German Chancellor Scholz Leads Economic Delegation on Three-Day Visit to China

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will make a three-day official visit to China starting on the 13th (local time).

Olaf Scholz, German Chancellor / Photo by Yonhap News

Steffen Hebestreit, spokesperson for the German government, announced on the 8th that Chancellor Scholz is scheduled to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang in Beijing. Scholz will then visit a German hydrogen engine company in Chongqing before moving on to Shanghai to give a lecture at a university.

This will be Scholz's second visit to China since November 2022. At that time, leading a large economic delegation, Scholz expressed opposition to decoupling, sparking controversy over being perceived as pro-China.

Accompanying Scholz on this visit to China will be an economic delegation composed of German business representatives, along with three cabinet ministers: Environment Minister Steffi Lemke, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Cem ?zdemir, and Transport Minister Volker Wissing.

Spokesperson Hebestreit also stated that Scholz holds a skeptical view regarding the imposition of EU-wide tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. The EU plans to investigate whether the Chinese government has provided subsidies for electric vehicles by November this year and, if confirmed, intends to impose additional tariffs.

Germany, which counts China as its largest trading partner, has continued economic cooperation with China despite pressure from the US and other Western countries. Maximilian Butek, Managing Director of the German Chamber of Commerce, said, "The Chancellor’s extended visit to China, covering three cities, is a strong signal of normalization of relations."

On the other hand, the German economic newspaper Handelsblatt predicted, "The expansion of the high-level delegation appears to be entirely at the request of the Chinese leadership," adding, "Unlike during Chancellor Angela Merkel’s era, there will be no large-scale new contracts with local companies."

Meanwhile, ahead of his visit to China, Scholz showed a favorable attitude by opening a TikTok account on the same day and posting a 13-second video showing his office. Along with opening the TikTok account, he wrote on X (formerly Twitter), "I will not dance. I promise."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.