Strategiczni partnerzy czy systemowi konkurenci? Ewolucja polityki Niemiec wobec Chin
Strategic Partners or Systemic Competitors? Evolution of the German Policy towards China

Summary/Abstract: The strategic partnership established between the Federal Republic of Germany and the People’s Republic of China in 2004 has evolved significantly over the last 15 years. Along with this evolution, also the attitude of the government and political, academic and economic elites in Germany has been changing. The process of change was symbolized by describing China as a “systemic competitor” by the Federation of German Industries (BDI) in January 2019. Germany has noted the failure of the “change through rapprochement” model applied to China and the necessity to revise the approach towards the new Chinese foreign policy under the leadership of Xi Jinping and the increasing role of PRC on the global arena, which causes new problems in the relations between Germany, EU and China. In the article the evolution of German policy towards China since the beginning of 21st century has been analyzed, with the focus on dynamic changes between 2016 and 2019. The purpose of the article is answering several questions: how has German policy towards China been changing? How was this process influenced by the failure of “change through rapprochement” model applied to PRC? Which problems in the German-Chinese relations were crucial to Berlin’s policy and in which way did they shape it? Is China still a strategic partner, or already a systemic competitor for Germany?

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