China reclaims spot as Germany's top trading partner

As Germany recalibrates its economic ties with China, government officials and business leaders said on Tuesday that stability in bilateral ties is essential for sustaining trade flows and reinforcing supply chain resilience across global markets.

As German Chancellor Friedrich Merz visits China on Wednesday and Thursday with a business delegation, they said that a sound partnership can create space for collaboration in renewable energy, artificial intelligence and trade in services, underscoring the strategic weight of Sino-German engagement amid shifting global trade dynamics.

Amid growing protectionism and geopolitical uncertainty, China took over from the United States to become Germany's largest trading partner in 2025, according to Germany's Federal Statistical Office, or Destatis.

Destatis said that China-Germany trade totaled 251.8 billion euros ($296.75 billion) in 2025, rising 2.1 percent year-on-year, while trade with the US fell 5 percent on a yearly basis.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce said that as China embarks on the first year of its 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period, the country welcomes German companies to seize the new opportunities arising from China's high-standard opening-up.

"They are encouraged to consolidate cooperation in traditional sectors while tapping the potential of emerging fields such as clean energy, embodied artificial intelligence, biotechnology and industrial digitalization, turning opportunities into tangible outcomes," the commerce official said in a statement on Tuesday.

The spokesperson said that China stands ready to work with Germany to enhance mutual understanding and trust through dialogue and communication, uphold free trade, and safeguard the rules-based multilateral trading system.

Against a backdrop of recurring political talk of "de-risking", businesses in the real economy remain guided by commercial logic, said Liu Ying, a researcher at Renmin University of China's Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies in Beijing.

"In response to growing protectionist pressures, German firms are increasingly deepening cooperation with China to enhance supply chain resilience and long-term competitiveness," said Liu.

Recent trade data further illustrate the scale and complexity of bilateral economic ties. China's exports to Germany totaled $118.27 billion last year, up 10.5 percent year-on-year, statistics from China's General Administration of Customs showed.

Zheng Chunrong, director of the German Studies Center at Tongji University in Shanghai, said that from the German perspective, the widening trade deficit reflects not only the depth of economic ties between the two countries, but also Germany's strong reliance on the Chinese market.

Business leaders said that addressing these concerns will require deeper structural cooperation, including improved market access, reciprocal investment and the development of more balanced value chains.

Martin Hofmann, chairperson of the German Chamber of Commerce in China – North China, said that sophisticated partnerships with Chinese companies, together with a third wave of localization focusing on research and development and its speed of industrialization, have become key response mechanisms for German companies in China to strengthen their market position and drive not only local but also global innovation leadership.

zhongnan@chinadaily.com.cn