Germany intends to reach agreement within the coming weeks on a package of measures to counter what it calls China’s unfair trade practices. The German finance minister said this after visiting the BMW factory in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

According to Lars Klingbeil, a more critical view of China by German manufacturers has encouraged Friedrich Merz’s government, the German chancellor, to adopt a tougher line.

The German finance minister said: “You can see that a change is now also underway in German industry, and people there also have a more critical view of China. I consider it an incentive to clear the path for us in relation to China.”

He added that Germany is not seeking confrontation, but “China is no longer playing on the basis of the rules of the game, so we must arrange ourselves differently.”