00:00And as you heard, of course, Friedrich Mertz is indeed in China and has said that the trade
00:04imbalance between his country, Germany, and China is, quote, not healthy. Friedrich Mertz said he
00:08wanted to find ways to reduce this trade deficit, which has quadrupled in the last five years. He
00:14also said that Beijing has to use its influence with Moscow to help end the war in Ukraine. For
00:19more, we can cross straight over now to Berlin and bring in our correspondent, Diana Chesnick.
00:24Good morning, Diana. Just tell us more about the trip. Big focus, of course, on the economy.
00:31Indeed, China is the biggest trading partner for Germany. And just to give you one fact,
00:36I recently talked to a China expert who advised Mertz just last week how to behave in China.
00:42And indeed, Mertz came to China with a big business delegation. So it's all about economy. And one
00:48has to say that the German-Chinese relationship has not been without its frictions. Just last year,
00:54Germany suffered a 90 billion trading deficit with China. And just to tell you what this means
01:00for Germany, this means 10,000 manufacturing job loss each month. So this is huge. And Mertz was
01:08telling during his trip that Germany will react and do something about it. But at the same time,
01:13Mertz brought a major deal with aircraft from Airbus. China is going to buy 120 engines. A huge success. But
01:25of
01:25course, even though economy is very important, Mertz also will be talking and has been talking about
01:32geopolitical issues, especially about Russia. Let's have a listen.
01:38China's voice is heard around the world. Its decisions carry weight. But this also brings
01:44with it a responsibility. I, therefore, asked my interlocutors today to use their influence to end
01:50Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, an issue on which Beijing can exert influence. We know
01:57that signals from Beijing are taken very seriously in Moscow. That goes for words as well as deeds.
02:07So Diana, of course, serious geopolitical motives, as you say, for this trip as well.
02:15Indeed, Germany does not do any trading with Russia due to the war in Ukraine. But Germany is also trapped
02:21between the US and its unpredictable president Donald Trump and his constant threat because of the tariffs.
02:28And on the other hand, a very strong rival, very strong economical rival China, who, with his cheap goods, is
02:36threatening the German economy and the German businesses. But of course, Germany wants to become independent from the US and
02:45it
02:45needs China. But also China needs Germany and the European markets because it relies heavily on its exports. So both
02:52countries have
02:53their cards at hand and can negotiate on the economical issues.
03:00Indeed, not an easy time for the German economy. We're keeping, of course, a very close eye on it. Diana
03:05Resnick,
03:05thank you so much for that live update from Berlin.
03:08We'll see you next time.
03:08Thanks for watching a secondo.
03:09Bye.
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