China Germany Photo:VCG

The trade between China and Germany grew 0.3 percent in the first 10 months of 2022, reaching $191.3 billion, newly released data from the General Administration of Customs (GAC) showed on Monday. 

Experts noted that a slowdown in the bilateral trade resulted from complicated global economic environment along with multiple factors including geopolitical tensions and high inflation, but the cooperation potential between the two countries remains significant, while German businesses remain positive about operating in China as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's recent visit to Beijing proved to be a positive signal for economic cooperation. 

From January to October, China's export to Germany reached $98 billion, growing 6.5 percent over last year, according to data from the GAC. China imported a total of $93 billion worth of commodities from Germany, down 5.6 percent from the previous year. 

The slowdown in German manufacturing industry was caused by factors such as the surging operational costs and rising energy prices, which partly affected trade with its partners including China, Zhao Junjie, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of European Studies, told the Global Times on Monday.

Moving forward, Zhao noted that the prospect of the bilateral trade will depend on whether China and Germany will continue to ramp up economic cooperation and trade with strengthened mutual trust, and there is still a great cooperation potential in green economy such as electric vehicles.

From January to August, foreign investment from Germany increased 30.3 percent, data from China's Ministry of Commerce showed. Meanwhile, Germany has remained China's biggest trading partner in Europe since 2012, with the bilateral trade in 2021 hitting a record high reaching $235.1 billion, accounting 19.9 percent of China's total trade with the Europe.

Despite some political voices calling on Germany to "decouple" from China, German companies have been promoting their latest products and technologies at the ongoing China International Import Expo (CIIE), planning to further expand their businesses and investment in China. 

More than 170 German companies attended the CIIE with a total exhibition area of about 40,000 square meters in 2021. A large number of German industrial giants including Siemens, Mercedes-Benz and Bosch attended the event.

Germany firmly supports trade liberalization and economic globalization, and opposes decoupling. Germany stands ready for closer trade and economic cooperation with China, and supports more mutual investment between Chinese and German businesses, Scholz said on November 4 during his visit to Beijing. 

Global Times