What Shapes Germany’s Perceptions of China

The image we hold of a country matters more than we might think. It shapes individual choices, whether people decide to study there, join exchange programs, or travel. In the long run, it determines how entire societies relate to one another. To understand the relationship between Germany and China, we therefore need to ask: how do Germans perceive China today, and why have these perceptions shifted so dramatically in recent years?

Today, Germany’s image of China is shaped predominantly by geopolitics and global competition. As a result, the number of young Germans studying in China or participating in school exchange programs has fallen dramatically in recent years. This was not the case 50 years ago.

In the late 1980s, German perceptions of China were heavily influenced by the hope of political change and liberalization. These expectations emerged in the context of a broader wave of political change in Central and Eastern Europe. Many Germans projected these expectations onto China. However, they did not materialize. Instead, these hopes were abruptly dashed in 1989 with the Tiananmen Square Massacre and subsequent political repression, which came as a shock to Western observers. Although this event at the time altered China’s image in Germany for some time, the shock proved short-lived.

Shattered and Fulfilled Hopes

Beginning in the 1990s, the dominant German perception of China shifted toward economic opening. Unlike political liberalization, the hopes for economic changes in China did materialize. Throughout the 2000s, China came to be seen primarily as an economic success story, characterized by rapid growth, expanding trade, and rising prosperity. This image of China resonated strongly in Germany, as it aligned well with the German economic model. At that time, the freshly reunified Germany benefited from affordable energy imports from Russia and from exporting technological expertise to China, while also producing for the Chinese market.

Later, even though Beijing launched broader initiatives, such as the Belt and Road in 2013, and became increasingly active in spheres of technology, military, or infrastructure investments, its economic success remained central to the German image of China. In general, in the first 15 years after the turn of the millennium, the overall perception was still largely shaped by admiration for China’s economic development.

Geopolitics Come into Play

Years 2020-2022 marked important shifts in Germany’s view of China, which since then has been defined predominantly by geopolitics and economic competition. Two key events drove this change: the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

COVID-19 pandemic has certainly had negative influence over China’s image in Germany. China’s strict isolation policies during the pandemic severely reduced people-to-people exchange between China and Germany, making mutual understanding more difficult. China’s domestic handling of the crisis – most notably prolonged lockdowns such as those in Shanghai – further damaged its image abroad.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, most Germans have shown solidarity with Ukraine, and data shows that since then, the share of Germans who see Russia as a major military threat has increased significantly. This perception is closely linked to attitudes toward China. Data shows that those Germans who view Russia as a threat and support Ukraine are also more likely to assess China’s global influence negatively. A likely reason is that after Russia’s aggression on Ukraine, Germans started paying increased attention to the close relations between China and Russia.

The consequence of COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion on Ukraine is that in 2023, 63 percent of Germans viewed China’s international influence negatively, 31 percent neutrally, and only 6 percent positively.

Furthermore, Germany’s image of China is now also shaped increasingly by economic competition. The data from The Berlin Pulse 2025 shows that 59 percent of Germans view China as major economic threat. China is therefore no longer seen primarily as a vast market promising prosperity for German companies, but rather as an economic powerhouse that poses risks to Germany’s own economy.

The Trump Factor

An important nuance here is that the perceptions of China over the recent years seem to have been influenced partly by the decline in the US’ global perceptions. This trend is also evident in Germany. Since the US president Donald Trump took office, Germany’s image of China has slightly improved. Thus, although the German public still holds a predominantly negative view of China’s influence in the world, this perception has become less negative.

The US tariff pressure might predominantly explain this shift. Trump’s Greenland agenda, MAGA movement’s efforts to bolster right-wing populists in Europe, and Washington’s push to negotiate a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia may have also contributed to diverting attention from the political and economic differences between China and Germany and creating a more positive image of the former. China knows how to use this to its advantage and it explains why the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi struck a conciliatory tone at this year’s Munich Security Conference, leading some observers to speak of a Chinese “charm offensive.”

A More Positive Image of China May Emerge

Looking ahead, China’s image in Germany may improve somewhat due to the rise of political fringe parties – many of which tend to adopt softer positions toward Beijing – as well as the deterioration of transatlantic relations. However, China’s limited soft power in Germany and the generally low level of detailed knowledge about China among the German public will likely remain important limiting factors.

Against the backdrop of difficult relations with the US, the German chancellor Friedrich Merz chose to speak primarily about economic opportunities during his first visit to Beijing earlier in February. At the same time, he avoided speaking strongly about contentious issues such as Chinese industrial overcapacity or disagreements over Ukraine. In doing so, he appeared to evoke the pragmatic style often associated with Angela Merkel. Such imagery may help to soften perceptions of China as a threat, even if the underlying problems that people expect to be solved remain on the table.