Chancellor Friedrich Merz noted that China's total trade surplus with the EU was well over €300 billion each year. (EPA Images pic)BERLIN: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed Wednesday that the EU would defend itself against what he called "unfair" Chinese trade practices that could threaten German industry.
The leader of Europe's biggest economy, who is set to travel next week to Singapore, Japan and South Korea, criticised Chinese industrial overcapacities, subsidies for products and export advantages that he said came from an artificially cheap currency.
"We want to have fair trade with China in our joint and mutual interest. That is our goal," Merz said at a Berlin conference.
"But at the same time, we have to be ready to defend ourselves, to defend our industry."
