"Keine Lust," a German might think when reading about trade figures with China
Summary
- China has fallen to the fifth most important export destination for Germany, with exports contracting by over 12% year-on-year in early 2026 to less than 37 BEUR.
- Imports from China grew by 8.9% to 91.8 BEUR, increasing Germany's trade deficit with China to approximately 55 BEUR in six months, 15 BEUR more than the previous year.
- The shift is attributed to China's investment in its own value chain and German companies moving production to China, reducing traditional exports.
- Despite these changes, China remains Germany's largest trading partner, surpassing the United States, where tariff increases have affected trade.
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Automatic translation: Originally published in Finnish 11/08/2026, 04:38 GMT. Give feedback here.
Just a few years ago, China was a key demand country for German industry. Now it has fallen to the fifth most important export destination, and the gap is widening further. Recent data from GTAI (Germany Trade & Invest) for early 2026 shows the direction of this trend: cooperation is increasingly becoming a one-way trade.
According to Reuters, German exports to China contracted by over 12% year-on-year in January–June to less than 37 BEUR. In 2021, China was still Germany's second-largest export market, valued at 104 BEUR – now it ranks ninth. At the same time, imports from China grew by 8.9% to 91.8 BEUR, which increased Germany's trade deficit with China to approximately 55 BEUR in six months. This is 15 BEUR more than a year ago.
Germany's trade deficit with China
Source: Destatis, Reuters
The reason is not solely Germany's weak domestic market, but a more structural one: China is increasingly investing in its own value chain and needs less European imports. At the same time, German companies have increasingly shifted their production directly into China, which reduces traditional exports as a disappearing competitive advantage not reflected in statistics.
Overall, China is still Germany's largest trading partner, surpassing the United States, where tariff increases have impacted trade. German exporters are thus squeezed from two directions: tariff walls looming from across the Atlantic, and shrinking demand and increasing competition from the East. Therefore, Germans might think "Keine Lust" when following foreign trade figures. There is no quick solution to the situation either.
Rammstein as the inspiration for the macro review title.
