Trade – China, Geopolitics, and the Global South

Germany’s China Strategy: “Wash me, but don’t make me wet!”

The draft of Germany’s China strategy, which was presented on July 13, vacillates between the demand to checkmate the enemy and the desire to continue reaping the benefits of cooperation – both of which will be expensive in any case. The Federation of German Industries (BDI) immediately demanded that ‘Germany as a business location’ be made more attractive again. And the partners in the Global South courted for the balancing act between ‘risk reduction’ and ‘decoupling’ are predominantly skeptical.

Newsletter 8/December 2021

CONTENTS: Posts: ‘Dual Circulation Strategy’: China’s „new development model“ / Numbers mystique at ChinAfrica Forum // News: Europe’ response to Belt&Road: ‘Global Gateway’ / 20th Anniversary of China’s accession to the World Trade Organisation / Debt debate: Highway to Disinformation? / Frigate ‚Bayern’ demonstrates to Beijing where the hammer is hanging // Readings: Changes in Beijing’s economic involvement: Adaptation and Agency.

Numbers mystique at ChinAfrica Forum

If the ‘8th Forum on China Africa Cooperation’ at the end of November was an indicator of the intensified competition between the United States, Europe and China for Africa, Beijing kept a fairly low profile. The limited media attention given to the meeting, which was scheduled only at the ministerial level, gives the impression that most observers wanted to quickly and graciously spread the cloak of silence over FOCAC8 and its results.

Beijing reports boom in foreign trade

China’s authorities report soaring foreign trade figures, despite of the on-going Corona pandemic. A further shift towards the BRI countries is emerging, a trend that plays into the narrative of the ‘Dual Circulation Strategy’ announced this summer. This “new development model” intends, on the one hand, to further enhance the internal economy, while ‘external circulation’ refers to further integration into the global economy through foreign trade and investments.

RCEP: „Blood, Sweat, and Tears“

When fifteen Asia-Pacific countries signed the free trade agreement RCEP in Mid-November it was an event with exceptional dimensions: It creates an economic zone with a population of 2.2 billion people and around one third of the world’s economic output. There are three of Asia’s four leading economies – China, Japan and South Korea – first time together involved.