00:00Servine Daglen is a former German member of parliament who served as deputy chair of the German-Chinese parliamentary group.
00:08This visit is above all about economic survival because Germany is under enormous pressure.
00:16Energy prices surged after the sanctions on Russia since 2022 and now U.S. tariff policy is adding further strain.
00:25And at the same time, China remains Germany's largest trading partner.
00:31EU-China trade reached around 750 billion euros in 2025, so making it one of the largest economic relationships in
00:43the world.
00:43So that's why it is all about economic survival.
00:47German industry, especially automotive and the mechanical industry, engineering, depends heavily on the Chinese market.
00:55So I do not see a genuine geopolitical repositioning.
01:01Berlin is still largely aligned with Washington.
01:05So what we are likely to see is economic pragmatism out of necessity, not strategic independence.
01:15I mean, this visit comes amid increasing unpredictability, as we know, in U.S. trade policy under Mr. Trump.
01:23And I wonder, could tensions with the U.S. create some kind of space for a changed German foreign policy?
01:33Well, U.S. tariffs are hitting German industry very hard.
01:39And after Washington's decoupling measures, Chinese exports to the U.S. dropped by about 55 percent in last year, 2025,
01:48while exports to the European Union rose by roughly 15 percent.
01:53So that shift alone shows how dramatically global trade patterns are changing.
02:00But if Germany fails to deepen cooperation with China, especially in key industrial sections like the automotive or, for example,
02:12the engineering,
02:14this becomes an existential issue for us.
02:18So without access to the Chinese market and its industrial cooperation, core pillars of Germany's economy are at risk.
02:27And the pressure from Washington could create space for a more balanced policy.
02:32But only Berlin is willing to use the question is if Berlin is willing to use this space.
02:40Let's talk about that, because there is no unified EU position towards China, is there?
02:47I mean, should Germany, should Berlin take some kind of leadership role in shaping an EU strategy on China?
02:54Or should it simply focus primarily on its national economic interests?
03:00Well, I think Germany should push for a coherent EU strategy aimed at reducing trade restrictions and avoiding further escalation.
03:15Continuing with secondary sanctions or additional punitive measures against Chinese companies would risk triggering a spiral that harms Europe more
03:28than anyone else.
03:29And take, for example, the rare earth materials.
03:36As an example, China controls about 60 percent of global extraction and 90 percent of processing.
03:43So Europe is in no position, no position at all, to win a prolonged economic confrontation in this area.
03:51And that means a realistic strategy must recognize these structural dependencies.
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