China is second to the US as Germany’s top commercial partners.
The cargo ship 'Cosco Shipping Gemini' belonging to the Chinese transporting company 'Cosco' is filled at the container terminal 'Tollerort' in the port of Hamburg, Germany.
Reuters/File Germany's largest dealing partner in the first half of 2024 was the United States, not China, as preliminary data from the German Statistics Office shows. This development is in line with Berlin's efforts to lessen its reliance on Beijing in the face of a robust U.S. financial system.
Based on Reuters' calculations according to the statistics, Germany's imports and exports to the greatest economy in the world came to almost 127 billion euros ($139 billion) from January to June, while China's total was 122 billion euros.
China remained Germany's top partner for a few hundred million dollars for the eighth consecutive year, but the U.S. had already surpassed China in the first quarter.
With Beijing being accused of "unfair practices" and citing political disagreements as reasons, Germany has stated that it intends to reduce its exposure to China; however, it has not specified what steps it will take in terms of policy.
Germany's exports have increased thanks to the durability of the U.S. economy, according to Lola Machleid, commerce worldwide specialist at the German Association of Industry and Commerce (DIHK), who spoke with Reuters.
Over the course of the six months, German exports to the United States rose by 3.3% to almost 81 billion euros, while exports to China decreased by over 3% to little over 48 billion euros. China's imports decreased by nearly 8% to 73.5 billion euros, while the United States' imports decreased by 3.4% to 46.1 billion euros, helped by the availability of energy-related goods.
It's hard to foresee how this close race will play out given the current geopolitical unpredictabilities and the unpredictable trajectory of economic development, not only in the United States and China but also here in Germany," Machleid added.
