2023.11.14

• Europe & Americas

Germany’s China strategy is epoch-making but ambiguous by Takumi Itabashi (Geoeconomic Briefing)

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gave a keynote speech to the Mercator Institute for China Studies and the European Policy Center on March 30, outlining her vision for a new de-risking approach to the European Union’s relations with China. De-risking is different from decoupling as it can be described as an approach of reducing excessive reliance on China in key fields while cooperating with Beijing on issues such as climate change. Nevertheless, this doesn’t imply that the EU has made any specific decisions regarding its China strategy. In this context, Germany, which likely plays a key role in determining Europe’s China strategy, unveiled its 64-page strategy on China in German, English and Mandarin on July 13.