China calls on Germany and EU to be rational after Merz initiative

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday, October 28, called on Germany and the European Union to maintain an objective and rational approach to trade and supply chain issues.

This was Beijing’s response to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s proposal to expand market access between the EU and Asia in order to counter trade restrictions, Reuters reports.

The exchange of statements comes as Brussels increases pressure on Beijing over its trade surplus, while Berlin says it wants to reduce risks without severing ties.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a regular briefing that China strives to ensure the stability and security of global industrial and supply chains. According to him, Beijing hopes that Germany and the EU will become reliable partners and will resolve differences through consultation and dialogue, Reuters reports.

The Chinese state-run newspaper Global Times quoted Guo Jiakun as saying that the economies of China, Germany and the EU are “complementary” to each other, and their industries are “closely interconnected.” He also called on both sides to become “reliable and predictable partners.”

On the same day, China’s commerce minister told the chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade that the EU’s pursuit of economic and trade restrictions has undermined the stability of China-EU supply chains, Reuters reported, citing TradingView. The committee, led by its chair Bernd Lange, is visiting Beijing, Hangzhou and Shanghai from October 27 to 29. According to the European Parliament, its members intend to raise issues of overcapacity, rare earth metals and unequal market access.

On Tuesday, October 27, Merz delivered the 49th Singapore Lecture at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute. This is the first stop on his Asian tour: he will then visit Japan and South Korea. In his speech, he proposed concluding an interregional agreement between the EU and the member countries of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). According to him, the two sides “account for more than a third of world trade,” Reuters reports. He also supported a free trade agreement between the EU and ASEAN — “provided we have enough in common to do it quickly,” The Straits Times reports.

Merz said that abandoning economic ties with China “would be a big mistake” and “would not make us safer or richer.” In his view, Europe and Asia should instead reduce “unhealthy one-sided dependencies” in supply chains, technology and raw materials, Lianhe Zaobao writes. He added that where competition is distorted by systemic overcapacity or restrictions on exports and market access, “countermeasures are needed,” Reuters reports.

The EU’s goods trade deficit with China reached 360 billion euros in 2025, or about 1 billion euros a day, The Straits Times notes. France and Germany proposed a “kill switch” — a mechanism that would allow the EU to quickly close its market to third countries. EU member states supported it. Merz said he hopes this instrument will never have to be used.

“We are opening the toolbox, we are showing it, but we don’t want to use it,” he said in Berlin, The Star reports.