The intensity of the public discussion surrounding Chancellor Scholz's trip to China has shown the importance of shaping German-Chinese relations for Germany.

This exchange is good because it ensures that a wide range of perspectives flow into the creation of the German government's new China strategy.

This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Germany and China.

During this time, bilateral relations were characterized by ever closer cooperation between the two countries, to the benefit of both parties.

China has achieved tremendous growth, lifted 800 million people out of poverty into a modern middle class and is now the world's second largest economy.

Germany was able to contribute to this development through technological strength, exports and investments.

Above all, however, Germany has developed into a key player in the global economy, has grown strongly and today has one of the highest levels of prosperity in the world.

Our locations in China as well as those all over the world make a significant contribution to our competitiveness.

They give us the opportunity to benefit from the many technological developments in other countries.

At the same time, they are ambassadors of our values ​​and culture and show how German companies around the world treat employees, the environment and supply chains responsibly.

"We're securing jobs"

Of all the markets, China has become the world's second largest and most dynamic over the past 50 years.

That is why our presence there is particularly important in the interests of German economic strength.

Especially today, the enormous potential of the Chinese market gives us the opportunity to scale up faster to larger standards, so that we can then act more successfully in other markets.

In this way, we secure jobs and livelihoods for many people in Germany.

Our global production, research and development locations help us to advance the major social projects that are important to us in Germany and Europe: climate protection, energy transition, infrastructure expansion, progress in digitization, education and training and with it innovation, but also the improvement of our healthcare system in an aging society and finally the expansion of our defence.

Tensions with Taiwan 'must be resolved peacefully'

But we also have to realize that the relationship between the two countries has changed a lot over the past few years.

In view of its development, China is increasingly asserting its position as a world power.

This is illustrated by the worrying tensions in the Taiwan Strait, which must be resolved peacefully.

And the human rights situation in Xinjiang province does not correspond to our values.

It is therefore correct that Germany is now defining its relationship with China in a more differentiated way – along the three dimensions of competition, cooperation and system rivalry.

Bringing this into a forward-looking balance is a difficult but necessary task.

As challenging as it is to achieve this balance, we stand behind it.

But in the current public discussion, we perceive an almost exclusive emphasis on the rivalry of the systems - in words and concrete measures.

“We need to diversify risks”

For our companies, competition is part of everyday business.

That's why we know: In the competition you have to score with your own strengths.

And the stronger we are, the more forcefully we can defend our positions on China.

So the work starts at home.

First, we need to diversify risks such as semiconductors, batteries, raw materials and rare earths.

It is important to get an overview of our dependencies and then prioritize the areas in which these dependencies need to be reduced.

In doing so, we will approach both new and existing partners – in Latin America, Africa and Asia, for example.

And we must massively increase German and European competitiveness.

It is about nothing less than increasing the attractiveness of the EU internal market.