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Original title: Yu Fang: CEIBS Investment, Diss spoke fair
The chairman of the German Volkswagen Group, Diess, recently stated at the World Economic Forum “Davos Agenda” that China is on the right track and that Chinese companies face more difficulties investing in Europe than European companies investing in China . It is not the first time that Diss has taken a realistic view based on his judgment on the Chinese market. He had previously stated that the Volkswagen Group will become more “sinicized” in the future and will depend more on China.
These views simply show that China’s own development and continued in-depth reform and opening-up have created more space for foreign investment and Sino-foreign cooperation. In 2020, the sales of German automakers in China reached 2.85 million vehicles, accounting for 38.2% of total global sales, an increase of 3.4% compared to the previous year. In the same year, only 500,000 German cars were sold on the American market. The importance of the Chinese market for German companies is obvious.
At the same time, we should also see that investment by Chinese-funded companies in Europe faces more challenges than investment by European companies in China. In February 2019, the European Parliament passed a foreign investment security review bill to strengthen the review of acquisitions by foreign companies such as communications and artificial intelligence. In June 2020, Germany passed an amendment to the “Foreign Economy Law”, which allows the federal government to conduct a more comprehensive and in-depth review of investments in non-EU countries, making it difficult to acquire German companies. By 2020, Chinese investment in Germany has shown a downward trend for four consecutive years, falling outside the top three countries investing in Germany. In 2016, there were 281 Chinese-funded companies that recently established themselves in Germany, and by 2020 only 154 will remain.
On the contrary, European investment in China. From 2003 to 2018, Germany’s average annual investment in China reached $ 1.7 billion. Total German investment in China in 2018 was US $ 368 billion, an increase of 139% over 2017. The volume of trade and investment between China and Europe has increased year on year, and even the new corona epidemic it has not shaken the wishes of European companies. By the end of 2020, China and Europe will complete the negotiation of an investment agreement as scheduled, providing more opportunities for Europe and the world to cooperate with China, especially for German automobile giants such as Volkswagen, BMW and Daimler.
In this context, Diss’ just words aroused the discontent of the German media. This is reminiscent of the fact that two months ago, the German virologist Kekule said that 99.5% of the new mutant strains of coronavirus currently circulating in the world date back to northern Italy, and they have also encountered doubts and dissatisfaction from the German media. The German media also accused the Chinese media of abusing Kekule’s statement as political propaganda.
This kind of disregard for the facts and heavy labeling is behind the complicated mentality of Germany and Europe to deal with China. Whether it is the “Europe-China Strategic Outlook” at the beginning of 2019 or the “New Agenda for Europe and America under global changes” at the end of 2020, China is positioned as a “partner, economic competitor and institutional competitor”. “The formation of this position is indispensable for the influence of the United States as an external factor, and it is also limited by the fact that some people still see China with an ideological perspective. Some German media often report on China with a pre-established position. Due to the long-term influence of the media, Germans in general have shown a negative trend towards China.The vast majority of Chinese think of Germany as “Made in Germany” and “World Cup champion” In Germany, only a quarter of the people have a positive perception of China. Even if China is actively preventing and controlling, resuming work and production in the context of the new corona epidemic, and has achieved economic growth On the positive side, some German media still rarely see relevant objective reports. Instead, there are many articles picking up China’s faults since The perspective of the “free society” model.
Of course, there are also some different voices in German society, such as the Diess statement and the German Finance Minister Altmeier. This may mean that German society needs a debate on the perception of China to deepen understanding and reduce prejudice. (The author is Associate Professor in the German Department of Beijing University of Foreign Studies)
