The reason that this announcement is noteworthy is that Germany has for years been a major impediment to Europe taking a more aggressive stance toward China on economic issues. Berlin has belatedly come to the conclusion that it has been the victim and target of Beijing’s concerted industrial policy, which is hollowing out Germany’s industrial base, eliminating manufacturing jobs, and undermining its economic independence, just as the country weans itself off Russian energy. To take just a few illustrative data points: Germany is losing ten thousand manufacturing jobs per month due to Chinese imports, and German auto giant Volkswagen plans to cut fifty thousand jobs and close four plants after Chinese EV makers flooded the market with better and cheaper cars. More broadly, Germany’s industrial sector eliminated more than 341,000 jobs in the past seven years, including the loss of one in seven auto jobs.
Source: www.cfr.org
