German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrived in China on Sunday in a visit that focused on growing economic tensions and disagreements over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Scholz’s first destination is the industrial hub of Chongqing, where he and his delegation of ministers and business leaders will visit a company partly funded by Germany and other factories in the metropolis, China’s hub for the automotive and other industries. Production base.

Scholz is also scheduled to visit the financial center of Shanghai during a three-day trip before traveling to the capital Beijing to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Qiang.

German companies such as BMW and Volkswagen are highly dependent on the Chinese market, although Beijing’s support for Russia has caused friction with the West.

The German economy benefits from Chinese demand for investment and manufactured goods such as cars and chemicals, but those relationships have broken down due to increased competition from Chinese companies and tighter regulations. Political interference has also been cited as the reason for the sharp decline in foreign investment.

German companies argue they face unfair market barriers in China and the government has pushed for “de-risking” policies to reduce reliance on Chinese markets and suppliers.

Despite this, China became Germany’s largest trading partner for the eighth consecutive year in 2023, with the bilateral trade volume of goods and services reaching 254.1 billion euros ($271 billion), slightly higher than Germany’s trade volume with the United States

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV showed footage of Scholz getting off a plane in Chongqing and leaving in a motorcade but made no comment to the welcoming delegation.

Prior to his arrival, Scholz posted on the social platform “.

China refuses to criticize Russia’s aggression. It maintains trade ties with President Vladimir Putin’s government and maintains foreign policy alignment with Moscow, opposing the U.S.-led liberal political order while promoting its authoritarian one-party system as a better alternative.