German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will visit China as the first leader of an EU country since the start of the corona pandemic. Our Asia correspondent Kirsi Crowley explains what to expect during the visit.
14:24•Updated 14:43
BEIJING Chancellor Olaf Scholz will arrive in Beijing on Friday as if the mistrust between Europe and China did not exist. On his heels, the elite of German business management arrive to feel out the trade prospects. The visit is controversial to say the least.
What will happen during the visit?
Chancellor Scholz meets the president Xi Jinping and the prime minister Li Keqiang In Tiananmen Square, in the Great Hall of the People. In the same place, only weeks earlier, Xi Jinping received the mandate to lead China for a historic third term.
German business leaders traveling in Scholz’s entourage meet representatives of Chinese companies. The management of Germany’s most important companies such as Deutsche Bank, Siemens, Volkswagen, BASF and Biontech, which manufactures corona vaccines, are included.
In the evening, Scholz talks with Germans living in China.
Will Scholz be quarantined?
Scholz arrives in Beijing in a tight corona bubble, which is a familiar routine from the Beijing Winter Olympics. China is still following strict corona prevention measures, even though it has been almost three years since the beginning of the pandemic.
The distinguished guest himself will not be quarantined during his day-long visit, but the parties living in China who meet him will be quarantined. The German community meets Scholz remotely via video link.
Why has Scholz’s trip to China been uproar?
The timing of Scholz’s visit is bad. It hurts just when the European Union wants to reduce dependence on China. US relations with China are icy and the US expects an alliance from Europe.
On top of all that, Scholz is traveling to China as the first EU leader just when Xi Jinping has strengthened his authoritarian power in China. The trip has been criticized as a congratulatory tour, where Scholz would bring, as if as a gift, a sales contract for the part of the container terminal in the port of Hamburg.
The large Chinese cargo company Cosco recently received permission to buy almost a quarter of a share in one of the container terminals at the Port of Hamburg. Scholz defended the deal, despite criticism from government partners and six ministers against it.
Germany has also been irritated by the information that Cosco threatened to transfer cargo from Hamburg to other European countries where it owns terminal space in ports. Chinese cargo ships are an important source of income for the Port of Hamburg.
Why does Scholz want to go to China?
Scholz defended the trip with the need for cooperation and discussion. He trusts traditional diplomacy and sees no point in breaking off relations. Scholz says he also represents European leadership.
He has been criticized for straying from the EU line. Although also the president of France Emmanuel Macron is about to travel to China.
Scholz wrote In the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper (you switch to another service)that he does not shy away from talking about disagreements such as human rights violations in Xinjiang, civil rights and free world trade.
China is also Germany’s largest trading partner. Half of the EU’s investments in China are from Germany.
Especially the German car and chemical industry are dependent on China. China is also the biggest car market for Volkswagen and Daimler. A sudden severance of relations would be a disaster for these companies.
What does China get from the trip?
For China, Scholz’s visit is partly a propaganda victory against the United States. China can show the United States that Europe’s biggest economic power will continue to do business with China, even though the United States wants Europe to disengage from trade with China.
Chinese state media in English Global Times magazine (you switch to another service) recently emphasized that the port terminal deal shows that the United States will not succeed in breaking China’s strong ties with Germany and European freight traffic.
The terminal part of the port of Hamburg in itself is not a big investment for the Chinese cargo company Cosco, and a share of less than a quarter does not give it a say in the port. It already has cargo terminals elsewhere in Europe.
The continuation of trade with Europe is also significant for China. It would not be at all surprising if the German companies traveling with Scholz were rewarded with juicy contracts.
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