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China biggest foreign investor in Germany

China was the top foreign investor in Germany last year, ahead of the United States, Switzerland and France, the government development agency Germany Trade & Invest said on Thursday.

Published: 15 March 2012 14:32 CET

China biggest foreign investor in Germany

Not a takeover, but Dietfurt's 'Chinese Fasching' day last month. Photo: DPA

China invested in 158 projects, while the US invested in 110, Switzerland in 91 and France in 53, GTAI said in a statement.

Nevertheless, Europe combined accounted for around half of total foreign investment in Germany, the agency added.

One in five investment projects – most of which involved the establishment of new sites in Germany – was in the mechanical engineering or automotive sectors and 13 percent were in new technologies, while renewable energy accounted for around six percent of projects.

Earlier this week, Chinese automotive supplier Heibei Lingyun Industrial Group Corporation agreed to buy Kiekert, a German maker of latch systems for cars.

And in January, Chinese construction equipment giant Sany Heavy Industry acquired Putzmeister, a German family-owned engineering firm, in what was described as one of the biggest deals in the so-called “Mittelstand” sector that makes up the backbone of the German economy.

AFP/hc

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China derides Copenhagen democracy meet as 'political farce'

Demonstrators gathered outside the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday. Photo: Emil Helms/Ritzau Scanpix

The Copenhagen Democracy Summit was held Monday and Tuesday in the Danish capital and organised by the Alliance of Democracies, an organisation targeted by Beijing sanctions in March and founded by former NATO boss Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

In addition to Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen and Hong Kong democracy activist Nathan Law, Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod also participated in the forum by video link, which Beijing said violated “the one-China principle.”

“This summit is a political farce,” the Chinese embassy in Denmark wrote in a statement published on Tuesday. “Inviting those who advocate Taiwan and Hong Kong ‘independence’ to the meeting violates the one-China principle and interferes in China’s internal affairs,” it said.

“Some hypocritical western politicians are good at meddling in other countries’ internal affairs and creating divisions and confrontation in the name of ‘democracy’ and ‘freedom’. They are bound to fail,” it added.

At the conference on Monday, Kofod said it was “deplorable” that Beijing had imposed sanctions on 10 European individuals and organisations in response to EU sanctions on Xinjiang officials over their actions against the Uyghur Muslim minority.

Like most countries, Denmark applies the one-China principle — under which Beijing bars other countries from having simultaneous diplomatic relations with Taipei — though it does maintain relations with Taiwan.

Cut off politically from the rest of China since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the territory is self-governing but is not recognised by
the United Nations.

Beijing considers Taiwan a rebel province that will one day return under its control, by force if necessary.

China’s sabre-rattling has increased considerably over the past year, with fighter jets and nuclear-capable bombers breaching Taiwan’s air defence zone on a near-daily basis.

“Our government is fully aware of the threats to regional security, and is actively enhancing our national defence capabilities to protect our
democracy,” Tsai told the conference in a video address on Monday. US President Joe Biden is expected to present his China strategy soon, as
calls mount for him to publicly commit to defending Taiwan militarily in the event of a Chinese attack.

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