Foreign trade
China conquers market shares in German regular markets
China is increasingly making sharp competition on the home market on the home market. US customs policy could still tighten this.
Chinese manufacturers have also chased market shares in Europe in recent years. According to expectations of a current study, the competitive pressure is likely to increase with high US tariffs. “China tries to export her own overcapacity. Europe is now becoming even more focused on the People’s Republic, since the conditions for sales in the USA deteriorate rapidly,” says the chief economist of the state KfW bank, Dirk Schumacher.
From 2012 to 2024, Chinese exporters had managed to conquer market shares, especially among the most important product groups of German manufacturers. In the other EU member countries, the value of German imports in motor vehicle construction fell from 33 percent to 29 percent. At the same time, imports from China grew from around 1 to 4 percent. In mechanical engineering, Chinese suppliers expanded their share from 7 to 10 percent, while German exports into the EU shrank from 22 to 18 percent. There was a similar development in chemical products.
Export to other EU countries is extremely important for the German economy. Last year around 54 percent of exports went there. For China, the share of the European market has so far only been around 11 percent of exports. According to surveys, the majority of German companies assume that the competitive situation will be tightened.
Communication KfW Study KfW on the competitive situation of China and Germany in the EU market
dpa
Source: Stern
