2025

WHERE:

Beatrice Edgell Weg 21, Room 00.006

WHEN:

Tuesday, December 2, 2025, between 6:15 p.m. and 7:45 p.m.

EVENT ABSTRACT:

Relations with China are crucial to our country's security and prosperity. Industrial value chains are closely intertwined with China, and global challenges cannot be tackled without China. However, what is often overlooked in the debate on China in Germany is the question: How is Germany actually perceived in China? Yet it is essential for any dialogue to engage intensively with the perceptions and beliefs of the other side.

To explore how Chinese people view Germany and what this could mean for our future relationship, GIZ commissioned a study on the image of Germany in China. In 45 in-depth interviews conducted on site, the study examined the current perceptions of people from different sectors of Chinese society—business, science, the arts, and civil society—who all have some connection to Germany.

The event is intended to contribute to the widely called-for expansion of China expertise in Germany. By shifting our perspective and looking at Germany from China's point of view, we want to contribute to a more nuanced view of German-Chinese relations.

First, the results of the study on the perception of Germany in China will be presented. This will be followed by a panel discussion to discuss the implications of the study's findings for Germany's search for a coherent and interest-driven China strategy.

SPEAKER

Dr. Christoph Beier is a lecturer at the University of Bonn. Prior to that, he was responsible for regional, strategic, and technical areas at the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) GmbH for 20 years. He gained experience in practical development cooperation in the South Caucasus and in Indonesia in the late 1990s. In the 1990s, he was involved in research and teaching at the Geography Department of the Ruhr University Bochum.