The insecurity created by the on-and-off U.S. tariff policies has been leading German business operators to call for strengthened multilateral solutions to curb reliance on exports to America, said Oliver Oehms, executive director of the German Chamber of Commerce in China.
Oehms made the remarks in an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) as he attended the Global Trade and Investment Promotion Summit 2025.
The summit, which opened in Beijing on Thursday, witnessed the launch of a Beijing Initiative, calling for further cooperation in the digital era to drive global growth and shared prosperity.
Over 800 representatives of government departments, international organizations, chambers of commerce, associations, trade promotion bodies and enterprises attended the summit.
On this issue of U.S. tariffs, Oehms underscored that German businesses are increasingly turning to China in search of greater stability.
"It definitely has a big impact on global trade relations and for both countries, Germany and China, which have, such a high ratio of both exports and imports, no doubt it will have an economic impact. It's a topic for everyone on the planet, not at least for the German companies operating in the U.S. and these are times of insecurity, not at least when it comes to trade policies. And insecurity is always, let's say, poison or toxic when it comes to taking investment decisions worldwide," he said.
The commerce chamber director also highlighted his expectations that the summit will help yield meaningful outcomes for global businesses.
"We see a very strong commitment from both sides, the new German government and the Chinese leadership towards multilateralism and this is what we need, these strong messages. We know that the two sides, the European Union and the Chinese leadership are talking to each other and we hope that this high level summit will also produce some meaningful and tangible outcomes for us business representatives," he said.
German businesses turn to China as US tariffs create "toxic" environment: commerce chamber head
German businesses turn to China as US tariffs create "toxic" environment: commerce chamber head
