Germany says Europe is open to Chinese cars but will not accept any compensation

Shanghai
Reuters
—

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke to a group of students in Shanghai on Monday, advocating for an open and fair European market for Chinese cars, while warning against dumping, overproduction and intellectual property violations.

Mr. Scholz is visiting China along with three cabinet ministers and several key German officials, and signs are being closely watched for how Europe will respond to the dumping of Chinese products on the market.

“One day there will be Chinese cars in Germany and Europe as well. The only thing that must always be clear is that competition must be fair,” Scholz told students at Shanghai’s Tongji University. Ta.

“In other words, there’s no dumping, there’s no overproduction, there’s no copyright infringement,” Scholz said, adding that it’s important to allow companies to set up local production facilities without bureaucratic hurdles. he added.

“That’s why whenever I’m in China and say a level playing field, of course we want there to be no restrictions on companies,” he said.

Scholz also said that small countries should not live in fear of large powers and should not use force to change their borders, but did not mention China by name.

Mr. Scholz is scheduled to meet with President Xi Jinping on Tuesday and ask him questions about China’s support for Russia’s wartime economy, two years after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.

The German government and German companies are also wary of the possibility of future conflict over Taiwan.

“One of these principles is that we should not be afraid of our neighbors,” he told the students, likening global values ​​and relations between nations to neighborly relations.

“We want that in our lives. If our neighbor is big, strong, muscular, we always say hello and we know he will never hurt us. I want to be sure of that.”