Mercedes-Benz has no plans to cut ties with China and it would be "unthinkable for almost all of German industry," said the boss of the luxury carmaker.

Chief executive Ola Kaellenius told tabloid newspaper Bild am Sonntag that it would make "no sense."

Europe is trying to reduce its dependency on individual nations as the disruption of the pandemic and the Ukraine crisis have highlighted the dangers of relying on dominant suppliers and the fragility of supply chains.

But Kaellenius said decoupling from China, the world's second largest economy, was "unthinkable for almost all of German industry."

He stated: "The major players in the global economy, Europe, the U.S. and China, are so closely intertwined that decoupling from China makes no sense."

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German carmakers depend on the Chinese car market, the world's largest, and Mercedes-Benz counts China's Beijing Automotive Group Co Ltd and Geely Chairman Li Shufu as its two top shareholders.

China accounted for 18 percent of revenues and 37 percent of car sales at Mercedes-Benz in 2022 and Kaellenius predicted more to come.

"Our sales figures in China are increasing and I am quite optimistic that we will also grow this year. During the corona years, the wealthier Chinese in particular made extraordinary savings," Kaellenius said. "This purchasing power should benefit us."

And last November Kallenius also spoke out against distancing from China, saying it was "absolutely inconceivable."

The comments came after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz led a delegation of business leaders to China.

Kallenius, speaking at an event at Berlin's ESMT business school, said he was deeply convinced of the benefits of globalization and that it was absolutely right for Scholz to be the first Western leader to visit President Xi Jinping after his term extension.

"To back away from China because something might happen would be the wrong direction," Kallenius said.

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