Chancellor Olaf Scholz's three-day visit to China will be both his longest and most important foreign trip since he assumed office in 2021. He is expected to call for more fairness in economic relations.
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00:00 It's a German company with a long tradition.
00:04 EBM Papst has made and sold ventilation systems and fans in China for nearly three decades.
00:11 Its business there is a success.
00:14 And yet the company is playing it safe, making operations in both Germany and China self-sufficient.
00:21 That's because of frequent supply chain disruptions.
00:25 A new head office in Shanghai could help with those plans.
00:30 We've been already doing local for local for many years, and we are trying to decouple supply chains.
00:40 And we're also trying to develop and prepare for different scenarios with various plans.
00:48 For instance, we can relocate production from China to India within two to three months,
00:55 even though that's not something we expect to do now.
01:01 More German companies are including decoupling plans in their strategies
01:05 so that business can continue amid geopolitical tensions.
01:09 China, too, is trying to reduce dependence on other countries by strengthening its domestic market.
01:15 China remains Germany's top trade partner, with a trade volume of around 253 billion euros.
01:22 Germany mostly exports cars and auto parts to China in addition to various machinery.
01:28 That makes it one of China's top five trade partners.
01:33 But now, with China's increasing dominance in the electric vehicle industry,
01:37 more Chinese-made EVs are coming to Germany.
01:40 Their lower prices are putting German carmakers under pressure.
01:44 It's the same with solar panels and wind turbines.
01:48 Chinese products are massively subsidized by Beijing, and European manufacturers can barely compete.
01:55 Chinese product prices push them to the brink of ruin.
02:00 That's why Germany and the European Commission are taking measures to curb unfair competition
02:06 and protect the domestic market.
02:09 They are considering introducing tariffs on select Chinese products.
02:14 For Live UN Video visit www.un.org/webcast