China is interested in buying crisis-stricken German car factories , especially …

🇨🇳🇩🇪China is interested in buying crisis-stricken German car factories , especially Volkswagen, Reuters reports, citing a source.

Producing cars in Germany for sale in Europe would allow Chinese EV makers to avoid paying EU tariffs on EVs imported from China and could pose a further threat to the competitiveness of European manufacturers.

Buying German carmakers could be “China’s most politically sensitive investment to date” because VW has long been “a symbol of Germany’s industrial might, now threatened by a global economic slowdown that has hit demand and a creaking transition to green technologies.”

Chinese companies have previously invested in a range of sectors in Germany, Europe’s largest economy, from telecommunications to robotics, but have yet to establish traditional car manufacturing there, despite Mercedes-Benz having two major Chinese shareholders.