Müller stated, "China is the world's largest automobile market, especially in the field of electric vehicles, where the influence of the Chinese market is particularly significant. The success experience of the Chinese market is crucial for driving industrial scale development, promoting internationalization of electric mobility, and achieving global climate goals."
"China has become a globally highly regarded innovation hub, and in the field of electric vehicles, China is a strong competitor for us. This competition makes the industry increasingly dynamic and innovative," Müller said. "We are very willing to compete with China in this area. It is because of this competition that we can promote each other, learn together, and contribute to the development of the automotive industry in China and Germany for the world."
"China is the world's largest automobile market, accounting for over a quarter of global car sales, and especially in the field of electric vehicles, the influence of the Chinese market is particularly significant," said Hildegard Müller, President of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), at the 18th Beijing International Automotive Exhibition. "The scale of China's electric vehicle market has exceeded the combined total of the European and American markets. The success experience of the Chinese market is crucial for driving industrial scale development, promoting internationalization of electric mobility, and achieving global climate goals."
"China has become a globally highly regarded innovation hub, and China is a strong competitor for us in the field of electric vehicles. This competition makes the industry increasingly dynamic and innovative," Müller said. "We are very willing to compete with China in this area, and it is because of this that we can promote each other, learn together, and contribute to the development of the automotive industry in China and Germany for the world."
Regarding the EU's initiation of tariffs on Chinese electric cars, Müller stated, "I do not support the implementation of such anti-subsidy taxes and hope that both sides can resolve this through better dialogue. It is not meaningful to intentionally create trade conflicts."
She further analyzed that the German Association of the Automotive Industry hopes for an open and fair market without any form of regional protectionism, and she hopes that the EU will reopen dialogue with China as soon as possible. "Additional tariffs and other anti-subsidy measures cannot solve the challenges faced by the European and German automotive industries. On the contrary, the European Commission's imposition of anti-subsidy tariffs may quickly have a negative impact in trade conflicts. Therefore, we need to formulate a positive industry strategy, including positive trade policies. In this context, we also need to explore ways to leverage Germany's advantages as an industrial country, explore new markets, rely on innovation, and promote the prosperity and development of the German economy."
"Fairness is very important for the future trade relations between China and Germany, and only through constructive proposals or cooperation can both sides jointly address global issues," Müller said. "We need globalization rather than deglobalization and must adhere to the principles of global free trade, open markets, rule-based order, and globalization. The EU must once again take these ideas as guiding principles for formulating economic policies to maintain its international position. When necessary, it should maintain independence while remaining as open as possible, pursuing globalization and marketization."
It is worth noting that recently, China and Germany signed a joint statement of intent on cooperation in the field of autonomous and connected driving, which Müller considers a very good example of cooperation. Through globally unified regulations and relatively unified standards, differences between countries can be minimized, which is beneficial for the development of the global automotive industry.
Müller stated that China is a very important trading partner for Germany and also a very important sales market. From the perspective of the entire value chain, both sides have a very important position. There are 5,000 German companies in China, creating over a million jobs for China. In the automotive sector, Germany has 350 bases in China, and overall, German automotive companies have the most investments in China.
Regarding Chinese car manufacturers planning to enter the German and European markets, Müller said, "Any company that can provide benefits to the German people and create jobs is very welcome, and we also hope that German companies will be equally welcomed in other countries."
