‘Domesticating’ China Through Economics? The Logic of West Germany’s China Policy 1974–1990

Was West Germany’s China policy economically driven, and since when? Amid growing concerns over value-based and systemic rivalry, recent scholarship has foregrounded the economic dimension of Germany’s China policy. This article argues that, although economic interests gained prominence in Sino–German relations by the late Cold War, they were fundamentally underpinned by strategic considerations. Focusing on the period from 1974 to 1990, it examines how China was integrated into Bonn’s strategic outlook prior to German unification, and how this strategic rationale gradually receded thereafter, giving way to the predominance of economic considerations. It also shows that West Germany, driven by optimistic expectations about China’s future, consciously downplayed ideological differences and value-based conflicts in bilateral relations. By the late 1980s, a symbiotic relationship had already formed between German firms and the Chinese market, rooted in long-term optimism and pragmatic engagement.