Participation in activities related to the German Parliament
On 16th November, at the invitation of the German CDU/CSU Parliament, CEDPR's expert team attended the "Strategic Partners for the Indo-Pacific Region" conference held in the German Bundestag, where they delivered speeches and participated in the discussion on China-Europe trade and commerce and China-US relations with a large number of German parliamentarians, policy makers, embassy officials, representatives of multinational corporations, and experts of think tanks and other elites.
Germany has important economic and security interests with Australia, India, Japan, New Zealand and Korea. As a Pacific Rim country, China has considerable influence in the region. For Germany and Europe, China is defined as a "co-operative partner", an "economic competitor" and an "institutional opponent". China's voice is therefore crucial. While the US and Chinese heads of state meet during the APEC meeting in San Francisco, the European Union and China are also planning to hold a summit from 7 December to 8 December 2023, when EU Commission President Von der Leyen and European Council President Michel will travel to China to hold face-to-face talks with Chinese leaders, it is learnt. Against this backdrop, this conference, which focuses on the theme of "Strategic Partnership in the Indo-Pacific Region", aims to further understand the relationship between China, Germany and Europe, and to increase the depth and breadth of the discussions, which will have an important impact.
Friedrich Merz MdB, Chairman of the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group in the German Bundestag, gave a welcoming speech to the conference. The President of the European Commission, Mr von der Leyen, delivered a keynote speech on "Strengthening Economic Security in Europe".
A panel of CEDPR experts took part in a seminar on "Interdependence in the Global Economy" with Ola Kallenius, CEO of Mercedes-Benz, and Scott Kennedy, Senior Advisor at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), USA. The Bundestag's CDU is the largest parliament in the world. Julia Klckner MdB, Chairman of the Working Group on Economic Affairs of the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group in the German Bundestag, moderated the seminar.
CEDPR experts said in their speeches that China's economic and trade is an important part of the world's economic and trade ecosystem, and that "delinking" or "de-risking" China will damage the ecosystem of global economic and trade symbiosis and co-prosperity. Treating China as a "partner", "competitor" and "systematic opponent" is like lighting up green, yellow and red traffic lights at the same time, which will make enterprises feel at a loss when launching trade. China and Germany are important partners in the world's economic and trade ecosystem. Germany's exports of goods and services to China account for 3 per cent of Germany's GDP - the highest figure in Europe, and more than double that of France, Italy and Spain. China and Germany have vast opportunities for co-operation. Therefore, China should not be regarded as an object of "de-risking", but rather as an object of "de-risking" in the face of crises such as climate change and pandemics, and in the face of these global challenges, China, the United States, and Europe can work together to take action.
In addition, a seminar on "Trade and Co-operation in the Indo-Pacific Region" was held. The panellists were Hidenao Yanagi, Ambassador of Japan to Germany, Stefan Hartung, Chairman of the Executive Board of Robert Bosch GmbH, and Cora jungblush, Senior Specialist for China and the Asia-Pacific at the Bertelsmann Foundation, while Thomas Erndl MdB, Member of the Diplomatic Council, moderated the seminar.
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany (Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands, abbreviated as CDU in German), or CDU for short, is one of the largest political parties in the Federal Republic of Germany, having formed a sister party with the CSU in 1947. It is one of the largest political parties in the Federal Republic of Germany. Former Chancellor Angela Merkel was re-elected as party president in December 2009, and in December 2013, she was re-elected for a second term. The current President of the European Commission, Mr von der Leyen, is also a member of the party.
As a leading international think tank in China, CEDPR regularly carries out international research and exchange activities, attends highly influential international forums and participates in dialogues, which builds up a bridge and permanent mechanism for communication between China and foreign countries, and gives full play to the role of two-track diplomacy of think tanks. From 11 July to 13 July 2022, the CEDPR think tank expert team visited Germany for the first time during the epidemic; from 7 November to 8 November 2022, the CEDPR expert team went to Berlin again to carry out a two-track diplomacy visit, and had in-depth discussions and dialogues with a number of think tanks, dignitaries and scholars, to break down prejudices and find a way out for the future together.