'Better off thanks to China': German companies double down on resurgent giant

Masks and medical gear

The disruptions caused by the pandemic are exposing Europe's dependencies in certain areas.

A new survey from the Berlin-based Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS), shared exclusively with Reuters, found more than 100 product categories in which the EU has a critical strategic dependence on imports from China.

"Europe critically depends on Chinese imports for the pharmaceutical, chemical and electronics sectors, mostly on components produced in technologically less sophisticated areas of the value chain," MERICS researcher Max Zenglein said.

Reuters