Armin Hohenadler

The EU has commissioned studies to keep negotiators informed of the current trade picture, including: in January 2019, the influential Federal Federation of German Industry (BDI), which has silently criticized China for years over fears that its members would become the target of Chinese retaliation, moved up a gear and issued a highly critical report. She described China as a „systemic competitor“ and rejected the idea that the country was moving towards a more open and liberal model of government. The report was all the more surprising as it followed a series of strategic concessions made by the Chinese government to companies such as BASF, BMW and Allianz. These concessions should silence European discontent that Xi was unable to deliver on his promises to open up the Chinese market at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2017. About 73 percent said Germany should remain neutral, 6 percent favored China, and only 10 percent said they should side with the United States, well below the level recorded in France, Italy, Spain, and major countries in Eastern and Northern Europe. . . .