Berlin must learn tough lessons after allowing itself to grow over-reliant on particular countries
The mere fact that German chancellor Olaf Scholz will be the first G7 leader to visit China since the onset of the Covid pandemic when he travels there on Friday speaks volumes.
China became Germany’s single biggest trade partner in 2016 and nearly half of German industrial firms now rely on significant inputs from China, according to a recent survey.
The German Wirtschaftswunder in the latter part of the last century was in many ways a paragon of globalisation as the country became an export-driven powerhouse by drawing on largely Russian energy and selling a good chunk of its wares to China.
But Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the subsequent spike in gas prices and the prolonged, rolling lockdowns in China have taught Berlin some incredibly tough lessons about allowing itself to grow over-reliant on particular countries.