China is offering Germany collaboration in the field of what it calls new energy, along with other industries, including intelligent manufacturing, hydrogen, biomedicine, and “intelligent driving”, per Xinhua.
The offer came from Chinese Premier Li Qiang on the sidelines of the G20 meeting this weekend, with the top official urging the German leadership to “practice a rational and pragmatic China policy,” per the Chinese state news agency.
“China is willing to work with Germany to seize development opportunities and exploit innovative cooperation with an open attitude,” Xinhua also reported, citing the Premier’s statement.
Relations between European countries and China have been fraying recently, amid the latter’s refusal to side with the EU on the Ukraine war and what Brussels has claimed as unfair competition practices in fields such as wind, solar, and electric cars.
China subsidizes what it calls new energy industries heavily, and while the European Union does the same, it sees the Chinese practice as giving Chinese companies active in these industries as undermining the competitiveness of European players in the same field. Germany specifically has been a vocal critic of the subsidy approach in Beijing.
The EU also has issues with its dependence on Chinese energy technology and is trying to reduce that by implementing import controls and providing financial support for European companies to boost their competitiveness with Chinese imports.
Just this month, Germany’s finance minister voiced concern about China’s overcapacity in sectors including solar power, EVs, and steelmaking, saying that “From the German perspective, we see fair competition at risk and also see industrial jobs under threat,” as quoted by Reuters.
Lars Klingbeil added, however, that both Germany and China should work together to address these concerns and that “We have to speak with China instead of speaking about China.”
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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