00:00Ahead of the German Chancellor's visit to China, Beijing says it's ready to expand cooperation with Germany in areas including
00:07clean energy, artificial intelligence, biotechnology and the digital economy.
00:12Oliver Richtberg from Germany's Mechanical Engineering Industry Association has been speaking to Juliet now.
00:18Well, the trip is very, very important for our industry because China is a call market for us. Over 900
00:25companies of us are investing, invested in China and it's also our second biggest export market.
00:34But we also see some market distortions, I would like to say, from China that we'd like to see fixed.
00:40But it's also good to talk about stuff like that face to face in a good relationship.
00:45Chancellor Merz's Chinese New Year message emphasized bringing new impetus to German-Chinese relations. What would that look like to
00:53you?
00:55So I think it's a very good message because China and Europe, we have a long relationship right now and
01:03I think we can grow even more together.
01:06So China wants to learn for years from Germany and Europe how to manufacture better, how to technologically advance.
01:15But now it seems like it's changing a little bit. So China has become so strong in manufacturing and China
01:21has such strengths like delivering fast, innovating fast, building machines good enough.
01:27So I think we could learn so much from each other and I think this trip would be a good
01:31chance to start this.
01:32It's a good chance to talk to each other, especially these days. We have some turmoil again from the U
01:39.S.
01:39So I think we need to think about partnering up. We need to talk about the things that are happening.
01:45But we also need to talk about the things maybe that China wants us to do and the same way
01:50around.
01:50Do you think China is looking to reinforce Germany's role as a reliable economic partner within Europe, particularly at a
01:58time when parts of the transatlantic alliance appear less predictable?
02:04I would say, yes, absolutely. China is looking for a strong partner in Europe.
02:10And I mean, Germany is the biggest economy and we are so heavily involved with the Chinese economy for years
02:17and for decades.
02:18So I'm sure that China is looking for a strong partner in Germany, especially in these geopolitical difficult times.
02:26So I'm sure that China is looking for a strong partner in Europe.
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