Germany is increasingly dependent on China when it comes to critical goods from batteries to antibiotics, with nearly all the country's imported solar panels sourced from China, according to a study released on Tuesday.
Some two-thirds of direct imports of lithium-ion batteries measured by weight came from China last year, up from just under 50% two years earlier, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom found, citing preliminary figures from the German statistical office.
The share of Chinese solar panel imports rose from about 89% to just under 93%, while that of antibiotics rose from just over 65% to around 73%, the foundation, which is affiliated with the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP), said.
“In critical areas of all places, Germany is not diversifying but is becoming even more dependent - and thus even more vulnerable,” said study author Frederic Spohr, who heads the foundation's Taiwan and South Korea offices.
Spohr noted that the previous centre-left government had issued a new China strategy in 2023, which aims to reduce economic dependence from Beijing.
Economy Minister Katherina Reiche is expected to visit China on Wednesday.
The Chinese share of imports also grew for metals such as magnesium, gallium, and germanium, according to the study.
Meanwhile, China almost exclusively provides some of the rare earth elements that Germany needs for permanent magnets in electric motors, the foundation said.
Although China’s share of total rare earth imports has declined, the value of those imports has risen, the foundation said in its analysis, which focuses solely on direct imports from China, not on shipments from third countries containing Chinese-made intermediate products.
