China Invests Billions More in Europe

Germany and China agreed on an estimated €10.6 billion (us$15 billion) worth of trade deals as Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao toured Europe this week.

Germany and China held their first joint cabinet meeting as well as a meeting of over 300 business leaders as Wen visited Germany on June 27 and 28.

On his tour, Wen also visited Britain and Hungary, concluding just €2.3 billion in trade agreements in the former.

Trade between China and Germany will increase to €200 billion a year over the next five years, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Wen agreed. In 2010, their bilateral trade was worth €130 billion. China is currently Germany’s third-largest trading partner.

Germany is “a very important strategic partner,” said Wen.

The most valuable trade agreement was a contract for the purchase of 62 A320 planes from Europe’s Airbus, worth $7.5 billion. Daimler AG and the Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation agreed to jointly invest €2 billion (us$2.8 billion) in production in China. They will build a factory for premium compact cars, a new engine plant and a new center for research and development. Beijing approved Volkswagen’s plans to build two factories in China, each with a capacity to produce 300,000 vehicles a year.

Wen also told bbc that China would keep buying EU nations’ debt. While in Hungary on June 25, he finalized an agreement to buy more Hungarian debt. China is expanding its store of euros, but has stopped buying dollars.

“China has expressed support for Europe at various times. In other words, when Europe is in difficulty we will extend a helping hand from afar,” Wen said during a news conference with Merkel.

All this points to direct fulfillment of Bible prophecy. Isaiah 23 warns of a “mart of nations” that will include China as well as the European Union. Wen’s visit helped advance this economic cooperation. For more information on this significant trend, see Robert Morley’s article “The Silk Superhighway.”