Deals
For Merkel, Some China Investments Are More Welcome Than Others
- Geely’s Li set to meet with Chancellery officials in Berlin
- European governments increasingly wary of Chinese investment
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Two weeks ago, in an otherwise unremarkable speech in a small town near the Baltic Sea, Chancellor Angela Merkel raised the specter of the “huge challenge” to German industry posed by China.
Meeting that challenge has moved center stage in Berlin after Chinese billionaire Li Shufu’s accumulation of a $9 billion stake in Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler AG. Li’s sudden emergence as the luxury carmaker’s largest shareholder exposes a dilemma for Merkel’s incoming administration: which investments are welcome, and what to do about those that are not?