[Stakeholders Only] After Scholz’s Visit, What’s Next for Sino-German Relations?

Scholz’s visit to China was the first of G7 country leaders in almost three years. The businesslike ‘flash visit’, as Chinese media described it, sent out a clear message that it is not in Germany’s interest to decouple with the world’s largest market. A chasm opened up, meanwhile, between Germany and its Western allies, who accused Germany of ‘unilateral diplomacy’. And while the Chinese government expressed their excitement to see the ‘pragmatic attitude’ of Germany, many observers in the country remain skeptical about Germany’s stance on the war in Ukraine.

The EU SME Centre and the European Chamber are pleased to invite experts in our next policy meeting to discuss the outlook for Sino-German political and economic relations. The meeting will take place on 13 December from 16:00 to 17:30 Beijing Time, offline at the European Chamber Beijing office and online. The meeting will be off-the-record and held under Chatham House rules.

Agenda

16:00-16:05 Opening remarks

16:05-17:05 Expert Dialogue Moderated by Ester Cañada Amela, Senior Business Manager for European Affairs, European Union Chamber of Commerce in China and EU SME Centre

• Stefan Gätzner, Chief Representative Greater China, BDI (Federation of German Industries)
• Song Xin, former EU-China Relations Advisor, European Parliament
• Bernhard Bartsch, Director External Relations, Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS)

17:05-17:30 Q&A

How to Register

This is a closed meeting open to consortium partners’ management and relevant stakeholders of EU SME Centre Phase IV including European embassies, consulates, EU-funded projects and secretariat/board members from European chambers or business associations only. If you meet the criteria, please register before 12 December COB by email to Ms Susana Xu or to Ms Queenie Cheng.

Speakers

Bernhard Bartsch Director External Relations, MERICS

Bernhard Bartsch is Director External Relations of MERICS. He oversees MERICS’s membership program, stakeholder management, fellowships, events and strategic convening. His research focuses on German and European China policy, economic and business relations, China’s role as a global actor and scenario planning. Before joining MERICS, Bernhard headed the Asia Program at Bertelsmann Stiftung, where he published numerous studies and established various strategy development and conference formats. From 1999 to 2013, Bernhard lived in Beijing, working as East Asia Correspondent for major German-language media, including Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Wirtschaftswoche, Frankfurter Rundschau and the business magazine brand eins. Bernhard studied sinology, economics, politics and journalism in Hamburg, Beijing and London.

Song Xin 宋欣 Founder of Sinnvoll Consulting; Former Policy Advisor at the European Parliament

Song Xin is the founder of Sinnvoll Consulting, a columnist for FT Chinese and a CGTN commentator for both English and French channels. She used to serve as EU-China relationship advisor to the President of the European Parliament Delegation for the Relations with China. She has been engaged in multiple EU-China cooperation dialogues and projects, including EU-China Inter-Parliamentary Dialogues, EU-China Energy Cooperation, China-EU School of Law, China-Germany Industrial Park, etc. In 2018, she was elected as one of the EU-China Young Leaders and participated in the EU-China Summit and Hamburg Summit. Ms. Song graduated from the École Normale Supérieure de Lyon and Sciences Po Lyon. She was also a researcher at the French Academy of Sciences, the University of Würzburg and the University of Helsinki, specialized in the EU integration process, non-EU companies’ globalization strategies in the EU market.

宋欣是欣孚咨询创始人、FT中文网专栏作家和CGTN英文和法语频道特邀嘉宾。作为前欧洲议会中欧关系政策顾问，她曾长期为欧盟议会对华关系代表团主席提供中欧政策分析。她多次深度参与中欧之间的战略合作，包含中欧议会间交流、中欧能源合作、中欧法学院、中德产业园等。于2018年当选为中欧青年领袖，参与中欧最高级别的中欧峰会与中欧汉堡峰会。同年当选博世基金会校友会全球大使。她毕业于法国高等师范学院于里昂政治学院，曾经在法国科学研究院、德国维尔茨堡大学和芬兰赫尔辛基大学从事欧盟一体化研究、第三国企业在欧盟市场的全球化战略研究。

Stefan Gätzner Chief Representative Greater China, BDI (Federation of German Industries)

Stefan Gätzner is Chief Representrative for the BDI – Federation of German Industries in Greater China since the beginning of 2019. Before taking over the office of the BDI in Beijing he was editor-in-chief of a bilingual German-Chinese business magazine. Mr. Gätzner has extensive experience in Sino-German economic relations and has worked for the German Chamber of Commerce in Beijing as Head of Marketing. He also has a professional background in the financial service industry. Having studied at the Peking University among others he speaks fluently Chinese.