Between the US and a hard place, Germany's Scholz reheats China ties

12/4/2024 13:00

        Last year Germany launched a strategy to "de-risk" from China, but on Saturday Chancellor Olaf Scholz starts a high-stakes visit there hoping to shore up ties at a delicate point with the U.S. and EU threatening to hammer Chinese goods in subsidy rows.
        
        With the German economy in the doldrums, its companies are pressing for fairer access to a Chinese market which they feel still discriminates heavily in favour of local firms despite promises to the contrary.
        
        At the same time, China will likely press Berlin not to fall in behind threatened European Union measures against its cars, solar and wind park equipment that Brussels feels are being dumped on its market too cheaply.
        
        China's own economy is also struggling, hit by another ratings outlook downgrade this week and its factories blamed for producing more goods than they can sell locally.