00:00And I spoke to former German ambassador to NATO, Joachim Bitterlich.
00:05China has been, in the last 20-30 years, a reliable partner and a reliable market for the German economy.
00:14Not only with regard to cars or to factory machinery, but all over the economy.
00:23And China has become, let's say, in the last years, a strong competitor.
00:29Therefore, we speak with these three famous expressions of the Europeans.
00:34We speak about a partner, a competitor and a rival at the same time.
00:41And China has become a strong competitor in many areas.
00:44And therefore, Mrs. Reich has this, let's say, sensitive task to look with the Chinese partners
00:55how to reorientate to a certain extent the exchanges between Germany and China.
01:04And in order to reduce the trade imbalance.
01:09Don't forget, last year, the German exports to China have been shrinking.
01:14And at the same time, the imports from China has been doubling, if you compare it to exports.
01:24And therefore, the idea is how to get a more balanced way in the relations with openness, yes, competition, yes,
01:35and a mutual benefit for both sides.
01:39It's a certain rebalancing of risks.
01:42It's not at all decoupling at all.
01:45The Germans consider the Chinese as a reliable, as a long-term important partner.
01:51But to a certain extent, these relations have to be rebalanced.
01:57Yeah, exactly.
01:58The question, I think, for Germany is how to reduce the trade imbalance
02:02and how do they balance competition and cooperation?
02:08Yes, you don't have to forget, when you look at Germany today,
02:14Germany has to a certain extent to review its economic model.
02:19An economic model which has been depending largely on exports.
02:23And China has been, let's say, an important partner here.
02:27When you look at the whole of the EU, Germany makes around 35% of these exchanges
02:35between China and the whole European Union.
02:39The steel industry in Germany is today in a extremely sensitive phase.
02:44The CO2 has to be reduced, the production is suffering from the too high energy prices in Germany.
02:56And one of these reflections is, please, from the German steel industry,
03:01we should invite Chinese companies to produce in Germany, in Europe, in Germany,
03:09under the European conditions.
03:11It's clear.
03:12And the Chinese would do the same as we have done in the past, produce in China.
03:19Now, the Chinese, to a certain extent, especially in sensitive areas,
03:25they should be invited to produce in Germany.
03:29You see this with regard to car industry, partly,
03:32where Chinese companies are looking for production sites within Europe
03:37in order to avoid, let's say, the European import taxation, yes,
03:43but at the same time to become, let's say, a clearer part of the European market
03:48and of its conditions.
03:50Even the Americans have been doing it.
03:52It's different, it's different than well and the C1.
03:52But in Brazil, it's important, וה dramatic part of improving this issue.
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