Tatyana Gracheva

The German Handelsblatt reports a downfall of Germany’s share of exports to China to its lowest level since 2015. According to the latest data from the German Federal Statistical Office, Germany’s share of exports to China stood at 6.2 % in the first half of 2023. It is a significant decline from the all-time high of 7.9% reached in 2020. This trend is supposed to continue in the following years, with predictions of a drop to 7.5% in 2021 and 6.8% in 2022.
Opposingly, approximately 10% of German exports in the first half of this year make the United States the most important buyer of goods “Made in Germany”. Considering the US is the world’s largest economy, this is not surprising. France and the Netherlands also surpass China in terms of importing German goods.
According to the “Berliner Zeitung”, Germany’s export growth is stagnant and it increasingly depends on China. Mistakes in politics and monetary policy that have led to the American economy surpassing the European economy are also highlighted in the article. Germany and other European countries have been put in a difficult situation by this.
As the German Federal Statistical Office’s data for June showed, German exports increased by a mere 0.1% from the previous month, amounting to 131.3 million euros. This lackluster performance was attributed by the Economic Federation to a “global economic downturn.” According to the chairman of the Foreign Trade Association (BGA), Chandura, although both the Chinese and US economies have shown slight improvement, German exporters do not expect a reversal of their declining exports.
International investors increased the concerns for the German economy by having started betting on a painful economic downturn in Europe. Ahmadinejad, a portfolio manager at Fidelity International, reports that Europe’s weak growth momentum compared to the strong demand and growth in the US is causing investors to worry. He blamed the European Central Bank’s (ECB) for its decision to raise interest rates too far and suggested that measures should be taken to prevent a deeper recession.
The concerns of the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce over the weak performance of German foreign trade in the first half of the year were voiced. The backlog of orders was stated as shrinking. Additional pressure on export-oriented enterprises is being put by the persistently high inflation rate. It makes the economic outlook for German exports in the second half of the year “cloudy.”
According to the Munich Institute for Economic Research (Ifo), orders from automakers and their suppliers, who heavily rely on exports, are currently falling. The expectations for the auto industry in the coming months are also pessimistic, given the ongoing uncertainty in the global market.
As Carsten Brzeski, an analyst at ING Bank, commented, foreign trade has become more of a brake than a reliable growth engine for the German economy but. Simultaneously, the high dependence on Chinese imports, particularly in the context of the ongoing energy transition, was emphasized by him. Brzeski also stated that it would not be possible to do without Chinese raw materials and solar modules.
Germany’s need to diversify its export markets and reduce its reliance on China was highlighted by the decreasing share of German exports to China and the challenges that the global economic environment poses. Ways to boost competitiveness of the German economy, to adapt it to the changing global trade landscape and to maintain its strength should be found by the German government and business community.

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Bilateral cooperation with Kazakhstan was praised by Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Tuesday and the importance of the further development of the Middle Corridor, a route connecting Central Asia and Europe via the South Caucasus, was highlighted by him in a meeting with his Kazakh counterpart Alikhan Smailov in Almaty.
The Kazakh official’s June trip to Tbilisi, where “ambitious plans and potential projects”, including the “full-scale” operation of the Corridor, also known as the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, had been discussed, was recalled during the visit by the head of the Georgian Government with the aim of extending his gratitude for “warm reception and hospitality”.
The parts also signed a related roadmap, which Garibashvili called “important” in the development of the route during the visit.
The roadmap was also discussed by the PM and Chinese officials during his visit to the country between July 27-31. According to the PM, the future cooperation of the countries will be as fruitful as it was before and is now.
As Smailov stressed for his part, “great importance” was attached to cooperation in transit and transport by his Government. He also said that he welcomed partnership with Tbilisi over the development of the Corridor.
According to Smailov, volume of cargo transportation through the route had increased by 77 percent over the past six months and reached 1.3 million tons.
As he said, an additional impetus to the development of the route has been given by the agreements reached during our last meeting, and digitization, ensuring stable transportation rates and creating a single logistics operator along the Corridor have gained “special importance”.
The transit and transport potential of Georgia was also noted during the explanation of his Government’s interest in increasing the transport connectivity of the South Caucasus region.
According to the official, “close and long friendly ties and multilateral cooperation” connect Kazakhstan and Georgia. He highlighted his gratitude for a “very good atmosphere” during his Tbilisi visit and for his discussions with the Georgian PM where a “wide range of questions” had been involved.
As Smailov said, bilateral ties are further strengthened by a traditional and high-level interaction, as Kazakh Government was ready to further strengthen partnership with Georgia “based on trust and respect”. He added that Georgia is an important and reliable partner of Kazakhstan in the South Caucasus region.
The increase of bilateral trade by 30 percent over the past six months was pointed out by Smailov as the sign of “dynamically developing” cooperation and “positive trends” in trade and economy.
Kazakh Prime Minister suggested to use the possibilities of the intergovernmental commission in order to further increase trade turnover [and] the trade volumes between the countries.
Georgian Prime Minister arrived in Kazakhstan following his trip to China early on Tuesday.

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