Germany plans to review its dependence on China
According to the German weekly newspaper "Die Zeit": Germany wants to reassess its economic relationship with China. For this purpose, experts from the business sector, trade unions and research will participate together. The new committee will focus on the security and reliability of value chains, as well as Germany's dependence on energy and raw material imports.
The governing coalition composed of the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) has decided to conduct a comprehensive review of Germany's economic relationship with China. A special committee established for this purpose will study the "security-related economic relations" between Germany and China and propose recommendations for repositioning. This is stated in a document from the SPD parliamentary group. It is reported that the ruling parties will discuss the joint proposal at the beginning of next week, and the Bundestag is expected to vote on it next Friday.
The draft states that changing "trade and geopolitical environments" make it imperative to reassess. The discussion includes issues of value chain security and reliability, as well as the situation of Germany's energy and raw material imports. The goal is to conduct a "legal, economic and political review" of possible adjustments to the Foreign Trade Act. The committee will also investigate the extent of Germany's reliance on Chinese investments in key infrastructure sectors, while analyzing the relationships of other countries with China.
The committee is expected to consist of more than a dozen experts, members from institutions such as the Bertelsmann Foundation, the Federation of German Industries (BDI), the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK), the German Council on Foreign Relations, the Foundation for International Political Studies (SWP), the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB), the German Institute for Economic Research (IW), and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW). The committee will submit an annual report, and the economic committee will be informed of the progress every six months.
The German government recently announced a series of measures to protect its domestic steel industry from the impact of cheap Chinese import products. At the same time, German car manufacturers are also facing increasingly fierce competition from Chinese manufacturers in the electric vehicle sector.
There are 17 rare earth elements, such as europium, lanthanum, neodymium or cerium. Without these elements, many modern technological products could not be produced. They are widely used in semiconductors, smartphones, electric vehicles, offshore wind turbines, and missiles. Although they are called "rare earths", some of these elements are not rare in the Earth's crust. The German Raw Materials Agency points out that for example, neodymium used in electric vehicles is actually more abundant in the Earth's crust than lead. The difficulty lies in the refining process - since these metals exist in ore layers, they must be extracted through chemical methods. In this process, radioactive isotopes and toxic wastewater are byproducts.
SPD Finance Minister and Deputy Chancellor Lars Klingbeil plans to visit Beijing this month. However, the CDU foreign minister's planned visit to China in October was canceled at the last minute. The Foreign Office stated at the time that Germany hopes to maintain dialogue, but is concerned about China's restrictions on chip and rare earth exports. According to internal government sources, China had refused to discuss these issues.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1848292354610315/
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