Olaf Scholz calls on Beijing to take action, but also holds Germany's industry accountable. China is subsidizing its electric car industry with many billions of euros.
The EU wants to address the problem of overcapacity with countermeasures that are painful for China, such as punitive tariffs. Berlin is avowedly not a fan of punitive tariffs, and Beijing is likely to make a few concessions to the German Chancellor in Beijing. There is also a fear of the Americans, who see it at least that is how President Xi Jinping sees it – how he wants to “contain and suppress” China. The People’s Republic continues to be at least as dependent on Germany as the other way around. A lever that can use from German manufacturers or on German technology can be used against China – for example, on preliminary products on electric cars or solar cells, for example. It can also be used as a way for German manufacturers to use preliminary products from German technology on other products around the world.