more about innovation speed, not just cost advantages," he said. In his view, the competitive environment in the Chinese market is more intense, but also more dynamic, pushing companies to accelerate technological iteration.
Schütte said that German companies' perception of China's innovation capabilities is changing. "Multiple surveys show that an increasing number of German companies see Chinese companies as innovation leaders and hope to expand cooperation with Chinese partners," he said. This is not only to maintain competitiveness in the Chinese market, but also to share innovation outcomes globally. Some companies use Chinese R&D centers to shorten product development cycles, and jointly explore third-party markets with Chinese companies, achieving a win-win situation for all parties.
Sino-German Cooperation Brings Stability to the World
From a more macro perspective, Schütte believes that as the world's second-largest economy, China is no longer just a participant in the international economic system, but also an active shaper. He pointed out that China supports multilateral frameworks centered on the World Trade Organization and the United Nations. In the context of rising unilateralism, this position has stabilizing significance and provides important support for the global economic order.
This role is also evident in the field of climate and green transition. Schütte emphasized that without China's participation, global climate goals would be almost unachievable. China is at the forefront of technology and scale in renewable energy and electric vehicles, and is an important driving force for the global green transition. He also pointed out that China has expanded development financing channels through multilateral platforms such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, forming a more influential cooperative network among countries in the Global South.
In his view, there is broad room for cooperation between Sino-German enterprises in the field of green transition. Whether in hydrogen energy, energy storage, smart grids, or green manufacturing, both sides can achieve synergistic effects through technological complementarity. "Green transition is not only an environmental issue, but also a new track for industrial upgrading and innovation competition."
Schütte concluded by saying that in the context of rising global uncertainty, stable, rational, and predictable cooperation is particularly precious. China is actively and shapingly participating in global economic governance. He said that if China and Germany can maintain rationality in competition and deepen mutual trust in cooperation, structural complementarities will continue to provide a solid foundation for bilateral relations, and also inject more stability and certainty into the world economy.
Chairman Clements Schütte of the German-Chinese Economic Association is interviewed by Reference News reporter Li Hanlin (photographed by Li Hanlin)
Original article: toutiao.com/article/7616312092412477978/
Statement: The article represents the views of the author.