MUNICH : According to the German Federal Statistical Office, Germany’s exports fell by 1.7% year-on-year in 2024, reaching approximately €1.65 trillion ($1.9 trillion). In sharp contrast, Chinese exports rose by 7.1% during the same period, exceeding 25.4 trillion yuan ($3.5 trillion), based on official Chinese statistics.

Industry experts point to growing pressure on German manufacturing as China aggressively expands into traditionally German-dominated sectors. “Chinese competitors are continuing to catch up and are becoming more active in products and industrial sectors where German industry has traditionally been very strong,” said Philipp Bünig, economist and professor at Goethe University Frankfurt and the ZW Mannheim Institute.

In some cases, Chinese firms have already overtaken their German counterparts in key technologies. “They have, in some areas, surpassed the technological capabilities of German competitors,” Bünig noted, particularly in digitization and the rapidly evolving field of generative artificial intelligence.

Jens Borchardt, an industrial expert and partner at Boston Consulting Group, added that Germany’s industrial production has been in decline for the past decade. He warned that energy-intensive sectors like basic chemicals, followed closely by automotive manufacturing, are facing the steepest challenges due to rising energy costs and diminishing global competitiveness.

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