German exhibitors at import trade fair expect business ties with China to improve after Chancellor Scholz’s Beijing visit

German exhibitors at China’s largest import trade fair said they expect Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit to Beijing to bolster trade between the two countries.

The rising optimism comes after Scholz’s one-day visit last Friday, along with a delegation that included representatives from major German companies including BioNTech, Volkswagen, BMW and Deutsche Bank. Scholz’s first to China as leader took place just one day before the opening of the annual China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai.

About 200 German exhibitors are attending this year’s show, which will run through Thursday. China inaugurated the CIIE in 2018 to encourage more domestic businesses to purchase foreign-made goods and services. It had been speculated that Scholz would take part in the CIIE to promote German goods and services, but he eventually abandoned the plan.

“The chancellor’s visit will stabilise trade and business relations between the two countries,” said Zhang Hui, China project manager of Wilhelmshaven Container Terminal. “Stability is much needed because the bilateral economic relation is of great importance to both countries.”

The container terminal operator is aiming to consolidate a tie-up with businesses in China, encouraging more stops in future at the deep water port of Wilhelmshaven, a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany.

This year’s expo takes place against the backdrop of rising geopolitical tensions between China and the West on a range of issues from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to rising tensions across the Taiwan Strait. The global economy has also been slowed by Covid-19 lockdowns and supply chain disruption, exacerbating concerns over trade volumes and declining cross-border investment.