Government News
German economy minister Habeck heads SME delegation to China 2024-06-25
Robert Habeck, Germany’s economy minister, led a delegation of mainly small and medium-sized enterprises to China during a recent three-day visit to deepen economic and trade ties between the two countries.
The SMEs included auto parts suppliers, metal processors, and solar energy startups, according to Prof. Wu Huiping, deputy director of the German studies center at Shanghai's Tongji University.
The group visited BMW’s research and development center in Shanghai, and had in-depth exchanges on smart connected vehicles, sustainable development, and other topics. Their visit follows one by large German companies, representatives of which accompanied Chancellor Olaf Scholz to China in April.
This visit was a good opportunity for German SMEs to understand the Chinese market, Wu told Yicai, adding that unlike big businesses, they do not have strong anti-risk capabilities and are easily affected by geopolitical factors.
On-site visits allow SMEs to understand China's business environment more concretely and learn about the development of other German firms in the market, helping them strengthen economic and trade ties with the Asian country, Wu pointed out.
When asked about the European Commission's plan to raise tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China at a press conference in Shanghai on June 22, Habeck, who is also Germany’s vice chancellor, said he does not want to see additional duties and hopes that people will see the benefits of an open market.
Habeck hoped to minimize the damage caused by trade frictions on Germany’s economy via communication with China during his visit, Wu said.
Earlier this month, the EC said that it "provisionally concluded" that the battery EV value chain in China benefits from unfair subsidies, causing a threat of economic injury to European Union producers. Based on its anti-subsidy investigation, the EC has temporarily established that it is in the EU's interest to remedy the effects of the unfair trade practices by imposing provisional tariffs on Chinese EV imports, it noted.
The EC will levy a countervailing duty of 17.4 percent on BYD's electric cars, 20 percent on Geely Auto's, and 38.1 percent on SAIC Motor's, the commission said. In addition, a 21 percent duty will be imposed on EV makers who cooperated in the investigation but were not sampled, while a 38.1 percent duty will fall on those who did not cooperate, it added.
The EU’s 27 member states will vote in November on the temporary tariffs, which can only be lifted if 15 countries whose population is no less than 65 percent of the EU's total vote against the proposal, Wu said, adding that otherwise, the tariffs will be in force for five years.
Source: Yicai Global
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