image alliance / Contributor / Getty Images Germany is open to strengthening ties with China but should remain cautious about where any investment goes, the country’s Economy Minister and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck said. “We’re an open market. That doesn’t mean we’re a stupid market, so we have to be careful,” Habeck told CNBC’s Tanvir Gill Saturday in Singapore. There is “nothing wrong” with Chinese companies investing in Germany and vice versa, but the war in Ukraine has shown that “what seems like a reliable partner can very soon turn out to be stealing from you,” the economy minister told CNBC. , giving a nod to Russia’s incursion and Europe trying to diversify its energy reserves. The Chinese embassy in Germany did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment. Hambeck’s comments come after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz made a controversial solo trip to China to meet President Xi Jinping in early November. He was the first G-7 leader to travel to the People’s Republic of China since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Habeck also told the CBNC which industries should and should not build closer ties with China, saying there are some sectors “that are not open for sale.” Parts of Germany’s health services, semiconductors, telecommunications, energy and critical infrastructure such as ports in Hamburg were among the areas where Germany would treat foreign money “with caution”, Habeck said. Members of Scholz’s ruling coalition in Berlin expressed concern over Germany’s ties to China, and Habeck said that while there was “unity on China”, he “cannot promise” that there would not be further arguments on the issue within the German government. China’s human rights record is one reason for countries’ reluctance to get closer to the country. In August, the United Nations said China’s treatment of Uyghurs and other minority ethnic groups could amount to crimes against humanity, while the Biden administration placed trade restrictions on more than 30 Chinese entities in December for human rights abuses. . Beijing has repeatedly denied committing human rights abuses against the Uyghurs. Investors and businesses outside of China have also become more cautious about doing business with the country in recent years after strict Covid-19 lockdowns choked supply chains and Beijing cracked down on foreign tech companies, something that is unlikely to change now that President Xi Jinping has set plans for a third term.
Cooperation with China
The relationship between Europe and China “must be a partnership” due to China’s prominent position in the global market, according to Arancha Gonzalez, dean of PSIA at Sciences Po, and Philippe Varin, Vice-President of the International Chamber of Commerce. “Now there is room for cooperation and we have to use it,” Gonzalez told CNBC’s Silvia Amaro at the Paris Peace Forum on Saturday. “If we want to guarantee financial stability worldwide, if we want to fight pandemics, if we want to succeed [the] fight against climate change, we need to talk and discuss with China,” Gonzalez said. He added that Europe may also need to talk to China “if we want to avoid the use of a nuclear weapon on the European continent”. Speaking on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Friday, Joerg Wuttke, president of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China, said concerns that Germany was becoming too dependent on the country were “overblown.”
