Germany’s trade deficit with China shrank for the first time since 2018—helping to more than double the country’s overall surplus, reports Bloomberg. The gap with the Asian nation narrowed to €58.4 billion ($63 billion) last year, down from a high of €86 billion in 2022, data published Monday by Germany’s statistics office showed.
Even so, that’s still the second-strongest reading on record and was primarily due to a plunge of more than 19% in Chinese imports as exports declined at about half that pace.
The lopsided relationship remains an issue for Europe’s largest economy and the government in Berlin is well aware. Last Friday, it set up a state fund endowed with €1 billion to invest in mining projects outside of China. That move is aimed to reduce dependence on critical raw materials necessary for future technologies like batteries, semiconductors or green energy.