Photo Gallery China's Rise to the Top
A visitor gazing at the Huawei display at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February. China is no longer the world's factory. It has increasingly become a driver of innovation -- and intends to continue along that path.
Chinese companies, both state-owned and private, have increasingly been investing in European companies, including Daimler. Here, Daimler head Dieter Zetsche is pictured with Chinese Minister of Science and Technology Wan Gang at an April automobile trade fair in China.
China's overall economic expansion strategy includes the "New Silk Road," a series of infrastructure and technology projects spreading from the Far East all the way to Europe. One terminus can be found in Duisburg, where this picture was taken in April 2017.
Till Reuter, CEO of industrial robotics leader KUKA. The company was bought by a Chinese investor in 2016, a move that alarmed many due to the company's strategic importance in technological advancements on the factory floor. Thus far, Chinese ownership has not flexed its muscles, however, though the company is building a huge new production facility in China.
An Audi poster in Beijing. Many German car companies have become reliant on China for rising profits -- to the point that some have become overly dependent on the market. Volkswagen generated 43 percent of its profits in China last year.
On Friday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be visiting Shenzhen, home to one of the most modern airport terminals in the world in addition to being a vital high-tech center in the country. German tech entrepreneur Jens Höfflin says: "The possibilities that Shenzhen offers are almost limitless."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is in China this week, marking the 11th time she has visited the country during her tenure. This visit, though, comes as the world order is changing rapidly and the threat of a trade war between Beijing and Washington looms.
Merkel together with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. Germany currently doesn't have much of a strategy for standing up to China's economic thrust. But it must develop one together with its European partners.
Merkel reviewing an honor guard on Thursday in Beijing. German Economics Minister Peter Altmaier is considering tightening up rules pertaining to foreign investment in German companies in direct response to China's recent shopping spree in Germany.
