Economic and trade cooperation

Apart from stable political relationship, China and Germany share strong trade and economic ties, with both economies becoming highly complementary.

Bilateral trade

Germany has been China’s largest trading partner in Europe for 42 years. And in 2016, China for the first time became the biggest trading partner of Germany.

The bilateral trade volume reached $168.1 billion in 2017 with year-on-year growth of 11.1 percent.

China’s economic restructuring and its booming market keeps on creating opportunities for German enterprises, while Germany’s advanced facilities and managerial experience can in turn assist China’s industrial upgrading.

Investment

Germany is Europe’s biggest investor in China. By the end of 2017, Germany directly invested in 9,781 projects in China, and the German side invested $29.72 billion in areas such as automobile, chemical industry, power generation equipment, transportation, steel, communication, etc.

According to China’s Ministry of Commerce, China has invested over $10.12 billion in Germany’s non-financial projects by the end of 2017. In 2017, China’s non-financial direct investment to Germany rose $2.28 billion.