Thomas O. Falk

Opinion | Germany and China’s 50-year relationship has taken a disappointing turn

After half a century of mutually beneficial Sino-German ties, Berlin and Beijing find themselves on opposite sides of the geopolitical divide

With Germany taking aim at China over Xinjiang and Taiwan, it appears to be choosing idealism over pragmatism – a stance that is unlikely to pay dividends

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German and Chinese national flags flutter on a lamppost at Tiananmen Gate during the visit of then German president Joachim Gauck in China in March 2016. Over the past 50 years, the relationship between Berlin and Beijing has been characterised by mutual respect, pragmatism and the will to benefit from each other. Photo: Shutterstock

Thomas O. Falk

Published: 1:00am, 14 Oct 2022Updated: 1:41am, 14 Oct 2022

This year marks a significant anniversary for German-Sino relations. On October 11, 1972, the People’s Republic of China and the Federal Republic of Germany established official diplomatic ties. In the years since, both sides have benefited enormously. Recently, however, the relationship seems tense, and the two countries would be well-advised to return to their former virtues.

Half a century ago, in the middle of the Cold War, Foreign Minister Walter Scheel and his Chinese counterpart Ji Pengfei exchanged documents for mutual diplomatic recognition in Beijing. Only months before, US President Richard Nixon had visited Beijing, sending the rest of the world a message that China was open to the West.

A lot has happened in the last five decades, geopolitically and economically. German chancellors and Chinese presidents have come and gone. China has transformed itself from a developing country into a superpower. After being reunified in 1990, Germany has become Europe’s de facto leader and the world’s fourth biggest economy.

Throughout these developments, there have been three constants in the relationship between Berlin and Beijing: mutual respect, pragmatism and the absolute will to benefit from each other.

Nothing underscores the latter so much as the economic links that both countries have enjoyed. To illustrate: in 1972, the total value of trade between the two was €500,000 (US$486,000). In 2021 it was €245 billion (US$237 billion).

Unsurprisingly, China was Germany’s most important trading partner for the sixth year in a row in 2021. Meanwhile, no other European country invests as much in China as Germany, with German firms accounting for more than half of European investment in China in 2018.

Opinion | Germany and China’s 50-year relationship has taken a disappointing turn

After half a century of mutually beneficial Sino-German ties, Berlin and Beijing find themselves on opposite sides of the geopolitical divide With Germany taking aim at China over Xinjiang and Taiwan, it appears to be choosing idealism over pragmatism – a stance that is unlikely to pay dividends

After half a century of mutually beneficial Sino-German ties, Berlin and Beijing find themselves on opposite sides of the geopolitical divide

With Germany taking aim at China over Xinjiang and Taiwan, it appears to be choosing idealism over pragmatism – a stance that is unlikely to pay dividends