By CGTN’s the Point
President Donald Trump’s increasingly hostile trade policies have increased frictions between the United States and the other two largest economic entities in the world: China and the European Union (EU). With German Chancellor Angela Merkel now in China for the 11th time, the world is now focusing on how the two countries will respond to the antagonistic rhetoric from Washington.
"I think the right approach is to hope for a win-win situation. I mean China and Germany have one very important interest in common, which is to preserve the rule-based multilateral order. They share this interest, so it could be a win-win situation if this interest can be preserved," said Hans-Dieter Heumann, a former German ambassador to the Council of Europe.
"China and Germany are the two biggest exporters in the world. This is why they have their interests. Their trade relations are the strongest in the world. There is a strong common interest," Ambassador Heumann added to his point.
Trade, however, will not be the only issue discussed during Merkel's meeting with Chinese officials.
Heumann stated that "Germany and China are bonded by a so-called ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership,’ which goes beyond trade, so I think they will discuss some political issues as well."
The political issues he is referring to are those regarding the landmark Iran nuclear deal, from which the US withdrew, and the Syrian civil war.
Although there is a strong sense of common interest between China and Germany on trade, John Gong, a professor of economics at the University of International Business and Economics, believes there are still subtle frictions between the two regarding trade relations.
"I think on this issue Germany shares more interest with the United States to sort of counter China’s so-called ‘distortionary trade practices,'" Gong said.
However, Gong believes that the approach Germany may take will be different from that of the United States.
"I don’t think that Germany is going to take a confrontational approach towards China. They are not going to threaten imposing high tariffs on Chinese exports to Germany. I think the German side is more sort of conservative and also more interested in having dialogue."
He also enumerated two specific points which he thinks will hinder further cooperation between China and Germany. The first is "Germany is the leader of 27 out of 29 countries in the EU that are issuing a report to sort of challenge the Belt and Road Initiative and question some of the practices in the initiative." The second one is "Germany is very much concerned about the ascendance of China’s R&D capability and innovation capability."
Facing skepticism, Ambassador Heumann said a recent poll conducted among German business elites and government officials shows 70 percent of respondents worry about the Chinese influence and the access of Germany companies to the Chinese market, but a second figure shows that 80 percent of them see more chances than risks in engaging with China.
Gong later resonated with Heumann’s perception of more bilateral cooperation between China and Germany, and pointed out that "in the end, we are not going to argue about whether it is a German company or a Chinese company. It’s going to be a global company."
The Point with Liu Xin is a 30-minute current affairs program on CGTN. It airs weekdays at 9:30 p.m. BJT (1330GMT), with rebroadcasts at 5:30 a.m. (2130GMT) and 10:30 a.m. (0230GMT).
