Chancellor Olaf Scholz will go to China amid trade tensions
Chancellor Olaf Scholz travels to China this weekend, walking a fine line in shoring up economic ties with Germany's biggest trading partner at a time when the West is sharpening its tone towards Beijing, AFP reports.
With the economies of both China and Germany currently underperforming on the world stage, Scholz will travel with a bumper delegation of ministers and business executives.
The chancellor will have to balance encouraging words on economic cooperation with the European Union's strident message accusing China of unfair subsidies.
The German leader could also deliver a stern warning to China over its refusal to turn its back on President Vladimir Putin despite Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
China's President Xi Jinping and Scholz will hold talks in the Chinese capital on Tuesday at the conclusion of the trip, which will first take the chancellor to Chongqing and Shanghai.
The three-day tour is Scholz's second since taking office, the first coming in November 2022 with China still applying strict coronavirus rules.
Around 18 months on, the two major world economies are still struggling.
And the lineup of Scholz's delegation underlines his focus -- Volkswagen, Siemens and Bayer will count among bosses of blue-chip firms on the plane, German media reported.
Three cabinet ministers including transport minister Volker Wissing will also be on the tour.
The extended lineup was "really remarkable" and an indication that the emphasis of the trip would be on business ties, said Max Zenglein, chief economist at the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin.
