Overview
- Both missions began on Monday, October 26, with President Frank‑Walter Steinmeier on a four‑day state visit to China and Chancellor Friedrich Merz starting a multi‑stop economic tour in Singapore before moving on to Japan and South Korea.
- Merz travels with a large business delegation to secure deals on AI, infrastructure and critical raw materials, to diversify supply chains and to reduce one‑sided dependencies on China.
- Steinmeier will press Chinese leaders on fair trade and plans a meeting with Xi Jinping that is expected to include discussion of the Ukraine war while he represents a broader European voice on the visit.
- German officials stress the trips are formally independent but closely coordinated, with several government and corporate agreements in development and EU trade measures forming the policy backdrop.
- The parallel strategy aims to protect Germany’s economic resilience and a rules‑based order in the Indo‑Pacific by pairing targeted engagement with China and deeper ties to like‑minded regional partners, a shift that could affect investment flows, supply‑chain contracts and defense cooperation.