Huang Mengmeng Assistant Researcher of Institute of European Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
October 11th, 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Germany. Over the past half century, , China, Germany, and have each undergone tremendous changes. The reform and opening up made China a major power in the world. After the reunification of the two Germanys, Germany became the leading force in the European Union. After entering the 21st century, with the joint efforts of China and Germany, the two countries have established a mature exchange mechanism, respecting each other and complementing each other's advantages.
The frequent high-level visits between China and Germany have led the bilateral relations to continue to move forward. The two countries developed from a global responsibility partnership to an all-round strategic partnership in 2014, and established a Sino-German government consultation mechanism . In the ten years from 2011 to 2021, a total of six rounds of Sino-German government consultations were held, and Sino-German relations developed into a leader in Sino-European relations.
Economic and trade cooperation is the ballast of Sino-German relations. Over the past 50 years, in the changing international environment, Sino-German economic and trade cooperation has surpassed the differences in social systems and development levels and formed structural complementarities. The bilateral trade volume will increase from US$300 million at the beginning of the establishment of diplomatic relations to US$235.1 billion in 2021. Since 2015, China has been Germany's largest importer for six consecutive years, and Germany is China's most important trading partner in Europe.
Science and technology, culture, education and sports are the highlights of Sino-German cooperation. In the late 1970s, China and Germany successively signed cultural exchange agreements, intergovernmental scientific and technological cooperation agreements, and educational exchange and cooperation agreements, which intensified exchanges between China and Germany in political, business, and research circles. In the past ten years, the Sino-German people-to-people bond has been promoted through activities such as the China-Germany Year of Language, Culture, and Innovation Cooperation. At the same time, the Sino-German exchange mechanism has become more and more perfect. The Sino-German high-level financial dialogue, the Sino-German high-level people-to-people and cultural exchange dialogue mechanism, the Sino-German Science Promotion Center , and the Sino-German Environmental Forum have improved the level of bilateral cooperation. As a strong country in winter sports, Germany dispatched 150 athletes to participate in the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, and China and Germany have expanded cooperation in the fields of talent training, equipment production, and ice and snow industry development.
In the past ten years, the Chinese and German governments have continuously promoted pragmatic cooperation, and signed memoranda on renewable energy, climate and environmental protection, urbanization, and innovative medical partnerships. China and Germany take the United Nations and other international multilateral mechanisms as the framework to jointly promote the implementation of international agreements such as the Paris Agreement , the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development , and the Convention on Biological Diversity . At the same time, China and Germany are promoting the establishment of a multi-party cooperation platform. In 2019, the total trade volume of green goods between China and Germany exceeded US$23.018 billion, accounting for nearly 40% of the total trade volume of green goods between China and the EU. Germany has become China's largest partner in green trade with the EU. However, affected by the international geopolitical environment, Germany's perception of China will inevitably change, and Sino-German relations will face more challenges in the new era. In 2021, when the new German federal government takes office, under the framework of the EU's China strategy, Germany has established a three-dimensional strategy towards China of "partners, competitors and institutional rivals". However, the German economic and political circles have different perceptions of China.
During the COVID-19 epidemic, due to China's policies in the field of market size, R&D innovation system, service trade advantages, and low-carbon environmental protection, most German companies still choose to invest in the Chinese market in a difficult international environment. In the first half of 2022, German direct investment in China exceeded 10 billion euros, a 20-year high. In the context of the Ukraine crisis, the post-pandemic economic recovery of the EU has been exacerbated by the energy crisis. The inflation rate in Germany has reached an all-time high, and the economic outlook is not optimistic. Booster.
Looking back on the past and revisiting the original intention of establishing diplomatic relations between China and Germany, China-Germany relations have endured various challenges in the changing international environment for half a century, but both sides have always adhered to grasping the general direction of the development of bilateral relations from a strategic height, and insisted on actively promoting them with a pragmatic attitude. The two countries have cooperated pragmatically and joined hands to meet international challenges.
As the next 50-year journey of Sino-German relations is about to begin, looking into the future, China and Germany should jointly explore the path of deepening the all-round strategic partnership, play the responsibilities of major countries, and serve the international community.China and Germany contribute to the peaceful development of society and address global challenges. Germany should also uphold the spirit of strategic independence, lead the development of China-EU relations with China-Germany pragmatic cooperation, continue to write a new chapter of China-Germany economic and trade cooperation, improve the level of bilateral trade and investment, and jointly push China-Germany and China-EU relations to a new level. At the same time, China should maintain its strategic focus, continue to deepen reforms, optimize the business environment, make full use of China-Germany and China-EU exchange mechanisms in various fields and at all levels, calmly deal with the US-EU policy coordination toward China, objectively evaluate the "decoupling" theory, and reduce misunderstandings To avoid misjudgment, promote the coordination of China-EU economic and trade and investment rules, especially in green industry sectors involving energy transition and ecological environmental protection, and further expand the cooperation channels between China and Germany and China and Europe. (Editor in charge: An Ran Hua Zhang Yu Xin)
