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The German Chamber of Commerce Shanghai and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung’s Social and Economic Governance Programme Asia (SOPAS) kindly invite you to discuss recent economic, financial and currency developments in Germany and Europe against the back-ground of the European debt crisis with Dr. Michael Fuchs, Member of the German Bundestag, on 10 July 2012.

Debt crises in Greece and other countries, the fate of the EURO – since 2010 news from Europe have become worse. On the other hand some countries in Europe – especially Germany – show remarkable economic strength and a favourable growth. How is the overall outlook for the European economy? Is the European Union falling apart or will the crisis help to step forward towards a more integrated community? What is Germany’s role and how is its economy affected?

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Interview by the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Shanghai with Dr. Michael Fuchs

In an interview with the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Shanghai, Dr. Michael Fuchs, Vice Chairman of the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group in the German Bundestag, gave an insight on his views on the Euro crisis and the economic relations between Germany and China.

Dr. Fuchs stated, he did not have the slightest doubt about a future for the Euro. However, a collectivization of sovereign debts, for instance by so called Euro bonds, must not be taken into consideration in this endeavour, since those would diminish all stimuli for structural reforms and improvement of national competitiveness. Moreover, the introduction of such collective bonds would lead to considerably higher interest rates for economically successful member states such as the Federal Republic of Germany. Therefore, Germany should stick to the way pursued by the Federal Government, for which especially China shows great respect, as hinted by Dr. Fuchs.

For the German economy and its success – also in times of crisis – China as an export market will remain an important trading partner. However, existing differences, problems and challenges should be kept in mind. For example, a lot of German Small and Medium Enterprises were still reluctant to strengthen their engagement in China out of concerns over plagiarism. Furthermore, there was a lack of well qualified workers. In this respect, a system like the “dual apprenticeship” could become a possible solution, as it was actually already practiced by some German companies in China. Against this background, the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce with its range of services was a indispensible partner for enterprises willing to get involved in China. Concerning future prospects for the Chinese economic development, Dr. Fuchs pointed out, China had to realize that development and success depend on innovation capability, but could not be reached through mere imitation. However, on the other hand, China showed an astonishing ability to cope with rapid structural changes and to realize enormous infrastructural projects in a very short period of time. Regarding the construction of new electric supply networks within the framework of the German energy transition, this could be regarded as a possible role model.