2025 has exposed Germany's dependence on China, as a source of rare earths and as a market and production site for its carmakers and other major industries. Berlin says it's committed to "de-risking" the relationship. But is it serious? Or is it in too deep? As Chancellor Friedrich Merz prepares to visit Xi Jinping in early 2026, Richard Walker sat down with experts Noah Barkin and Clifford Coonan to analyze Germany's options. DW Berlin Briefing newsletter https://www.dw.com/en/berlinbriefing/a-56770271 DW Berlin Briefing on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dw-berlin-briefing-inside-german-politics/id1775699172 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/07Wp4c6w9qVIYmB7JIbFBZ RSS feed DW Berlin Briefing: https://rss.dw.com/xml/podcast_Berlin_Briefing CHAPTERS: 00:00 Dependency diagnosis 03:48 A long story of growth 05:56 Raw materials 08:31 “Liberation Day” 13:41 Export controls 15:38 Rare earth “general licenses” 17:17 China's sluggish economy 19:34 A changing relationship 21:41 Chinese-built VW cars? 24:07 German deindustrialization 26:12 A German Donald Trump? 27:43 Less welcome guests 28:49 Detox-strategy 31:23 Words vs. actions 32:58 Can the EU help? 34:23 Merz' hands-off approach 36:38 The Taiwan contingency 42:36 India as a substitute? 45:10 Merz’ message to companies 46:02 Outro For more news go to: http://www.dw.com/en/ Follow DW on social media: ►Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dwnews ►TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dwnews ►Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deutschewellenews/ ►Twitter: https://twitter.com/dwnews Für Videos in deutscher Sprache besuchen Sie: https://www.youtube.com/dwdeutsch Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/user/deutschewelleenglish?sub_confirmation=1
Why Germany finds it so hard to handle China | Berlin Briefing Podcast
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2025 has exposed Germany's dependence on China, as a source of rare earths and as a market and production site for its carmakers and other major industries. Berlin says it's committed to "de-risking" the relationship. But is it serious? Or is it in too deep? As Chancellor Friedrich Merz prepares to visit Xi Jinping in early 2026, Richard Walker sat down with experts Noah Barkin and Clifford Coonan to analyze Germany's options. DW Berlin Briefing newsletter https://www.dw.com/en/berlinbriefing/a-56770271 DW Berlin Briefing on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dw-berlin-briefing-inside-german-politics/id1775699172 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/07Wp4c6w9qVIYmB7JIbFBZ RSS feed DW Berlin Briefing: https://rss.dw.com/xml/podcast_Berlin_Briefing CHAPTERS: 00:00 Dependency diagnosis 03:48 A long story of growth 05:56 Raw materials 08:31 “Liberation Day” 13:41 Export controls 15:38 Rare earth “general licenses” 17:17 China's sluggish economy 19:34 A changing relationship 21:41 Chinese-built VW cars? 24:07 German deindustrialization 26:12 A German Donald Trump? 27:43 Less welcome guests 28:49 Detox-strategy 31:23 Words vs. actions 32:58 Can the EU help? 34:23 Merz' hands-off approach 36:38 The Taiwan contingency 42:36 India as a substitute? 45:10 Merz’ message to companies 46:02 Outro For more news go to: http://www.dw.com/en/ Follow DW on social media: ►Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dwnews ►TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dwnews ►Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deutschewellenews/ ►Twitter: https://twitter.com/dwnews Für Videos in deutscher Sprache besuchen Sie: https://www.youtube.com/dwdeutsch Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/user/deutschewelleenglish?sub_confirmation=1
