China has overtaken the US as Germany’s top trading partner, figures have shown, as the chancellor, Friedrich Merz, prepares for his first visit to Beijing since taking office.
Merz will head to China on Tuesday and will be welcomed with military honours on Wednesday in Beijing by the prime minister, Li Qiang, before later meeting the president, Xi Jinping, for talks over dinner, his spokesperson Sebastian Hille said.
Germany’s Federal Statistical Office released figures on Friday showing that China was back on top as the country’s most important market with €251bn (£219bn) in trade in 2025, up 2.2% on 2024, when the US was the country’s leading export destination.
Germany imported goods worth about €170.6bn from China in 2025, more than double the value of exports from Germany to China, which stood at €81.3bn.
Trade with the US was worth €240bn, with Donald Trump’s controversial tariffs partly a potential factor in the 5% drop in trade.
Hill said that during the two-day trip to China Merz would also visit the Forbidden City, the Chinese company Unitree Robotics, the German car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz and the turbine maker Siemens Energy. He will also visit the city of Hangzhou in eastern China.
Merz is expected to raise a number of topics during his visit, including the war in Ukraine, human rights and trade.
The EU is struggling to limit China’s overheating manufacturing with tariffs on electric vehicles imported to the EU introduced in 2024 having little impact on sales and tariffs threatened on steel later this year through steel safeguards.
Germany’s relationship with China on trade is complex, with car companies having a significant manufacturing presence in the country. Volkswagen has referred to it as a “second home market” and BMW and Mercedes-Benz are also heavily reliant on sales in the country for their economic success.
The BMW chief executive, Oliver Zipse, will be one of 30 business representatives to accompany Merz on the trip. “Complex global challenges can only be solved by working together,” Zipse told Reuters. “With his trip to China, the chancellor is sending a strong signal for dialogue and cooperation.”
The EU wants to derisk and has introduced several initiatives to wean itself off China, which dominates supplies of rare earths, processed rare earths, critical minerals and refined critical minerals, including lithium needed for EV batteries, and permanent magnets used in everything from cars and fridges to military jets.
Germany’s need to support the car industry, one of the country’s biggest employers, has made its approach to barriers to Chinese imports less black and white.
It voted against an EU decision to introduce tariffs on Chinese EVs in 2024 and this month was spared EU tariffs on imports of the Chinese-built Volkswagen Cupra Tavascan SUV in exchange for undertakings on the minimum price of the vehicle.
