‌Trade is the bedrock of the relationship between China and Germany. For the last seven years in a row, China has been Germany's foremost trading partner.‌

As the German economy faces up to the realities of recession, that will prove more and more important. This month, Chinese manufacturers of consumer goods have been showing off their wares in Essen in person for the first time since COVID restrictions were lifted.

More than 500 Chinese suppliers displayed over 20,000 products, including household goods, electronics, clothing and furniture. After several years away because of the pandemic, China's consumer manufacturers are back meeting face-to-face with one of their largest markets.

‌Among them is electronic bike and scooter manufacturer Rulind, based out of Shenzen. Their export manager Mao Chenfeng told CGTN that it's crucial to show you have a product that takes environmental concerns seriously.

"Environmental protection is very important to our friends worldwide, so our products and all the packaging we use accord to strict international requirements," she said. 

"We have stringent inspections by the consumer standards authority in Germany, and we also have to make sure that what we sell can be disposed of safely and sustainably when its life comes to an end. Our aim is to ensure that our products meet the standards and then bring an environmentally friendly product to everyone."

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Batteries are most definitely included at this gathering of Chinese manufacturers. Another Shenzen-based company, Best Technology, is banking on communal power banks being the future of phone charging on the go. 

The idea is that you scan a code on the terminal, and it gives you a charger to fit your device, which you rent. Wang Gongmei, director of the company's international department, is pitching these as the way to stop European festival-goers running out of juice this summer, with one eye on the sustainability of the finite resources in batteries.

"Our power banks are shared, and this will reduce the purchase of power banks," she notes. "If everyone owns their own, at some point, it will just be sitting idle. That's a waste of resources. The number of power banks is very harmful to the earth, it can cause pollution, but we all need power. That's why we are promoting the shared power bank model."

Chinese products seeking to reduce their environmental impact has certainly struck a chord with German-based businesses scouting for new products – as the owner of Rusty Bikes bicycle products Yigit Karakas tells CGTN.

‌"We're living in the 21st Century – the last 20 years, we start to understand the importance of environment-friendly products more," he says. "That's an important point for the producers, for the sellers – how we can make it more environment-friendly, step by step."

‌Many of the products imported from China into Europe end up here in Duisburg, the continent's largest inland container hub. In the first three months on 2023, the port enjoyed a 187 percent year-on-year increase of goods coming through its terminals.

It comes as China's export economy springs back into action following COVID slowdowns, and it's crucial for a German economy which slipped into recession in the first part of this year. Trade between Berlin and Beijing was worth around $320 billion in 2022 – and trade fairs like the one in Essen will look to send that number northwards.

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