Photo: VCG

Editor's Note:

Following French President Emmanuel Macron's just concluded China trip, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul is visiting the country from Monday to Tuesday. Reports also show that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is preparing to visit China early next year. What should we read into the fresh round of China visits by Europe's officials? Which areas hold the biggest potential for future collaboration between China and Europe? During the 2025 Understanding China Conference held earlier this month in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province, Peter Jungen (Jungen), chairman of Peter Jungen Holding GmbH, as well as an investor in numerous startups in Europe and in the US, shared his views with Global Times (GT) reporter Li Aixin. 

GT: Amid a noticeable rise in high-level European engagement with China, what do you think is the significance of this momentum?

Jungen: These visits always show that there is mutual interest on both sides. A lot of discussions are going on behind the scenes, which is very important. They are also a clear signal of ongoing talks, which show not only respect, but above all the desire to build trust - trust between people. Trust is so important in open markets; you want to do business with people you can trust. And the same applies between governments. I think next year we may see another visit from Germany, and I would definitely recommend that.

When it comes to volume, among EU countries, Germany has the highest trade volume with China.

The first trade agreement between Germany and China was signed in 1957 - between what was then called the German Eastern Committee, a semi-official, private organization of German companies and scientists, and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) on the Chinese side. Now we are talking about over 200 billion euros ($233 billion) annually, so we are on a very positive development path.

GT: Having watched China-Europe relations for decades, how would you assess the change - if any - in Europe's perception of China in recent years?

Jungen: There were changes. There will be changes in the future. I think they are okay - as long as we leave business to the business sector and politics to the politicians. 

It is very important that the China-Europe relationship stays very positive, as it has been actually since the Industrial Revolution, and even before. China and Europe, or Germany, have benefited substantially from a good trading relationship since the first trade agreement between China and Germany was signed at the end of the 1950s. 

When I say leave politics to the politicians and business to the business sector, I very much believe in that. Actually, it's not just a belief; we can prove this. We see from the facts that open markets are not created by politicians deciding who supplies what. Open markets are the key to competition. And competition drives productivity. With increasing productivity, it is the competition between countries that improves the situation, not the other way around. This competition is driven by trade and by the exchange between companies in different markets.

GT: Do you think "leaving politics to the politicians and business to the business sector" is possible and sustainable? Does the trade war suggest that politicians seem unable to resist interfering in business affairs?

Jungen: Politics plays a role, but basically, innovation is the key. Innovation is at the beginning of everything. Innovation requires a free market, free access and it needs fair rules for the players - but then you have to leave the play to the players and not have governments intervening all the time. It's akin to the referee in a soccer game suddenly becoming one of the players.

I know that for many people this sounds difficult, but at the end of the day, it is only open markets and free access to the market through free and fair competition that make people, companies and countries successful. And China is an incredible example of that. 

GT: Can you name one or two sectors in which China and Europe can collaborate in the future with big potential?

Jungen: Sometimes people say trade is complementary - meaning one country does one thing and the other does something completely different, and the two complement each other. There is another theory that says the highest trade volumes actually occur between countries that have very similar economic structures.

I very much believe in the latter. If you look at the trade volume between China and Germany, for example, it has increased as China's productivity has risen. Why has it increased? Because there is huge and growing demand from Chinese companies for German products. When Chinese companies were not yet that sophisticated, there was not much demand from China.

So actually, the more sophisticated countries or economies become, the higher the trade volume. The highest trade in the world is not between countries that are complementary in the traditional sense, but between countries that are playing in the same field. We do not have our highest trade with agricultural countries that supply raw materials to Europe while Germany or Europe supplies machinery. Now, it is the Chinese machinery industry itself that is both a huge importer of machinery and, at the same time, a huge exporter.

Therefore, I think the more similar countries become in their economic level and structure, the higher the trade value. There is no way to restrict it. We can build on our respective strengths.

GT: Recently, in the Financial Times, an article said there is nothing that China wants to import, nothing it does not believe it can make better and cheaper, nothing for which it wants to rely on foreigners a single day longer than it has to. The headline was China is making trade impossible. What's your take?

Jungen: Chinese people wish for a larger share of the GDP, and they want to have a higher income. And if they want to have a higher income, which means you're becoming more costly, then maybe some of the neighboring countries of China will take over. This means many manufacturing processes may no longer take place in China in the future.

So I wouldn't worry about the Chinese playing the market with low costs, as Chinese people make their point very clearly understood: they want to share in the wealth.

China is talking about well-being for everybody. It reminded me of the title of a book that was published in the 1950s in Germany by Ludwig Erhard. In German, it is Wohlstand für alle, meaning "prosperity for all." What the Chinese leadership said resonated very much with me as it very similar to the title of this book.