FRANKFURT, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- The German economy is more dependent on China as a supplier than ever before, according to a report published by the German Economic Institute (IW) on Thursday.
Last year, Germany's trade deficit with China grew to more than 84 billion euros (90.4 billion U.S. dollars), double the volume in 2021, the institute said.
The reason for the "exceptional" growth was merchandise imports from China, which increased by over 33 percent year-on-year in 2022. In comparison, the growth rate of imports from China was 9 percent higher than the overall growth rate of imports from all countries combined.
"The strong increase last year is probably a sign that the development was not only coronavirus-related, but has lasted longer," Juergen Matthes, head of the research unit for international economics and economic outlook at the IW, said.
Meanwhile, Germany's exports to China increased by 3 percent, while its exports to the world as a whole rose by 14 percent. As a result, China fell from second to fourth place in the list of Germany's most important export destinations, the IW said.
"The Chinese economy is too big to decouple from it completely. No one wants that, and it doesn't make sense," Matthes added. ■