There was a commotion last month when German business leaders learned that the economy ministry was considering screening all company investment going to China as part of a slew of new regulations.
According to Reuters’ sources in the government and a company executive, the investment plan was quickly cancelled.
Senior business executives later resisted in a meeting with Economy Minister Robert Habeck, upset that they hadn’t been fully briefed on ideas to make doing business with China less attractive that might have significant effects on German companies.
Although no decisions were made during the Sept. 21 video chat, two of the participants’ accounts of the meeting shed light on the anxiety felt in German boardrooms regarding the government’s attempt to rebalance its relations with China.
The chief executives of industrial conglomerate Siemens, financial institution Deutsche Bank, and chemicals major BASF were among the executives present at the meeting, according to the two sources.
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