Europe’s China Dilemma: Friedrich Merz’s Visit As an Illustration

03/03/2026

Author

Special Advisor and Resident Senior Fellow - U.S. and Asia

Chancellor Merz's recent visit to China once again highlighted Berlin’s cautious approach as it navigates between "de-risking" and economic engagement. As Beijing offered no concrete concessions, Merz returned with few tangible results, despite the publication of a joint statement. This accentuates German and European doubts over the compatibility of its industrial revival and decarbonisation efforts, and could lead the EU to reconsider its environmental ambitions in order to preserve its competitiveness.

All China visits by foreign dignitaries have a photo op high point-voluntary or not. The cliché that will remain foremost from Chancellor Merz’s visit to China on February 25 and 26 will be of him watching the dog and pony show that was put on by robot quadrupeds during his visit at Unitree Robotics in Hangzhou. Not only did they perform reverse saltos and a boxing match for his benefit, but one was kind enough to trip-"after all, we are still humans?". Friedrich Merz gave a nod to China’s tech and industry performance, although he did not fail to mention economic imbalances in trade and Russia’s war while in the Unitree factory. This got little replay, while the photo op did, of course.

There is just a small problem, though. Unitree has been making quadruped robots for some years-including dog-shaped. These are not your friendly custodians. They have demonstrably been put to use by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). A video, virtual rather than real, also circulates of Unitree’s human quadrupeds launching attacks with military grade machine guns.

Huang Xingxing, Unitree’s founder and CEO, is all about civilian uses for mankind. His company is not that large. And yet he was one of the six CEOs selected for a publicized sit-down with Xi Jinping on the future of AI. His company was also among the six selected in Hangzhou (at this point, China’s AI and robotics hub) for massive subsidies, including by the PLA. So much so that it has been designated to the U.S. Congress by the Department of Defense and Department of Commerce in May 2025, with sourced evidence, as a key company of concern for its role in civil-military fusion. We have not seen so far a single Western media report on the issue.

The visit’s known unknowns and the actual unknowns

Did Chancellor Merz and his entourage know this? Perhaps not. Even in a highly scripted visit that has been otherwise described as without any misstep, negotiating and wrangling on details of the visit can happen until the last minute-and are sometimes overlooked by visitors who focus on the important phrasing of communiqués by both sides. For its part, the Chinese side obviously knew of U.S. concerns. They can spring surprises, and certainly thought of the video’s impact beyond the visit itself. Even so, it would still show some naïveté from a leader obviously-and rightly-obsessed by the comparative advantages of Chinese and German civilian industries.

But perhaps he knew. In that case, even understated, it would be a pretty strong statement that de-risking does not mean alignment on U.S. positions, and perhaps preempting some of theme positions: Unitree has not been formally put on a U.S. denial list at this point. Pick your choice.

This illustrates a broader dilemma that was evident throughout the whole visit and holds true for all European leaders. Faced with major areas of concern in relations with China, yet also with the practical necessity of sustaining many of those ties, they are forced to walk a narrow tightrope with slippery slopes on both sides. And perhaps even more so when the United States is not helping, but watching and eventually threatening all actors in the China relationship.

This visit, as many others, can be judged almost solely by its published results-including a joint press statement between China and Germany: agreeing on a joint text was not a given. An EU-China summit politely held in Beijing for the second time in a row in June 2025 has failed to produce such an outcome, save on climate change, which now plays the role of a useful idiot in Europe-China relations.

The Merz-Xi communiqué mention the issue of Ukraine, of a ceasefire and cessation of war, and it also included the two sides’ respective concerns on de-risking (Germany) and oversecuritizing (China).

The Merz-Xi communiqué is actually a bit more substantial than a similar exercise by Emmanuel Macron and Xi Jinping in December 2025, although not lengthier. It did manage to mention the issue of Ukraine, of a ceasefire and cessation of war, and it also included the two sides’ respective concerns on de-risking (Germany) and oversecuritizing (China). There was no mention whatsoever of human rights, on or off the visit, and this is fast becoming the new normal.

The never-ending quest for Chinese concessions

The price for a joint communiqué is what you have to say to get it. A mouthful of multilateralism, a rare recollection of the "strategic cooperation partnership" between the two countries, a reaffirmation of Germany’s adherence to the One-China policy -Emmanuel Macron had been able to dispense with this, perhaps as a previous non-official statement by him on a previous China visit had gone over the mark.

The Antonio Costa-Ursula Von der Leyen visit has been much more publicly outspoken, both on criticism of China’s support for Russia and on the trade imbalances.

By comparison, the Antonio Costa-Ursula Von der Leyen visit has been much more publicly outspoken, both on criticism of China’s support for Russia and on the trade imbalances. In the space of a few years, Germany has gone from balanced trade with China to almost a 100 billion euros deficit. And Merz made no mention of the "systemic rivalry" which is an official EU description since 2019. Leaving some issues unmentioned is also the price for achieving joint communiqués with China.

Friedrich Merz brought along 30 top German businessmen with him. There will likely be some contract windfalls-not clear as of today, save for an Airbus signature "up to 120 planes" on the first day that looks very much like the pledge already made to Emmanuel Macron in December 2025. But what’s perhaps most striking is that there is not a single obvious concession made by China on any issue of concern, besides taking note.

Oddly, the Chancery’s statement to the press on the visit and on the "strategic partnership" with China has several gaps,apparently because of technical glitches, including for statements by Xi Jinping. China’s media scene and commentaries by quasi-officials pull the entire visit to their side of the story. As Global Times puts it: "in the past three months, in addition to the German Chancellor, the French President, the Canadian Prime Minister, the Prime Minister of Finland, and the British Prime Minister have also visited China and achieved remarkable cooperation results". Or we can think of Yang Jiemian, director of Shanghai’s main international relations think tank, musing publicly that Europeans should remember the era when all that China could sell them was tea. The optics of the Unitree visit are of course used to demonstrate China’s high-tech undisputable mastery, while there is polite acknowledgement of Germany’s industry and innovation. And it all seems to happen on a stage that is separate from the field of overall EU-China relations.

Caught between conflicting requirements-moving ahead the chief topics of concern while batting for German industry-Merz painstakingly tried to solve a dilemma that is also that of each of the 27 Member States. Bank on European unity, but in the face of China’s continuing disregard, try to get something that you can show your constituents. And China plays that game well.

Apart from the announcement of new or renewed communication channels on some of the issues of concern, there was no perceptible headway made by the Chancellor during his visit. Perhaps Friedrich Merz’s own take away was best described by himself in a subsequent speech to a German audience. He bemoaned the 4-day week and long vacations and said that German prosperity could not be maintained without more efforts. He also issued this warning: "I am not prepared to give up Germany as an industrial location just because we are pursuing an over-rotated environmental policy. In the end, we may be climate-neutral-that may be so-but then we would no longer have a single industrial job left. That is not my answer".

If Germany-and Europe-do not get more substantial answers from the Chinese on their concerns, they may have to become instead "more Chinese" in their own economic policies: more subsidies, more industrial policies but less greening if it amounts to turning over much of the European market to China.

Indeed, if Germany-and Europe-do not get more substantial answers from the Chinese on their concerns, they may have to become instead "more Chinese" in their own economic policies: more subsidies, more industrial policies but less greening if it amounts to turning over much of the European market to China.

Copyright image: Michael KAPPELER / Pool / AFP
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz inspects honour guards with China’s Premier Li Qiang at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on February 25, 2026.

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Europe and International

Topics

Europe’s China Dilemma: Friedrich Merz’s Visit As an Illustration

The visit’s known unknowns and the actual unknowns

The never-ending quest for Chinese concessions