China, Germany aim for a steady progress in economic cooperation

WASHINGTON, April 15, (AP): Consumer sentiment about the U.S. economy has ticked down but remains near a recent high, with Americans’ outlook largely unchanged this year.

The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index, released Friday in a preliminary version, slipped to 77.9 this month, down from March’s figure of 79.4. Sentiment is about halfway between its all-time low, reached in June 2022 when inflation peaked, and its pre-pandemic averages. The survey has been conducted since 1980.

“Consumers are reserving judgment about the economy in light of the upcoming election, which, in the view of many consumers, could have a substantial impact on the trajectory of the economy,” said Joanne Hsu, director of the consumer survey.

The index had dropped to 61.3 as recently as November before jumping in the following two months by the most in more than three decades. It has since moved mostly sideways.

Stronger consumer optimism can sometimes translate into more spending, which typically boosts the economy. Most economists expect consumer spending to remain healthy as long as the job market stays strong.

“Looking beyond the recent minor monthly volatility, sentiment remains on a rising trend,” Oren Klachkin, an economist at Nationwide, said in a research note. “It’s still a positive environment for the consumer.”

Among the respondents to the survey, sentiment fell the most among Republicans. Among independents, it edged down, and it rose slightly among Democrats. Americans’ economic views have become more driven by political partisanship in recent decades.

An increase in gas prices likely contributed to the decline in consumers’ outlook, according to Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. The average national price of a gallon of gas has jumped about 7% from a month ago, according to AAA, to $3.63 a gallon.

Americans’ perceptions of future inflation also rose, probably reflecting still-high prices. Consumers expect inflation to be 3.1% a year from now, which would exceed the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. Still, that would be below the current level of 3.5%.

BERLIN, April 15, (Xinhua): In January, German company Beumer Group settled in Taicang, Jiangsu Province, marking the arrival of the 500th German enterprise in this eastern Chinese city.

At the inauguration ceremony held in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Beumer CEO Rudolf Hausladen said the company has conducted very positive dialogues with Taicang and the local government is always responsive to their needs and supportive. “We are full of expectations for our development in the Chinese market, which possesses many growth opportunities,” said Hausladen.

The strip and wire provider KernLiebers, one of the first German businesses settled in Taicang, recalled its entry in 1993 with an investment of 500,000 German marks, only six employees, and a 400-square-meter factory house. Now it possesses 70,000 square meters of factories with an annual output value of 1.5 billion yuan (about 207.3 million U.S. dollars), accounting for the largest proportion of its global footprint. Thirty-one years on, the Chinese “hometown of German enterprises” has growingly been the epitome of the economic and trade cooperation between China and Germany, witnessing a more open Chinese market sharing development dividends with the world.

Joining hands

A report from the German Economic Institute shows that the total direct investment by German companies in China reached a record high of 11.9 billion euros (about 12.7 billion U.S. dollars) in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 4.3 percent. The value accounted for over 10 percent of Germany’s total overseas investment, the highest level since 2014.

More than 5,000 German enterprises have taken root in China and the Chinese

market is of great significance to them, said Maximilian Butek, chief representative of the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce Shanghai.

Taicang is home to one-tenth of German companies in China, whose investments, totally valued at 6 billion U.S. dollars, account for almost half of all foreign capital in the city. High-tech enterprises in the fields of automotive core parts, industrial aircraft, as well as aerospace are the main industries deployed in Taicang.

Chiron Group, a century-old German machine tool manufacturer, invested and founded its sales office in Taicang in 2012, and has localized its entire value chain, ranging from production and research and development to sales and services. In the past decade, the company’s business volume has quadrupled.

The diverse services and a supportive business environment provided by the local government have helped foreign companies develop in China, said

Willi Riester, chief technology officer of Chiron Machine Tool (Taicang) Co., Ltd. “We have a big trust in China and especially in Taicang to continue our business. Our forecast looks quite stable for 2024; we want to have around 20 to 30 percent growth,” he said.

The average return on investments made by foreign companies in China is about 9 percent, a relatively high level across the globe. Therefore, China continues to be particularly attractive to foreign investment, said Huang Shouhong, director of the Research Office of China’s State Council. German sportswear manufacturer Adidas saw a full-year revenue in Greater China of 3.19 billion euros in 2023, up 8.2 percent compared to a year earlier, according to its latest financial report.

Bjorn Gulden, CEO of Adidas, believes that China will steadily play an important strategic role in the future global development of the company, noting that “needless to say, China is a very important market for us where we hope that we will grow, take market share and be successful.”

Tight bonds

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the China-Germany comprehensive strategic partnership. Federal Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz is paying his second official visit to China since taking office. He arrived in southwestern Chongqing Municipality to kick off the three-day visit on Sunday.

Bilateral trade volume stood at 253.1 billion euros in 2023, in which China maintained its position as Germany’s leading trading partner for the eighth consecutive year. Europe’s largest economy has also been the foremost trading partner of the world’s secondlargest economy within the European Union for years. In 2022, China surpassed Japan to claim the title of Germany’s largest trading partner in Asia.