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German economic minister Peter Atmaier has called for a state investment fund to pre-empt any foreign takeovers of the larger German tech companies. The proposal is part of an industrial strategy to create competitiveness between U.S. and Chinese companies and to create competency in technologies such as artificial intelligence and electric vehicles.
This may be a sign of German protectionism, which conflicts with the Christian Democrats’ free market principle, but the business sector is calling for a tougher approach to China, as they’ve noticed that Germany’s open model is falling prey to China’s state-dominant economy.