'De-risking' should not be de-sinicization: China Daily editorial

China and Germany are different in many ways, but that has not prevented the two countries from forging a very productive economic and trade partnership over the past decades that has served both sides well.

Although there have at times been issues that might have derailed ties, a long-standing consensus on the significance of a generally healthy overall relationship has prevented bilateral ties from going off track. Amid the current geopolitical headwinds against China, however, that consensus appears shaky on the German side, as economic and trade pragmatism increasingly gives way to rising Cold War thinking.

According to German newspaper Handelsblatt, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck is planning to follow the United States' lead and propose similar investment controls to limit alleged Chinese influence in Germany.

Like Annalena Baerbock, minister for foreign affairs and a fellow Green Party member, Habeck has been a proactive advocate of reducing his country's "dependencies" on China. When such a tendency goes beyond the actual needs of guaranteeing supply chain resilience, however, such "de-risking" is more and more like indiscriminate politicization, and endangers bilateral economic and trade ties.

After United States President Joe Biden issued the executive order on US investment controls in key technology sectors in "countries of concern", among which China was identified, the White House declared it would consult and coordinate with allies on the matter. Habeck's reported plan responds to Washington's call. But blindly following the US lead in abusing national security concerns in economic and trade matters is not in Germany's interests as he and his like-minded colleagues claim.

Reportedly, the plan involves investment audit legislation to increase scrutiny over foreign investment from non-EU origins such as China, in a bid to dramatically upgrade and expand the scope of government oversight. The focus will be on key technology sectors such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, cyber security, as well as infrastructure.

If such a move is finally taken, it will no doubt deal a further blow to China-Germany economic and trade relations, rendering some otherwise mutually beneficial investment impossible.

The proposed controls have already raised concerns within the German business community as German investment in China continues increasing even under the present circumstances. After all, Beijing will not sit idle while Berlin one-sidedly tries to reshape the economic and trade relationship between the two countries in Germany's favor. Not to mention such a move undermines German interests in the first place.

Beijing is attaching great importance to the development in Germany because it would likely set a very bad precedent as the European Union and the United Kingdom are deliberating on similar moves.