The vice chancellor of Germany has reportedly proposed tightening the screening process for foreign direct investment from China,Rober Habeck, a member of the Green coalition and federal minister for economic affairs and climate action, said the tightening of restrictions on Chinese foreign investment would be in “critical sectors,” which include semiconductors and artificial intelligence .
It aims to consolidate and simplify a number of existing rules pertaining to sectors in which China is dominant, such as those mentioned above. He also reportedly proposed cracking down on Chinese efforts to bypass existing rules. This proposal comes a month after comments from Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s minister for foreign affairs, during a speech warning of China becoming increasingly “repressive internally and more aggressive externally.”