Only a few days after the trip of France's head of state Macron and EU Commission President von der Leyen, Foreign Minister Baerbock is expected to hold talks in the People's Republic of China. The German government has already announced on several occasions that it will publish its China strategy, the elaboration of which was already anchored in the coalition agreement. It is currently unclear whether the final version of the paper will be completed before the German-Chinese government consultations, which are expected to take place in Berlin in June. Last year, a first draft of the strategy had already become known.
It is to be expected that Baerbock will follow the hard line of the EU Commission President von der Leyen towards Beijing. The draft of the China strategy, which has already been leaked, advocates reducing critical dependencies from China. However, both politicians have repeatedly spoken out against an economic decoupling from China. For years, China has been Germany's and the EU's most important bilateral trading partner.
The article provides an overview of the issues that are likely to play a role in the Foreign Minister's visit. It also raises the question of how German policy can be placed in the context of Macron and von der Leyen's visit in Beijing.
The full-length publication is only available in German.
