A setting the Global Standards intake theyre drawing up their own treaties and deals and theyve got the upper hand with an immense amount of financial firepower but chinas also highly secretive fad restrictive the question is is china more of patna old rival. President xi jinping has promised time and again to open his mammoth economy to the world to lead in International Investment and allow for a level Playing Field german executives are spoken to say its going in the other direction they say chinese officials clamping down on foreign firms more than ever china and the European Union have been hammering out a comprehensive agreement on investment for 7 years now but after multiple rounds of negotiations theyve basically got no way. The skyscrapers of shanghai have all been built in the past 30 years. Almost all the big German Companies have an office in this business metropolis but some are starting to get nervous. 5000 German Companies operating in China Business is good but for how long the German Chamber of commerce in beijing has confirmed that German Companies are increasingly worried. That. The 1st issues Market Access is asymmetrical access to the Chinese Market. A 2nd point is the Regulatory Environment and the 3rd point is obvious protecting intellectual Property Rights and finally a big concern these days is digitalisation and the Free Exchange of information and the Digital World. To get a hold. In chinas Digital World no one is really free beijing monitors its internet and Messenger Services like we chat for years now Foreign Companies in china have been required to store their data on chinese servers and the socalled social Credit System uses big data and Artificial Intelligence to monitor the behavior of its citizens and its companies. Why do western Companies Put up with that. For example western Companies Still have to form joint ventures with Chinese Companies. Germans can own 49 percent of the joint venture but the chinese retain the majority stake. A well known example is fox wagon which has been partners with a Chinese Automotive Company s. A. I. C. Since 1988 but joint venture requirement means the transfer of technology is almost mandatory to build in china a company has to make its know how Available Technology and systems have to be exported to china the reward is access to the Chinese Market but not to all markets theres a list of approved sectors thats updated regularly teef list is negative a list is a register of the Chinese Government uses to control what types of Foreign Investment are allowed into the country. And the slant. On the list is used to limit which industries these companies can invest in. In the student of current leader prohibited industries include medical Technology Environmental technology and aerospace the negative list includes 33 industries that are closed to Foreign Investment. Do the 300 Chinese Companies in germany have similar problems to deal with negative lists here the Chinese Chamber of commerce in germany deflects the question. Of course we value the partnership between germany and china very highly and this Political Security is very important for us we are entrepreneurs of course we invest here we want to earn money here and do good business. Good business its something that German Companies are also doing in china but 44 percent of them want to see more fairness a call. Adding to an Anonymous Survey by the German Chamber of commerce in beijing why isnt anyone willing to say that on camera. Targets is no end of the day the station the economy here are so closely interwoven from the point of view of German Companies its sometimes better to address things behind closed doors rather than speak out publicly. And theres a lot to lose of all the cars it produced in the 1st half of 2020 v. W. Sold over 40 percent in china b. M. W. Sold 34 percent and dime low which makes most eightys sold 33 percent that. No other western industrial country has become as dependent on china as germany. This is especially true in the auto industry. Only a few German Companies have left china like model train maker metal even the company moved back to germany because production costs were too high and the quality too low. But that was 10 years ago. Looking at real trains is much more revealing chinese high speed trains are as good as their european counterparts much of the technology was copied from european trains made by siemens and ice storm which are also built in china those companies shared their know how with their chinese partners now the copies are challenging the originals on the European Market on the one side is the gigantic state company subsidized with millions of euros and on the other private companies from europe. Since 2013 the e. U. And china have held over 30 meetings to negotiate an Investment Protection agreement so far without results. In a 3 way relationship between china the us and the european you. Theres only one way germany can play a role and thats if the e. U. Is firm and united in representing its interests china and the united states. With offered that germany is chinas most important trading partner in europe. Do you have anything from china you know what i have in my hand my cell phone air pods i think my computer is from china to no no i think it is from china you know they are safe yes definitely half my stuff comes from china you know coronavirus its where corolla started no one thinks about where it comes from anymore. The corona virus did 1st appear in china and china took its time letting the world in on it the Chinese Communist party brutally suppressed the warnings coming from its citizens. Experts agree that if beijing had reacted faster it wouldnt have become a worldwide pandemic. The coronavirus pandemic has weakened the worlds trust in china. Chinas factories deliver products to the entire world but its a police state that brutally beat down the Democracy Movement in hong kong. Is it possible to do business with a country like that. How can you do business with a country thats built large concentration camps in shin junge province to detain wiggers. European companies have to ask themselves who ends up paying the price for doing business in china thats also a factor in the Investment Protection agreement our European Investments really save even if europeans demand more fairness and support for human rights more and more people are beginning to put trade between the e. U. And china to the test. And what about europes biggest economy germany a nation reliant on its exports the chinese make up a huge market for machinery cars and Premium Products made or designed by germans companies that have a lot of basted in the asian powerhouse insists there is only one china but does the german economic or German Economy really rely on the chinese to the extent that some economists would have you believe. As far as to im with you its wrong to say that were dependent on china on its own. If we look at the economic numbers german exports to china are to around 7 percent as important. As considered one of the sharpest critics in germany of chinese economic policies of course is aware the 7 percent of all exports represents a huge portion of the economy. In 29000 it was 96000000000 euro german says in europe around 10 times that around 903000000000 exports to the us 419000000000 euros in many jobs are we creating in china does this mean that. There are varying estimates but its definitely at least a 1000000 and were only talking about jobs directly related to manufacturing and. That if you take into account all the supplier jobs and Service Industry jobs then its a lot more you know as a strong woman so its time to apply pressure to say were creating jobs in china we dont have to put up with everything else. Im fully convinced that we could take a much stronger position towards china because in fact china needs German Companies especially right now. They need German Technology and jobs much more urgently than we need china. As you know. The chinese economy has returned to growth despite the pandemic but National Debt has been increasing for years. In 2019 it reached around 56 percent of gross domestic product. Chinas g. D. P. Has almost tripled in the last 10 years d its debt ratio is still rising alarmingly. At the end of october the Party Leadership wants to toast the agreement of a new 5 year. This is a framework for the distribution of work and money under the communist government. It also determines how much the economy should grow and which companies the chinese make trade with. Me expect from this 5 year plan. The stick figure in effect if i get depends on how the chinese see globalization and how china sees it interdependence in the area of Technological Development and well see whether china relies more on National Technological sovereignty or whether it relies on International Interdependence and the partnerships with europe and the us problem do you think as with the mission with bae and i know its going to be a mixture of both but under she we have to expect a stronger focus on techno nationalism and the temptation will be very strong for china to be more selfsufficient and independent when it comes to innovation that will make life more difficult for german and European Companies there. As for the u. S. The white house is no longer ruling out a complete break with china 1st President Donald Trump imposed billions in customs duties on goods imported from china now washington is quite openly talking about decoupling the American Economy from the chinese one. I think we have to say goodbye to the idea that everything is becoming more interdependent and globalized were in a day globalization phase at the same time its also clear that we cant just push ahead blindly and assume that the situation is going to stay the way it has been and for the German Companies that means facing some difficult choices. Well germany may not be as dependent as you think on china as an export market but the coronavirus has highlighted how dependent multinational corporations and many other Small Businesses are on chinese suppliers spare parts Raw Materials manufacturing and very important right now ingredients for pharmaceuticals as the virus spread abroad and its neighbors close their borders to china whole supply chains fell apart it also hurt the chinese economy as factories closed and people were forced to stay home now things are gradually returning to normal. The beginning of a. Travel season or on national day most people get to record its a high point for beijings cultural sites like with a big city which hosts 14000000 tourists a year. It is also the 1st National Day Holiday since the outbreak of corbett 19 just over half a year ago beijing city center looked very different during the winter beijings heritage sites were shut down because of the epidemic travel restrictions were in place in the whole country. This is usually a bustling commercial street lots of souvenir shops not shops tourists who visit beijing usually come to spend time here today im the only one. And this is what the same things like the late. China has brought the epidemic under control there are virtually no more domestic transmission and people are enjoying a return to normal life. So theyve got. To use have that you know just. Like i. Have there are you see right through that i dont see all. That was not done over there. There are still measures in place people have to use the health and scan the code to register certain locations tourist sites have limited visitor numbers estimates put the number of tourists in china during this season that 550000000 people that would be 2 thirds of last years figure. That if you get that idea that. You know were going to. Know that. Chinas economy has returned to positive growth Government Spending on infrastructure and construction has brought workers back into the city. The growth is still a lot slower than in previous years