We have updated our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use for Eurasia Group and its affiliates, including GZERO Media, to clarify the types of data we collect, how we collect it, how we use data and with whom we share data. By using our website you consent to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy, including the transfer of your personal data to the United States from your country of residence, and our use of cookies described in our Cookie Policy.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Chinese Premier Li Qiang meet in Berlin on June 20, 2023.
China’s Premier Li Qiang, the country’s highest-ranking public official after President Xi Jinping, met in Berlin on Tuesday with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Beyond the predictable diplomatic choreography, this visit underlines several important realities.
First, Germany (and Europe generally) needs strong commercial relations with Beijing. After all, China is Germany’s largest trade partner, and Europe’s post-COVID economy remains sluggish. Germany’s national security strategy describes China as both a competitor and a “systemic rival,” particularly when it comes to Beijing’s relations with Russia and its views of Western leadership in international institutions more generally. But Germany also explicitly recognizes China as a “partner,” an acknowledgment of economic realities.
Second, China needs Europe, and Germany is still Europe’s largest economy. China’s own post-COVID economic lethargy means all-important trade ties must be protected, especially in moments where stresses like differences over the war in Ukraine threaten to poison European attitudes toward Xi’s government. We should not “equate interdependence with insecurity,” Li told German CEOs on Monday. “Lack of cooperation is the biggest risk” for both of us, he added.
Finally, the world needs China to help end the war in Ukraine. Scholz’s call for China to use its influence with Russia to help end the war underlines a recognition in Europe that when Russia and Ukraine finally enter negotiations to end the war, Beijing has the most to offer as a mediator. China can help Russia cope with isolation from the West, and it can offer billions for Ukraine’s reconstruction, money that won’t have to come from Europe.
Next, Premier Li arrives in France for a financial summit hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday and Friday.