China’s global expansion offers German firms opportunity – for now - South China Morning Post
Xinyi Wuin BeijingPublished: 4:00pm, 10 Sep 2026Updated: 6:21pm, 10 Sep 2026While German companies operating in China increasingly view the global expansion of local firms as a chance to collaborate, the window of opportunity is narrowing as Chinese firms rapidly develop the expertise needed to expand overseas on their own, according to a new report.
The internalisation of Chinese companies has emerged as the most frequently cited business opportunity for German firms in China, selected by 36 per cent of survey respondents and up from 20 per cent in 2022, according to a report published on Thursday by the German Chamber of Commerce in China.
Engagement takes several forms, with nearly half of surveyed German businesses supplying products or services to Chinese companies operating abroad, while a quarter help those companies meet international standards.
But the report – which drew on findings from the chamber’s 2025-2026 business-confidence survey of 627 member companies, as well as interviews with 11 executives between April and June this year – noted that these opportunities to collaborate would not last indefinitely.
“The broader finding is that Chinese companies are rapidly developing overseas experience themselves,” Oliver Oehms, executive director and board member of the German Chamber of Commerce in northern China, said at a press briefing in Beijing on Thursday.
“They are developing their own local networks or ecosystem, and obviously, they are quick learners, and they are getting familiar with the respective standards in the target market,” Oehms said, adding that German capabilities presenting partnership opportunities were becoming less distinctive over time.
Oehms noted that one executive from an automotive supplier called the next 18 months a “golden window to partner up”. Once that window closes, Chinese companies may have gained enough operational experience to expand globally on their own, the executive warned.
