Traveling to the boom region: Merz and Steinmeier in Asia at the same time

Building partnerships Merz and Steinmeier travel to Asia As of: October 26, 2026 • 4:31 a.m

Chancellor Merz is visiting Singapore, Japan and South Korea - and is likely to try to expand partnerships to reduce dependence on China. Federal President Steinmeier is a guest there

"Foreign Chancellor" Friedrich Merz doesn't particularly mind being called that - mostly by critics. Quite the opposite. A German chancellor has to take care of foreign policy, Merz emphasizes again and again and adds: "Foreign policy, foreign trade policy and economic policy go hand in hand." That's why he always talks about Germany's strategic economic interests on his trips abroad.

This is particularly true for his five-day trip to the Indo-Pacific region: Singapore, Japan and South Korea - all three countries are "central for us to reduce critical, one-sided dependencies," said the Chancellor when he announced the Asia trip in his government statement in the Bundestag in mid-October. “This is currently a key task of our interest-based foreign policy and our economic policy,” emphasized the CDU leader.

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Reducing dependencies: This primarily refers to the People's Republic of China. The giant that dominates everything in the Indo-Pacific region economically, technologically, geopolitically and militarily - with ambitions far beyond.

It is all the more interesting that Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is going on a state visit to China parallel to the Chancellor's trip. Government circles say that the Federal President's visit will probably be strongly influenced by the fact that it takes place at a moment "when Germany is rebalancing its China policy." A number of decisions have been made about this in the past few weeks.

In Germany and Europe there are great concerns about unfair competitive conditions in trade with the giant empire. High state subsidies from Beijing, overcapacity in production and aggressive prices are massively damaging the German economy - as is the national currency, which is kept artificially low by China.

"We will no longer stand idly by," Merz announced in his government statement, without mentioning the People's Republic by name. “Anyone who seeks out the trade conflict with us will feel that we are now defending ourselves - with appropriate reactions,” emphasized the Chancellor, referring to new trade protection instruments that the EU Commission is planning.

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The Federal President's Office said that during his visit Steinmeier wanted to talk about the problematic economic relations, about fairness and how trade conflicts can be avoided. A meeting with state and party leader Xi Jinping is planned for Friday. Then it should also be about the war in Ukraine. The Federal President wants to encourage China to use its influence on Russia to stop the attacks and enable serious negotiations to end the war.

The Ukraine war will also play a role on the sidelines of the Chancellor's trip, when Merz holds political talks with the respective heads of government of Singapore, Japan and South Korea. The Chancellor's various appointments are primarily about expanding the partnership with these three important industrial countries. "De-risking", increasing competitiveness and innovation - that's what it should be about, among other things, according to government circles.

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“If the Chancellor now goes to Singapore, Japan and South Korea, then he will hit at the heart of our ambitions to do more with these industrial partners,” says Wolfgang Niedermark, member of the executive board of the Federation of German Industries (BDI). After China, Japan is Germany's second most important trading partner in Asia, while South Korea is in third place. The island and city state of Singapore is considered the central economic hub for Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific.

“In recent years we have perhaps relied too much on China, which is of course a key industrial partner,” says Niedermark, a proven Asia expert. "We now see for a variety of reasons, mainly geopolitical, but also industrial competition with China, that we have to distribute the risk differently."

Niedermark and other top BDI representatives are traveling this week first to China and from there to Seoul. The “Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business” will take place in the South Korean capital from October 29th to 31st. The high-level meeting with around 1,000 participants from politics, business and science will be opened by Merz on Thursday.

Economics Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU) will take over the management of the conference together with Siemens CEO Roland Busch. “It is good and important to maintain these relationships,” emphasizes BDI representative Niedermark, referring to the high-ranking business delegation that accompanies the Chancellor in the government plane to Asia. On board, among others, are representatives from the industrial and technology companies, defense and energy sectors. However, the federal government usually does not disclose the names of participants until departure.

Niedermark thinks it's "great" that Merz and Steinmeier are traveling to the booming Asia-Indo-Pacific region at the same time. Commitment on different tracks is necessary: ​​"We have to continue to talk to China. But at the same time we have to look for new alliances with established and new partners in the Asian region."

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This topic in the program: BR24 Radio | News | Oct 26, 2026 | 08:10 amtagesschau.de | Strengthen partnerships: Merz travels to Asia for five days | Oct 26, 2026 | 4:30am