Germany was one of the first Western countries to enter the Chinese market, with Volkswagen acting as a torchbearer after the ‘opening up’ in 1978. Germany contributed greatly to China’s development of its High-Speed Rail (#HSR<\/a>) network. Over the years, Germany has enjoyed a trade surplus with China, which ranks as Germany’s top trade partner with a bilateral trade volume of about EUR 250 billion in 2025. Since 2020, China managed to tilt the balance of trade in its favor, and in 2025, the trade deficit is approaching EUR 100 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n Merz was accompanied by a delegation of about 30 German captains of industry, representing Siemens, Bosch, DHL, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen, to name a few. According to China’s Minister of Commerce, the two sides signed about a dozen agreements involving cooperation in agriculture, sports, climate change and media. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The largest deal is an order for an additional 120 #Airbus<\/a> passenger jets. Notably, Germany carries out final assembly for the globally popular A320 family in Hamburg. Airbus has more than 50,000 employees spread across its 27 sites in Germany, representing one-third of the global Airbus workforce. On the other hand, Airbus has 10 sites in China, with a total employee count of about 2,500. The largest site is the Airbus Final Assembly Line facility in Tianjin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The EU imposed anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese-made cars, and electric vehicles (#EV<\/a>) in particular. China has moved some manufacturing to Europe and Macron underscored the need for Europe to provide market access in exchange for technology transfer and local content. In that context, Bosch and Nio signed a cooperation agreement to partner on technologies for electric vehicles and rechargeable batteries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Merz](\"https:\/\/gbc1.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Merz-02W-jpg.webp\")