Warning To China From The EU

(South China Morning Post) China will face a very difficult year" with its major trading partner Germany as the European powerhouse is losing patience over Beijings slow-paced reform the head of the German Chamber of Commerce in China (AHK) has warned. With bilateral trade exceeding US$200 billion a year double Britains number and triple that of France China and Germany have built a strong economic relationship amid turmoil in the global economy. As China and the United States are locked in what is described as the biggest trade war in history Berlin has so far largely remained neutral. But Jens Hildebrandt head of the AHK said that Beijing would face stauncher demands from Berlin and Brussels this year. German companies which employ more than 1 million people in China were growing increasingly impatient with the lack of systemic reforms and were fearful of the countrys economic outlook he said.Germany and China set aside differences in uncertain economic climate.They were particularly concerned by the slow progress in tackling persistent problems like intellectual property protection and market access restrictions he said.