Shortly before his imminent China trip, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, Sigmar Gabriel (SPD), has announced a tougher gait against Beijing to protect German and European technologies from selling. "Nobody can assume that Europe will accept the foul play of trading partners," Gabriel writes in a guest contribution for the "world".

Germany is one of the most open economies in the world. "This makes it all the more difficult for us to make direct investments by European companies more difficult in China and to be allowed only under discriminatory conditions, but that China itself has a long list of interesting companies on its doorstep - with the obvious intention to adopt key strategic technologies "Says Gabriel.

Last week, the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology had blocked the sale of the chip equipment manufacturer Aixtron, which had originally been rated as safe, to Chinese investors to re-examine the takeover plans. For the future, Gabriel is planning a better deal to counter unwelcome takeovers from non-European countries.

Gabriel: "Fair rules, which all hold"

"It must also be clear that Germany and Europe will create instruments for the future in order to protect safety-relevant technologies, where this is necessary," the guest contribution continues. "We will continue to welcome foreign investors with a real economic interest. We will, however, learn to distinguish cases in which a state-owned company combines technology appropriation with geopolitical expansion. "