In this Monday’s editorial, we present to you another CEO Talk from Frank Sieren, which is available in this issue of China.Table as an interview. This time, Frank Sieren had a conversation with Christian Sommer, the head of the German Centre in Shanghai. Sommer looks at business in China and international relations from a middle-class perspective: The German Centres are the hub of the local German community.
Sommer warns against an increasing political burden on economic relations, which, in his opinion, can only harm both sides. At the same time, he observes an extremely slow pace in Germany, for example, when it comes to the progress of digitalization. In today’s world, China wants to more actively determine its own destiny, but also that of the global economy. With that being said, China is already the second-biggest economy.
Looking at the Olympic medal table, China is now in the lead after the first Olympic weekend. Six gold medals in three days – this promises great success at the world’s largest sports festival. Our author Michael Radunski followed up closely the disciplines in which the People’s Republic is expected to win big. After all, one thing is clear: President Xi does not want to see another defeat like in the Summer Games in Rio. Five years ago, the socialist sports nation had to contend with a third-place on the medal table. One would consider this as a good result. But, when it comes to China’s public image, especially in Japan – and half a year ahead of the Games in their own country – anything other than first place is almost unthinkable.
Have a good week!
Christian Sommer is the son of a notary’s assistant and a master electrician from Kiel. Even after his first contact with China in the 1980s, it was not yet foreseeable that he would spend his life in the Middle Kingdom. Today, he is one of the best-connected figures among German SMEs in Shanghai.
Sommer studied law, specialized in tax law and moved to Shanghai in January 1995 to work for a German law firm. However, he quickly became bored with his job. After two years, he moved to the German Centre Shanghai as deputy director. He then spent six years building up the German Centre in Beijing for Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, only to return to Shanghai – this time as CEO, a position he holds for 15 years now.
However, just one location in Shanghai was neither enough for Sommer nor for the needs of the local German economy. In the meantime, he has opened new branches in Taicang and Qingdao. He now serves hundreds of German companies almost around the clock. Sommer also organizes German-Chinese table tennis tournaments. And he can be seen at music festivals sporting black sunglasses and a bass guitar. His band is called “ShangHigh Voltage” it sounds just like you’d think: A Far East AC/DC with its own songs. But during the day, Christian Sommer is first and foremost Mr. German Centre.
The full version of the conversation in German language can be found here.
During your time in China, which is well over 20 years now, the political tensions between China and Europe were not as high as they are now. How does that affect the companies at the German Centre?
The issue is certainly more present at the headquarters in Germany than in China. Here, on the other hand, the consequences of the Covid pandemic are causing much greater concern. The main problem for medium-sized companies is simply that their engineers from Germany cannot visit China at the time being. That means the machines have been delivered but cannot be assembled. Or they have to be serviced and are therefore only in operation to a limited extent. Because all this is still done by experienced specialists from Germany. The Chinese may already be appropriately trained, but they still lack the decade-long experience of our specialists. And vice versa, Chinese workers who need to be trained in Germany are currently not getting visas. That is why Business is stagnating at the moment.
But don’t the strict quarantine rules make sense?
It’s not just the strict quarantine rules. In China, you have to spend at least two weeks in hotel quarantine. That makes perfect sense and would also be accepted by the engineers. After all, we practically live without masks outside of public buildings and public transportation in China. However, the health precautions have now been overridden by the political clinch, according to the motto: tit-for-tat. I do not think that this is the right way to go about it. I have also told this to the German Consulate General in Shanghai, among others. It is likely that the Chinese quarantine restrictions will continue well into next year. It must be possible to find a better solution for the German economy.
Isn’t this also an attempt by China to test the extent to which it can manage without foreigners?
Yeah, that’s been rumored here and there. That could be a side effect. But I really don’t think that’s the main reason. After all, China is looking for international quality and qualifications. The normal visa policy clearly shows that.
Does China still need foreigners?
Yes, and fortunately not only the representatives of German industry, but a worldwide exchange. After all, that is one of the strengths of globalization: no one can do everything. Even Chinese politicians are realistic enough not to believe that. The exchange between people is necessary for globalization. Expertise is neither only German, only American, only French, only Japanese, nor only Chinese, although China is a big country. Pooling international knowledge and creating added value from it is, after all, one of the strengths of globalization.
At the same time, in the West, but also in China, there is talk of mutual decoupling.
There are good reasons for this, too. The dependency created by ever closer cooperation feels uncomfortable in times of crisis. In politically difficult times, people try to free themselves from that grip. After all, companies want to do business, not politics. I understand this desire. The reality of the situation can be easily observed in the semiconductor industry: There are only a few companies that can produce microchips in large quantities. If politicians interfere with the argument that the Chinese should not be allowed to buy chips that are built with American know-how, then it also harms our economy, because almost everything is produced in China. We are just learning now that a policy of making companies choosing between China or the US makes no economic sense. Not for corporations, and threefold, not for small and medium-sized businesses.
German SMEs have the German Centres platform in China. No other country has something similar. Why is that?
There is no other country that has such a large industrial middle class, the so-called “hidden champions”. So it was obvious to focus our power on one spot, for the purpose of creating synergies. In the meantime, we have even become the German Centre International, so to speak, because non-German companies also appreciate our network. We currently have almost 130 companies in Shanghai, with two-thirds of German origin. The last third is spread around the world. This openness is one of Germany’s strengths. And in the meantime, we are not only a hub for German business, i.e. a “beachhead”, but also a starting point for Chinese companies on their way to Germany. A very positive example of how business and government can work together in a meaningful way. The initial idea was that the federal states of Germany, especially Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, wanted to help our small and medium-sized industries to expand into the rest of the world. The state banks then took over development and investment. The German Centres have been profitable for many years. That is why we are planning further new locations. Because China will become even more important for the German economy.
Apart from visa restrictions, where else are German SMEs struggling at the moment?
Especially at home when it comes to remaining competitive with China. As far as digitization is concerned, we are simply no longer in the lead. There is a lot of talk about it in Germany and Europe, but comparatively little is done. That is frightening, considering how quickly innovations are rolled out in China. In Germany, the Internet is lousy. And we’re not even talking about 5G yet.
So are German SMEs being forced to relocate more and more business to China?
Covid is slowing things down at the moment, to be sure. But otherwise, that’s the way it is. And I’m not only talking about digitalization, but also about where I can find skilled workers, with the right balance between training and wage costs. And of course, I look at where my growth markets are. I want to be there to witness changes quickly and directly.
It almost sounds like the biggest complaint during lunch at the German Centre is about Germany. Is that realistic?
It’s not about talking Germany down and China up. But these are indeed the topics of conversations. Our companies have become strong in Germany, in Europe. But at the moment, Germany is not an advantage for us in terms of the speed of development, in terms of over-regulation, in terms of debt or in terms of the quality of training. That is how companies feel. Recently we had a meeting in Taicang near Shanghai with 400 German companies present. And their stance was – in their words, not mine – that China has a plan. I know what I can do. I know what I can rely on. I know how the next few years will play out. In Europe, we miss that. We make sales in Europe, of course, but in terms of future viability, we have to be careful that we do not fall behind in Europe.
But there is also a lot of political despotism and repression in China, in hopeless combination with a weak rule of law.
That is undoubtedly true. However, one should differentiate. The political problems are much more apparent in civil society than in the economy. And within the economy, these are felt more strongly by corporations than by small and medium-sized enterprises. When it comes to small and medium-sized businesses – once more – the first thing to note is that business is potentially very good here. And this is no overstatement, but also reflected in anonymous surveys. Many companies have also told me that the past Covid year was the best in their company’s history. But that doesn’t mean that many things in other areas in China are or should be criticized as well. However, it is important to keep in mind that on a day-to-day basis, the greater concerns are directed towards Germany. Incidentally, economic competitiveness means that we can also certainly represent our values more confidently in the world. If we are economically insignificant, no one will listen to us. Especially not the Chinese.
What do you see as the biggest weaknesses in civil society?
In addition to the still weak legal system, a lot of freedom and openness has been lost in recent years. Chinese managers in particular – and many German companies now have Chinese general managers – see this as a step backwards.
Why is that?
The central government and the CP are to blame. I suspect that the party feels that the growth of its economy has given too much weight to Western values. They want to put a stop to it. The party says: We must define our own direction, China’s own development and our own path more clearly. This also includes our own values. State and party leader Xi Jinping certainly has the unconditional will to walk a new path to a greater extent than his predecessors. But he also lives in better circumstances. Things are easier for the world’s number 2 economy than for number 7.
Considering this development, do we not also have to represent our values more offensively? Is that not why the sanctions make sense? According to the motto: the line must be drawn here?
The other day I was called by the daughter of the owner of a German company that produces in China. She is now to take over the business and asked me how she could morally justify doing business with China. I told her, by changing things for the better through dialogue. Sanctions are useless because they mean one thing: I don’t want to talk anymore, I want to enforce something. But it usually only proves something different: I do not have the power to do so. This is no way to improve the situation with China. And that’s what we’re all about.
I have told this woman that our presence is setting an example. I see what the presence of foreigners in China has already done during my time in China in terms of child labour, working hours, salary, workplace safety, hygiene standards and all other social human rights. In general, we set a great example in the way we treat our employees. We shouldn’t underestimate our influence, even if things don’t change for the better as quickly as we’d like. I think it is wrong to forfeit that influence because of some areas that are not only backwards, but even counter to our values. We will have to get used to having different systems in the world. By the way, in China, there is a much greater agreement between the people and their government than we normally think. Even though we argue, with good reason and self-confidence, that our values are by far the best values in the world.
It was a flying start for China. The first gold medal of the Olympic Summer Games in Tokyo was won by Yang Qian 杨倩 in women’s 10 meter air rifle. And it didn’t stop there. A little later, the next gold medals for China were secured by Hóu Zhìhuì 侯志慧 in women’s weightlifting (49 kg) and Sūn Yīwén 孙一文 in fencing. That puts the People’s Republic at the top of the international medal table on Sunday night with six golds, one silver and four bronzes.
In 33 disciplines, athletes run, swim, cycle, jump and shoot for medals. Exactly 339 times will the Olympic gold medal, the highest award, be given to the best athletes. Fans, bookmakers, and some country leaders are looking towards Tokyo with great anticipation and wonder: Who will win gold?
At first glance, China seems to be pursuing a rather simple approach to this question: many athletes = many medals. 431 athletes are supposed to win as many medals as possible. Only in 2008 at their own Games in Beijing, China sent more athletes, namely 639. And back then, the plan worked: 48 gold medals for the People’s Republic! No other country prevailed in as many disciplines in Beijing as China.
At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, on the other hand, they experienced a downright crash. With “only” 26 gold medals, the People’s Republic finished third in the medal table – even falling behind the UK. There is no need to go into detail about how unacceptable this was for China. Accordingly, a lot of money has been invested in training facilities, training programs and foreign coaches in recent years. It remains to be seen whether this will pay off at the Tokyo Olympics.
It is widely known that success in sport can hardly be planned in advance. But with the current Games, more uncertainties present themselves. On the one hand, the games are being held without an audience in the competition venues; on the other hand, they have been postponed by a year. Thus, most Chinese athletes have hardly been able to participate in international competitions for almost two years due to strict travel restrictions by the People’s Republic.
Nevertheless, we at China.Table dare to take a look into the crystal ball and present some of China’s top contenders:
The fact that China will win almost all gold medals in table tennis is a surefire bet. Whether in the women’s or the men’s singles – since 1988 the People’s Republic has won 28 of 32 possible gold medals in table tennis.
But this is exactly where the first scandal of the Tokyo Games occurred: In table tennis, players repeatedly wipe the table with their wet hands or blow on the ball. What may seem like a fad to some has a big impact on the game. Should micro-drops from the players’ sweat wet the technically balanced balls, they develop a different spin when served – something that is especially important for the game of the Chinese top star Mǎ Lóng 马龙. At the Tokyo Olympics, however, wiping and blowing were banned on short notice for hygiene reasons, which is now causing great resentment, especially among the Chinese. Even before the first ball is served, there is already talk of manipulation and targeted discrimination.
But rule changes or not, the best table tennis players hail from China. In the men’s singles, it’s Mǎ and Fán Zhèndōng 樊振东, in the team competition Xǔ Xīn 许昕. However, Tomokazu Harimoto 張本智和, a Japanese of all people, has recently broken through the Chinese phalanx in the current world rankings and moved between the Chinese on to rank 3. Now, not only the Japanese hope that 18-year-old Harimoto will instill fear into reigning champion China. But, so far, China’s streak remains unbroken.
On the women’s side, Chén Mèng 陈梦 and Sūn Yǐngshā 孙颖莎 are China’s top players. But again, Japan’s Mima Ito 伊藤美誠 has slotted in between them at rank 2. Still, the two Chinese girls are to be considered a safe bet with local bookmakers.
While table tennis has been a clear-cut affair for China so far, high diving is even more so. China’s goal in Tokyo is to win everything. What may sound arrogant to some simply reflects the performance of Chinese athletes.
In the female category, eyes are mainly on Shī Tíngmào 施廷懋 and Zhāng Jiāqí 张家齐. Shī has already won two gold medals on the 3-meter board at the Rio Games – and was able to continue her streak in Tokyo on Sunday: one gold medal. Meanwhile, 17-year-old Zhang is the current world champion on the 10-meter board, but is competing at the Olympics for the first time. In synchronized diving, she is expected to win with Chen Yuxi. And China has another ace up its sleeve, or rather on the 10-meter tower: Quán Hóngchán 全红婵. At just 14 years old, she is the youngest Chinese athlete competing in Tokyo – and yet already a winner: At 13 she already won the national championships in China.
Among men, China’s safest hopes for gold are probably Chén Àisēn 陈艾森 and Cáo Yuán 曹缘 at the synchronized 10-meter springboard.
American football coach Vince Lombardi supposedly once said: Winning is a habit. In badminton, for many years, Lín Dān 林丹 had such a habit. The Chinese athlete from Fujian won match after match, twice gold, the world championship five times, the All England six times – and at 28, all major tournaments – the only player in the world so far to do so. But for the Tokyo Games, the main message is that Super Dān is out. Perhaps the greatest player of all time has fallen victim to the postponement of the Olympics. The Tokyo competitions would have been his fifth Games and were supposed to be the crowning achievement of his career. But while the Games were postponed, Super Dān stuck to his plan and ended his career this summer at the age of 37.
In his place, Chén Lóng 谌龙 will take part in the Games. However, the Rio Olympic champion has lost form dramatically of late. So if you’re thinking about betting on the outcome of the tournaments, and you are a little shy of the risk, Japan’s Kento Momota 桃田賢斗 might be a better choice this time around.
In the female category, Chén Yǔfēi 陈雨菲 is going for gold for China. But this is where it gets complicated, both athletically and politically. On the athletic front, Japanese Nozomi Okuhara 奥原希望 is also a strong contender. On the political part, because Tai Tzu-Ying also has good chances of winning the gold medal – for Taiwan, which is taking part in the Olympic Games under the name Chinese Taipei. So the win might go to China, after all, some political observers might object. But sport can be wonderfully complicated sometimes.
For a long time, there was no way of beating China’s athletes. But now there is. India, Italy and Germany, in particular, have pushed past the People’s Republic to the top of the podium from time to time. But Yang Qian 杨倩 has proven on Saturday in the women’s 10-meter air pistol discipline, that China is still a force to be reckoned with. And if winning would solely depend on current form, Xióng Yàxuān 熊亚瑄 would shoot another gold medal for China. After all, the 24-year-old shooter set a new record in 25-meter pistol shooting in March.
While China is becoming a political and economic heavyweight, its strengths in weightlifting lie more in the lighter classes. In the men’s division, these are primarily Lǐ Fābīn 李发彬 (61 kg), Chén Lìjūn 谌利军 (67 kg), Shí Zhìyǒng 石智勇 (73 kg) and Lǚ Xiǎojūn 吕小军 (81 kg). They are all current world champions in their respective classes, while Li, Shi and Lu also hold the current world records. Chen and Li also won their first gold medals on Sunday.
China’s women’s team is also strong in the truest sense of the word. Although missing Rio gold medalist Dèng Wēi 邓薇 (64 kg) and current world record holder Jiǎng Huìhuā 蒋惠花 (55 kg), Hóu Zhìhuì 侯志慧 (49 kg) showed on Saturday just how strong China’s women are. She is hardly inferior to Liào Qiūyún 廖秋云 (55 kg), Wāng Zhōuyǔ 汪周雨 (87 kg) and Lǐ Wénwén 李雯雯 (87 kg), so at least one more gold medal should be lifted for the People’s Republic. But there is a political pitfall here as well; Kuo Hsing-chun (59 kg). The 27-year-old is a four-time world champion and has won both the Universade and Asian Games. In Tokyo, Kuo is now expected to win gold – for Taiwan or, as previously mentioned: for Chinese Taipei. But Kuo also has a problem: “Postponing the Games for a year is a big challenge because I am now almost 27 years old. Age worries me,” Kuo told the South China Morning Post. Worries one could only wish for.
Here, it seems as if the good old days for China are actually coming slowly to an end. In 2008 in Beijing, China could still win 11 gold medals – nine more medals than the USA and Russia combined. But in Rio 2016 only one silver and four bronze medals were won by the People’s Republic. And the prospects for Tokyo have not improved much. However, China’s gymnasts should not be written off just yet. During the Covid pandemic, they didn’t participate in any world championships but trained diligently in China. And so at least one gold tip should work out: Gāo Lěi 高磊 is and remains the king of the trampoline.
The flag bearers in Team China are volleyball player Zhū Tíng 朱婷 and taekwondo fighter Zhào Shuài 赵帅. Both definitely have chances to return home with gold. China’s women volleyball players already won gold in Rio. But then Zhū Tíng 朱婷 was missing – and with her, luck also left the team. Now at least Zhū Tíng 朱婷 is back as captain.
Zhào Shuài 赵帅 was also able to win gold in Rio. But the taekwondo fighter also faces a challenge this time. In Rio, he was able to beat all competitors at 58 kg. But in the past five years, Zhào Shuài 赵帅 has gained weight and now has to compete in the 68 kg weight class, where he is ranked only third in the world rankings behind South Korea’s Lee Dae-hoon and Britain’s Bradly John Sinden.
So the fight for the medals in Tokyo sure will be exciting. But when China looks at the medal table of Tokyo, some people’s thoughts dwell on the near future. By postponing the Summer Games by a year, the Winter Games in Beijing are already starting just a few months later. “Because the Winter Games are right around the corner, China wants to spark sports euphoria with good results in Tokyo,” writes Chinese sports blogger Ma Bowen on Weibo. “If Chinese people feel the vibe in Tokyo, they will pay much more attention to the Beijing Games afterward.”
Since 2019, Christian Straube has been working as a program manager for the China Program of the Asienhaus Foundation. Together with his colleague Joanna Klabisch, Straube strives to promote civil society dialogue with China. “Chinese civil society faces some of the very same challenges as civil societies in Germany and Europe do, although structured differently,” he says. “We especially see overlapping in terms of classic environmental issues, urban architecture and gender.”
The “EU-China NGO Twinning Program”, which he co-supervised and which has since been discontinued, showed him how valuable cooperation at the civil society level is. And this is despite the fact that the framework conditions are becoming tighter and tighter: “It is increasingly difficult to engage in bottom-up dialogue,” Straube notes. The legal requirements have become stricter since the Non-Governmental Organization Management Law (“FNGO Law”) was signed at the beginning of 2017. Topics with potential for social conflicts, such as feminism with regard to the role of women in society, are to be more strictly censored. “As soon as a social component comes into play, you have to be careful how you frame the dialogue format,” says Christian Straube.
However, not only China with its strict guidelines are causing difficulties. On the German side, Straube complains about the frequent lack of awareness of diversity. He often encounters the idea that the Chinese population is “partly homogeneously controlled and that there is no civil society activity”. That is why one goal of the China program by the Asienhaus Foundation, is to strengthen China competence in Europe as well as to create an awareness of society in China among political decision-makers. Through publications, the program managers try to facilitate access to information in Germany. Despite everything, Straube does not see himself as a China expert: “I think you can have an idea about aspects of China. I often miss a little more humility when it comes to China“.
Where does his passion for Asia come from? It was “laid in his cradle“, as he says. His father studied Asian studies at Humboldt University, but both of his grandfathers already had professional contacts in Asia. This is particularly remarkable because his family lived in the GDR. Christian Straube himself was drawn to Asia at an early age. Through the AFS exchange association, he spent a school year abroad in Malaysia.
During his stay, he regularly hung out with people from the Chinese community and got to know the Chinese New Year, among other things. Later, he studied Modern Sinology, Economics and South Asian Politics at the Ruprecht Karls University in Heidelberg and wrote his thesis on the Chinese abroad in Malaysia during the Chinese Xinhai Revolution. Everyday conversations in Chinese do not pose a problem for Straube. However, he sees it as an acute challenge to preserve the language. After all, he not only speaks Chinese but also Bemba. For his doctoral thesis, Straube went to Zambia, where he intended to research Chinese companies in the African copper belt. But access to research proved so difficult that he had to adjust the focus of his research again. “The industry doesn’t like to put its cards on the table.
Nevertheless, he was able to complete his dissertation in 2018. The resulting book tells the story of material and social decay, as well as renewal in a former mining settlement. Christian Straube did not let his experiences with China’s increasingly dubious reputation in the world demotivate him. Together with his colleague, he has set up a new project at the Asienhaus Foundation: Civil society dialogue in the context of the new Silk Road is to be strengthened. Organizations from relevant countries are to be networked for this very purpose. Paula Faul
In the fast lane with lots of horsepower and pedal to the metal? Watch out, don’t turn the car over! In a figurative sense, this also applies to China’s data highways. Just one mistake in the upper ranks of Internet stars and influencers can cause a heavy crash.
翻车 fānchē – literally “the car rolls over” – is what this phenomenon is called in Chinese. The most recent example of such a “crash” is Chinese celebrity Wu Yifan (吴亦凡 Wú Yìfán). For a long time, the singer, dancer and actor, who once made his breakthrough as a member of a K-pop boy band, roared through China’s celebrity Olympus, seemingly unchecked, with numerous lucrative advertising deals “in his glove compartment”, including Louis Vuitton, Bulgari, Porsche and L’Oréal.
However, for the past few days, the 30-year-old playboy has been stumbling amid a fierce “MeToo” storm. Several women are accusing the star of sexual assault, some of whom were reportedly underage at the time of the incident. They accuse Wu of a Weinstein-style exploitation scheme. Wu denies the allegations, and his PR team’s counter-campaign is in full swing. But the Chinese A-list celebrity’s career seemingly crashed into a wall. All major advertising partners have already terminated their cooperation. It seems to be a rollover scenario par excellence.
Incidentally, the Chinese character 翻 fān literally means (among other things) “to turn over,” or “to turn the page” (翻页 fānyè – to turn a page). It also appears, for example, in the word “translate”(翻译 fānyì). The trending term 翻车 fānchē stems from a tag cloud around the car driving motif that has spread in Chinese net and youth language in recent years. It all started with the catchphrase 老司机 lǎosījī “accomplished chauffeur” – a synonym for someone who knows all the nooks and crannies of their métier like the back of their hand, offering others a “lift” through foreign terrain. Thanks to the “route knowledge” and help of the “lǎosījī”, others thus reach their destination more easily.
Originally, “lǎosījī” was used mainly in forums and chats to refer to savvy surfers who had download links to all sorts of resources (资源 zīyuán), e.g. games, videos, music and e-books. If these “chauffeurs” shared their sources with other users, it was called “driving the car”(开车 kāichē). Those who downloaded the whole thing as freeloaders “got in the car”(上车 shàngchē). And those who were looking for download links (求资源 qiú zīyuán) were best to ask an experienced driver to “give them a ride”(老司机带带我！Lǎosījī dàidai wǒ!). If the link got deleted, the Internet jargon was 翻车 – free travel on the information superhighway then came to a sudden stop. Later, “fānchē” also became a buzzword in the Chinese gaming scene. If a successful favorite was surprisingly knocked off its pedestal, the term “car rollover” was used here as well.
Today, “fānchē” has long since entered the Chinese everyday vocabulary, and – depending on the context – as a synonym for “screw something up” or “flop”, as a winner to “take a beating” or – to stay with the car theme – to “hit the wall”. With this in mind, always keep an eye on the road!
Verena Menzel runs the online language school New Chinese in Beijing.
In this Monday’s editorial, we present to you another CEO Talk from Frank Sieren, which is available in this issue of China.Table as an interview. This time, Frank Sieren had a conversation with Christian Sommer, the head of the German Centre in Shanghai. Sommer looks at business in China and international relations from a middle-class perspective: The German Centres are the hub of the local German community.
Sommer warns against an increasing political burden on economic relations, which, in his opinion, can only harm both sides. At the same time, he observes an extremely slow pace in Germany, for example, when it comes to the progress of digitalization. In today’s world, China wants to more actively determine its own destiny, but also that of the global economy. With that being said, China is already the second-biggest economy.
Looking at the Olympic medal table, China is now in the lead after the first Olympic weekend. Six gold medals in three days – this promises great success at the world’s largest sports festival. Our author Michael Radunski followed up closely the disciplines in which the People’s Republic is expected to win big. After all, one thing is clear: President Xi does not want to see another defeat like in the Summer Games in Rio. Five years ago, the socialist sports nation had to contend with a third-place on the medal table. One would consider this as a good result. But, when it comes to China’s public image, especially in Japan – and half a year ahead of the Games in their own country – anything other than first place is almost unthinkable.
Have a good week!
Christian Sommer is the son of a notary’s assistant and a master electrician from Kiel. Even after his first contact with China in the 1980s, it was not yet foreseeable that he would spend his life in the Middle Kingdom. Today, he is one of the best-connected figures among German SMEs in Shanghai.
Sommer studied law, specialized in tax law and moved to Shanghai in January 1995 to work for a German law firm. However, he quickly became bored with his job. After two years, he moved to the German Centre Shanghai as deputy director. He then spent six years building up the German Centre in Beijing for Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, only to return to Shanghai – this time as CEO, a position he holds for 15 years now.
However, just one location in Shanghai was neither enough for Sommer nor for the needs of the local German economy. In the meantime, he has opened new branches in Taicang and Qingdao. He now serves hundreds of German companies almost around the clock. Sommer also organizes German-Chinese table tennis tournaments. And he can be seen at music festivals sporting black sunglasses and a bass guitar. His band is called “ShangHigh Voltage” it sounds just like you’d think: A Far East AC/DC with its own songs. But during the day, Christian Sommer is first and foremost Mr. German Centre.
The full version of the conversation in German language can be found here.
During your time in China, which is well over 20 years now, the political tensions between China and Europe were not as high as they are now. How does that affect the companies at the German Centre?
The issue is certainly more present at the headquarters in Germany than in China. Here, on the other hand, the consequences of the Covid pandemic are causing much greater concern. The main problem for medium-sized companies is simply that their engineers from Germany cannot visit China at the time being. That means the machines have been delivered but cannot be assembled. Or they have to be serviced and are therefore only in operation to a limited extent. Because all this is still done by experienced specialists from Germany. The Chinese may already be appropriately trained, but they still lack the decade-long experience of our specialists. And vice versa, Chinese workers who need to be trained in Germany are currently not getting visas. That is why Business is stagnating at the moment.
But don’t the strict quarantine rules make sense?
It’s not just the strict quarantine rules. In China, you have to spend at least two weeks in hotel quarantine. That makes perfect sense and would also be accepted by the engineers. After all, we practically live without masks outside of public buildings and public transportation in China. However, the health precautions have now been overridden by the political clinch, according to the motto: tit-for-tat. I do not think that this is the right way to go about it. I have also told this to the German Consulate General in Shanghai, among others. It is likely that the Chinese quarantine restrictions will continue well into next year. It must be possible to find a better solution for the German economy.
Isn’t this also an attempt by China to test the extent to which it can manage without foreigners?
Yeah, that’s been rumored here and there. That could be a side effect. But I really don’t think that’s the main reason. After all, China is looking for international quality and qualifications. The normal visa policy clearly shows that.
Does China still need foreigners?
Yes, and fortunately not only the representatives of German industry, but a worldwide exchange. After all, that is one of the strengths of globalization: no one can do everything. Even Chinese politicians are realistic enough not to believe that. The exchange between people is necessary for globalization. Expertise is neither only German, only American, only French, only Japanese, nor only Chinese, although China is a big country. Pooling international knowledge and creating added value from it is, after all, one of the strengths of globalization.
At the same time, in the West, but also in China, there is talk of mutual decoupling.
There are good reasons for this, too. The dependency created by ever closer cooperation feels uncomfortable in times of crisis. In politically difficult times, people try to free themselves from that grip. After all, companies want to do business, not politics. I understand this desire. The reality of the situation can be easily observed in the semiconductor industry: There are only a few companies that can produce microchips in large quantities. If politicians interfere with the argument that the Chinese should not be allowed to buy chips that are built with American know-how, then it also harms our economy, because almost everything is produced in China. We are just learning now that a policy of making companies choosing between China or the US makes no economic sense. Not for corporations, and threefold, not for small and medium-sized businesses.
German SMEs have the German Centres platform in China. No other country has something similar. Why is that?
There is no other country that has such a large industrial middle class, the so-called “hidden champions”. So it was obvious to focus our power on one spot, for the purpose of creating synergies. In the meantime, we have even become the German Centre International, so to speak, because non-German companies also appreciate our network. We currently have almost 130 companies in Shanghai, with two-thirds of German origin. The last third is spread around the world. This openness is one of Germany’s strengths. And in the meantime, we are not only a hub for German business, i.e. a “beachhead”, but also a starting point for Chinese companies on their way to Germany. A very positive example of how business and government can work together in a meaningful way. The initial idea was that the federal states of Germany, especially Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, wanted to help our small and medium-sized industries to expand into the rest of the world. The state banks then took over development and investment. The German Centres have been profitable for many years. That is why we are planning further new locations. Because China will become even more important for the German economy.
Apart from visa restrictions, where else are German SMEs struggling at the moment?
Especially at home when it comes to remaining competitive with China. As far as digitization is concerned, we are simply no longer in the lead. There is a lot of talk about it in Germany and Europe, but comparatively little is done. That is frightening, considering how quickly innovations are rolled out in China. In Germany, the Internet is lousy. And we’re not even talking about 5G yet.
So are German SMEs being forced to relocate more and more business to China?
Covid is slowing things down at the moment, to be sure. But otherwise, that’s the way it is. And I’m not only talking about digitalization, but also about where I can find skilled workers, with the right balance between training and wage costs. And of course, I look at where my growth markets are. I want to be there to witness changes quickly and directly.
It almost sounds like the biggest complaint during lunch at the German Centre is about Germany. Is that realistic?
It’s not about talking Germany down and China up. But these are indeed the topics of conversations. Our companies have become strong in Germany, in Europe. But at the moment, Germany is not an advantage for us in terms of the speed of development, in terms of over-regulation, in terms of debt or in terms of the quality of training. That is how companies feel. Recently we had a meeting in Taicang near Shanghai with 400 German companies present. And their stance was – in their words, not mine – that China has a plan. I know what I can do. I know what I can rely on. I know how the next few years will play out. In Europe, we miss that. We make sales in Europe, of course, but in terms of future viability, we have to be careful that we do not fall behind in Europe.
But there is also a lot of political despotism and repression in China, in hopeless combination with a weak rule of law.
That is undoubtedly true. However, one should differentiate. The political problems are much more apparent in civil society than in the economy. And within the economy, these are felt more strongly by corporations than by small and medium-sized enterprises. When it comes to small and medium-sized businesses – once more – the first thing to note is that business is potentially very good here. And this is no overstatement, but also reflected in anonymous surveys. Many companies have also told me that the past Covid year was the best in their company’s history. But that doesn’t mean that many things in other areas in China are or should be criticized as well. However, it is important to keep in mind that on a day-to-day basis, the greater concerns are directed towards Germany. Incidentally, economic competitiveness means that we can also certainly represent our values more confidently in the world. If we are economically insignificant, no one will listen to us. Especially not the Chinese.
What do you see as the biggest weaknesses in civil society?
In addition to the still weak legal system, a lot of freedom and openness has been lost in recent years. Chinese managers in particular – and many German companies now have Chinese general managers – see this as a step backwards.
Why is that?
The central government and the CP are to blame. I suspect that the party feels that the growth of its economy has given too much weight to Western values. They want to put a stop to it. The party says: We must define our own direction, China’s own development and our own path more clearly. This also includes our own values. State and party leader Xi Jinping certainly has the unconditional will to walk a new path to a greater extent than his predecessors. But he also lives in better circumstances. Things are easier for the world’s number 2 economy than for number 7.
Considering this development, do we not also have to represent our values more offensively? Is that not why the sanctions make sense? According to the motto: the line must be drawn here?
The other day I was called by the daughter of the owner of a German company that produces in China. She is now to take over the business and asked me how she could morally justify doing business with China. I told her, by changing things for the better through dialogue. Sanctions are useless because they mean one thing: I don’t want to talk anymore, I want to enforce something. But it usually only proves something different: I do not have the power to do so. This is no way to improve the situation with China. And that’s what we’re all about.
I have told this woman that our presence is setting an example. I see what the presence of foreigners in China has already done during my time in China in terms of child labour, working hours, salary, workplace safety, hygiene standards and all other social human rights. In general, we set a great example in the way we treat our employees. We shouldn’t underestimate our influence, even if things don’t change for the better as quickly as we’d like. I think it is wrong to forfeit that influence because of some areas that are not only backwards, but even counter to our values. We will have to get used to having different systems in the world. By the way, in China, there is a much greater agreement between the people and their government than we normally think. Even though we argue, with good reason and self-confidence, that our values are by far the best values in the world.
It was a flying start for China. The first gold medal of the Olympic Summer Games in Tokyo was won by Yang Qian 杨倩 in women’s 10 meter air rifle. And it didn’t stop there. A little later, the next gold medals for China were secured by Hóu Zhìhuì 侯志慧 in women’s weightlifting (49 kg) and Sūn Yīwén 孙一文 in fencing. That puts the People’s Republic at the top of the international medal table on Sunday night with six golds, one silver and four bronzes.
In 33 disciplines, athletes run, swim, cycle, jump and shoot for medals. Exactly 339 times will the Olympic gold medal, the highest award, be given to the best athletes. Fans, bookmakers, and some country leaders are looking towards Tokyo with great anticipation and wonder: Who will win gold?
At first glance, China seems to be pursuing a rather simple approach to this question: many athletes = many medals. 431 athletes are supposed to win as many medals as possible. Only in 2008 at their own Games in Beijing, China sent more athletes, namely 639. And back then, the plan worked: 48 gold medals for the People’s Republic! No other country prevailed in as many disciplines in Beijing as China.
At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, on the other hand, they experienced a downright crash. With “only” 26 gold medals, the People’s Republic finished third in the medal table – even falling behind the UK. There is no need to go into detail about how unacceptable this was for China. Accordingly, a lot of money has been invested in training facilities, training programs and foreign coaches in recent years. It remains to be seen whether this will pay off at the Tokyo Olympics.
It is widely known that success in sport can hardly be planned in advance. But with the current Games, more uncertainties present themselves. On the one hand, the games are being held without an audience in the competition venues; on the other hand, they have been postponed by a year. Thus, most Chinese athletes have hardly been able to participate in international competitions for almost two years due to strict travel restrictions by the People’s Republic.
Nevertheless, we at China.Table dare to take a look into the crystal ball and present some of China’s top contenders:
The fact that China will win almost all gold medals in table tennis is a surefire bet. Whether in the women’s or the men’s singles – since 1988 the People’s Republic has won 28 of 32 possible gold medals in table tennis.
But this is exactly where the first scandal of the Tokyo Games occurred: In table tennis, players repeatedly wipe the table with their wet hands or blow on the ball. What may seem like a fad to some has a big impact on the game. Should micro-drops from the players’ sweat wet the technically balanced balls, they develop a different spin when served – something that is especially important for the game of the Chinese top star Mǎ Lóng 马龙. At the Tokyo Olympics, however, wiping and blowing were banned on short notice for hygiene reasons, which is now causing great resentment, especially among the Chinese. Even before the first ball is served, there is already talk of manipulation and targeted discrimination.
But rule changes or not, the best table tennis players hail from China. In the men’s singles, it’s Mǎ and Fán Zhèndōng 樊振东, in the team competition Xǔ Xīn 许昕. However, Tomokazu Harimoto 張本智和, a Japanese of all people, has recently broken through the Chinese phalanx in the current world rankings and moved between the Chinese on to rank 3. Now, not only the Japanese hope that 18-year-old Harimoto will instill fear into reigning champion China. But, so far, China’s streak remains unbroken.
On the women’s side, Chén Mèng 陈梦 and Sūn Yǐngshā 孙颖莎 are China’s top players. But again, Japan’s Mima Ito 伊藤美誠 has slotted in between them at rank 2. Still, the two Chinese girls are to be considered a safe bet with local bookmakers.
While table tennis has been a clear-cut affair for China so far, high diving is even more so. China’s goal in Tokyo is to win everything. What may sound arrogant to some simply reflects the performance of Chinese athletes.
In the female category, eyes are mainly on Shī Tíngmào 施廷懋 and Zhāng Jiāqí 张家齐. Shī has already won two gold medals on the 3-meter board at the Rio Games – and was able to continue her streak in Tokyo on Sunday: one gold medal. Meanwhile, 17-year-old Zhang is the current world champion on the 10-meter board, but is competing at the Olympics for the first time. In synchronized diving, she is expected to win with Chen Yuxi. And China has another ace up its sleeve, or rather on the 10-meter tower: Quán Hóngchán 全红婵. At just 14 years old, she is the youngest Chinese athlete competing in Tokyo – and yet already a winner: At 13 she already won the national championships in China.
Among men, China’s safest hopes for gold are probably Chén Àisēn 陈艾森 and Cáo Yuán 曹缘 at the synchronized 10-meter springboard.
American football coach Vince Lombardi supposedly once said: Winning is a habit. In badminton, for many years, Lín Dān 林丹 had such a habit. The Chinese athlete from Fujian won match after match, twice gold, the world championship five times, the All England six times – and at 28, all major tournaments – the only player in the world so far to do so. But for the Tokyo Games, the main message is that Super Dān is out. Perhaps the greatest player of all time has fallen victim to the postponement of the Olympics. The Tokyo competitions would have been his fifth Games and were supposed to be the crowning achievement of his career. But while the Games were postponed, Super Dān stuck to his plan and ended his career this summer at the age of 37.
In his place, Chén Lóng 谌龙 will take part in the Games. However, the Rio Olympic champion has lost form dramatically of late. So if you’re thinking about betting on the outcome of the tournaments, and you are a little shy of the risk, Japan’s Kento Momota 桃田賢斗 might be a better choice this time around.
In the female category, Chén Yǔfēi 陈雨菲 is going for gold for China. But this is where it gets complicated, both athletically and politically. On the athletic front, Japanese Nozomi Okuhara 奥原希望 is also a strong contender. On the political part, because Tai Tzu-Ying also has good chances of winning the gold medal – for Taiwan, which is taking part in the Olympic Games under the name Chinese Taipei. So the win might go to China, after all, some political observers might object. But sport can be wonderfully complicated sometimes.
For a long time, there was no way of beating China’s athletes. But now there is. India, Italy and Germany, in particular, have pushed past the People’s Republic to the top of the podium from time to time. But Yang Qian 杨倩 has proven on Saturday in the women’s 10-meter air pistol discipline, that China is still a force to be reckoned with. And if winning would solely depend on current form, Xióng Yàxuān 熊亚瑄 would shoot another gold medal for China. After all, the 24-year-old shooter set a new record in 25-meter pistol shooting in March.
While China is becoming a political and economic heavyweight, its strengths in weightlifting lie more in the lighter classes. In the men’s division, these are primarily Lǐ Fābīn 李发彬 (61 kg), Chén Lìjūn 谌利军 (67 kg), Shí Zhìyǒng 石智勇 (73 kg) and Lǚ Xiǎojūn 吕小军 (81 kg). They are all current world champions in their respective classes, while Li, Shi and Lu also hold the current world records. Chen and Li also won their first gold medals on Sunday.
China’s women’s team is also strong in the truest sense of the word. Although missing Rio gold medalist Dèng Wēi 邓薇 (64 kg) and current world record holder Jiǎng Huìhuā 蒋惠花 (55 kg), Hóu Zhìhuì 侯志慧 (49 kg) showed on Saturday just how strong China’s women are. She is hardly inferior to Liào Qiūyún 廖秋云 (55 kg), Wāng Zhōuyǔ 汪周雨 (87 kg) and Lǐ Wénwén 李雯雯 (87 kg), so at least one more gold medal should be lifted for the People’s Republic. But there is a political pitfall here as well; Kuo Hsing-chun (59 kg). The 27-year-old is a four-time world champion and has won both the Universade and Asian Games. In Tokyo, Kuo is now expected to win gold – for Taiwan or, as previously mentioned: for Chinese Taipei. But Kuo also has a problem: “Postponing the Games for a year is a big challenge because I am now almost 27 years old. Age worries me,” Kuo told the South China Morning Post. Worries one could only wish for.
Here, it seems as if the good old days for China are actually coming slowly to an end. In 2008 in Beijing, China could still win 11 gold medals – nine more medals than the USA and Russia combined. But in Rio 2016 only one silver and four bronze medals were won by the People’s Republic. And the prospects for Tokyo have not improved much. However, China’s gymnasts should not be written off just yet. During the Covid pandemic, they didn’t participate in any world championships but trained diligently in China. And so at least one gold tip should work out: Gāo Lěi 高磊 is and remains the king of the trampoline.
The flag bearers in Team China are volleyball player Zhū Tíng 朱婷 and taekwondo fighter Zhào Shuài 赵帅. Both definitely have chances to return home with gold. China’s women volleyball players already won gold in Rio. But then Zhū Tíng 朱婷 was missing – and with her, luck also left the team. Now at least Zhū Tíng 朱婷 is back as captain.
Zhào Shuài 赵帅 was also able to win gold in Rio. But the taekwondo fighter also faces a challenge this time. In Rio, he was able to beat all competitors at 58 kg. But in the past five years, Zhào Shuài 赵帅 has gained weight and now has to compete in the 68 kg weight class, where he is ranked only third in the world rankings behind South Korea’s Lee Dae-hoon and Britain’s Bradly John Sinden.
So the fight for the medals in Tokyo sure will be exciting. But when China looks at the medal table of Tokyo, some people’s thoughts dwell on the near future. By postponing the Summer Games by a year, the Winter Games in Beijing are already starting just a few months later. “Because the Winter Games are right around the corner, China wants to spark sports euphoria with good results in Tokyo,” writes Chinese sports blogger Ma Bowen on Weibo. “If Chinese people feel the vibe in Tokyo, they will pay much more attention to the Beijing Games afterward.”
Since 2019, Christian Straube has been working as a program manager for the China Program of the Asienhaus Foundation. Together with his colleague Joanna Klabisch, Straube strives to promote civil society dialogue with China. “Chinese civil society faces some of the very same challenges as civil societies in Germany and Europe do, although structured differently,” he says. “We especially see overlapping in terms of classic environmental issues, urban architecture and gender.”
The “EU-China NGO Twinning Program”, which he co-supervised and which has since been discontinued, showed him how valuable cooperation at the civil society level is. And this is despite the fact that the framework conditions are becoming tighter and tighter: “It is increasingly difficult to engage in bottom-up dialogue,” Straube notes. The legal requirements have become stricter since the Non-Governmental Organization Management Law (“FNGO Law”) was signed at the beginning of 2017. Topics with potential for social conflicts, such as feminism with regard to the role of women in society, are to be more strictly censored. “As soon as a social component comes into play, you have to be careful how you frame the dialogue format,” says Christian Straube.
However, not only China with its strict guidelines are causing difficulties. On the German side, Straube complains about the frequent lack of awareness of diversity. He often encounters the idea that the Chinese population is “partly homogeneously controlled and that there is no civil society activity”. That is why one goal of the China program by the Asienhaus Foundation, is to strengthen China competence in Europe as well as to create an awareness of society in China among political decision-makers. Through publications, the program managers try to facilitate access to information in Germany. Despite everything, Straube does not see himself as a China expert: “I think you can have an idea about aspects of China. I often miss a little more humility when it comes to China“.
Where does his passion for Asia come from? It was “laid in his cradle“, as he says. His father studied Asian studies at Humboldt University, but both of his grandfathers already had professional contacts in Asia. This is particularly remarkable because his family lived in the GDR. Christian Straube himself was drawn to Asia at an early age. Through the AFS exchange association, he spent a school year abroad in Malaysia.
During his stay, he regularly hung out with people from the Chinese community and got to know the Chinese New Year, among other things. Later, he studied Modern Sinology, Economics and South Asian Politics at the Ruprecht Karls University in Heidelberg and wrote his thesis on the Chinese abroad in Malaysia during the Chinese Xinhai Revolution. Everyday conversations in Chinese do not pose a problem for Straube. However, he sees it as an acute challenge to preserve the language. After all, he not only speaks Chinese but also Bemba. For his doctoral thesis, Straube went to Zambia, where he intended to research Chinese companies in the African copper belt. But access to research proved so difficult that he had to adjust the focus of his research again. “The industry doesn’t like to put its cards on the table.
Nevertheless, he was able to complete his dissertation in 2018. The resulting book tells the story of material and social decay, as well as renewal in a former mining settlement. Christian Straube did not let his experiences with China’s increasingly dubious reputation in the world demotivate him. Together with his colleague, he has set up a new project at the Asienhaus Foundation: Civil society dialogue in the context of the new Silk Road is to be strengthened. Organizations from relevant countries are to be networked for this very purpose. Paula Faul
In the fast lane with lots of horsepower and pedal to the metal? Watch out, don’t turn the car over! In a figurative sense, this also applies to China’s data highways. Just one mistake in the upper ranks of Internet stars and influencers can cause a heavy crash.
翻车 fānchē – literally “the car rolls over” – is what this phenomenon is called in Chinese. The most recent example of such a “crash” is Chinese celebrity Wu Yifan (吴亦凡 Wú Yìfán). For a long time, the singer, dancer and actor, who once made his breakthrough as a member of a K-pop boy band, roared through China’s celebrity Olympus, seemingly unchecked, with numerous lucrative advertising deals “in his glove compartment”, including Louis Vuitton, Bulgari, Porsche and L’Oréal.
However, for the past few days, the 30-year-old playboy has been stumbling amid a fierce “MeToo” storm. Several women are accusing the star of sexual assault, some of whom were reportedly underage at the time of the incident. They accuse Wu of a Weinstein-style exploitation scheme. Wu denies the allegations, and his PR team’s counter-campaign is in full swing. But the Chinese A-list celebrity’s career seemingly crashed into a wall. All major advertising partners have already terminated their cooperation. It seems to be a rollover scenario par excellence.
Incidentally, the Chinese character 翻 fān literally means (among other things) “to turn over,” or “to turn the page” (翻页 fānyè – to turn a page). It also appears, for example, in the word “translate”(翻译 fānyì). The trending term 翻车 fānchē stems from a tag cloud around the car driving motif that has spread in Chinese net and youth language in recent years. It all started with the catchphrase 老司机 lǎosījī “accomplished chauffeur” – a synonym for someone who knows all the nooks and crannies of their métier like the back of their hand, offering others a “lift” through foreign terrain. Thanks to the “route knowledge” and help of the “lǎosījī”, others thus reach their destination more easily.
Originally, “lǎosījī” was used mainly in forums and chats to refer to savvy surfers who had download links to all sorts of resources (资源 zīyuán), e.g. games, videos, music and e-books. If these “chauffeurs” shared their sources with other users, it was called “driving the car”(开车 kāichē). Those who downloaded the whole thing as freeloaders “got in the car”(上车 shàngchē). And those who were looking for download links (求资源 qiú zīyuán) were best to ask an experienced driver to “give them a ride”(老司机带带我！Lǎosījī dàidai wǒ!). If the link got deleted, the Internet jargon was 翻车 – free travel on the information superhighway then came to a sudden stop. Later, “fānchē” also became a buzzword in the Chinese gaming scene. If a successful favorite was surprisingly knocked off its pedestal, the term “car rollover” was used here as well.
Today, “fānchē” has long since entered the Chinese everyday vocabulary, and – depending on the context – as a synonym for “screw something up” or “flop”, as a winner to “take a beating” or – to stay with the car theme – to “hit the wall”. With this in mind, always keep an eye on the road!
Verena Menzel runs the online language school New Chinese in Beijing.
