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pects its reputation as an informal EU leader to facilitate its attempts to launch
a more effective policy towards China and create a more favourable business
climate for German companies on the Chinese market. One example of the two
countries’ search for common interests in global matters is their joint position
against the introduction of limits in relation to states which have excessive
trade surpluses, as proposed by the USA at the G20 forum in 2010 76 . Germany
and China, the countries with the world’s largest trade surpluses, strongly
protested against such a move. During talks in Beijing in 2012, Chancellor Angela
Merkel, using the opportunity to refer to good political relations, tried to
persuade China to buy bonds from those EU countries which were at risk of
default. This was interpreted as an initiative in which Germany acted as mediator
in the EU’s relations with China.
As a consequence of the growing expectations of both parties, a mechanism
for German-Chinese inter-governmental consultations was established in
2011. Germany saw China’s consent to carrying out consultations as a confirmation
of its position as China’s most important partner in Europe. According
to the German Chamber of Commerce and Trade, launching a cycle of these
regular meetings will help Germany promote its strategic interests (such as
the improvement of economic cooperation), increase the chances to open up
the Chinese market to German enterprises, limit the barriers to such entry,
and facilitate talks with China on respecting European standards 77 . This form
of cooperation is a novelty to China, and can be seen as an attempt to build bilateral
relations with the most important and attractive EU states at the cost of
the relations with the EU as a whole. During the first inter-governmental consultations
with China, a project for a German-Chinese Partnership for Electromobility
was announced, which suggests that Germany has far-reaching
plans concerning the sale of green technologies on the Chinese market. The
importance of this project is further confirmed by the involvement of several
ministries in both Germany and in China in its implementation 78 . During the
PRACE OSW REPORT OSW 09/2012 11/2013
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K. Popławski, Niemcy bronią swojego eksportowego modelu gospodarczego, BEST OSW, No.
38 (156), Ośrodek Studiów Wschodnich, Warszawa 2010, http://www.osw.waw.pl/pl/publikacje/best/2010-11-17/niemcy-bronia-swojego-eksportowego-modelu-rozwoju-gospodarczego
77
S. Hepperle, Regierungskonsultationen mit China, International Aktuell, Nr 05/2011,
Deutsche Industrie- und Handelkammer, p. 2.
78
Deutsch-Chinesische gemeinsame Erklärung zur Errichtung einer strategischen Partnerschaft
für Elektromobilität, 28.06.2011, http://www.bmwi.de/BMWi/Redaktion/PDF/C-D/
china-deutsch-chinesische-strategische-partnerschaft-elektromobilitaet,property=pdf,b
ereich=bmwi2012,sprache=de,rwb=true.pdf
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