German Chancellor Friedrich Merz travelled to Beijing with a delicate brief: vouch for a shrinking slice of big German firms still bullish on China, while defending the growing number being squeezed.
On day one of his first official visit, Merz trod the line carefully – voicing openness to resetting beleaguered bilateral ties, even while gently nudging his hosts on bugbears including subsidies, currency devaluation and Russia.
