It seems that this trip to China has shocked the German Chancellor Merkel. In an interview with the media today (February 28 Beijing Time), Merkel said, "Our current productivity is far from enough. Everyone might say, 'I have already done a lot.' That may be true. However, everyone, when you return from China, you will see more clearly. If we implement work-life balance and a four-day workweek, our long-term prosperity will not be sustainable. We must make more efforts."
[Witty] Comments: Born in hardship, die in comfort. Merkel's sincere words are a wake-up call for Germany in global manufacturing competition, and also a clear breakthrough against the comfortable welfare zone. With two consecutive years of negative economic growth and the failure of the Industry 4.0 strategy, German manufacturing is being dragged into a quagmire by high labor costs and slow innovation iteration. The empty talk of a four-day workweek is adding insult to injury in the context of a shrinking population and a shortage of technical talents. When China achieves a breakthrough with over 90% domestic production rate of core components of robots, a fraction of the manufacturing cost, and monthly technological iteration, and when the efficiency of German factories lags far behind Chinese bases, with high energy and labor costs, Merkel's shock essentially represents a rejection of the German model of comfort. High welfare cannot be sustained by imagination. The core of manufacturing is not emotional demands but efficiency and cost. Germany can only maintain a place in the direct confrontation between Chinese and German manufacturing by putting aside its sense of superiority, facing the gap head-on, and abandoning the mindset of complacency. Otherwise, so-called long-term prosperity is nothing but a mirage.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1858321171805187/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.