The Washington PostThe Washington Post

Germany's 'China City' doesn't want you to call it that anymore

By Loveday Morris

22 May 2023 · 7 min read

Editor's Note

The western German city of Duisburg, known for its close economic connections to China, is steadily cutting back those ties. The shift reflects "a broader rethink in Europe" reports the Post.

DUISBURG, Germany - Trains laden with containers of clothes and solar panels straight from China still trundle into the station here about five times a day, but other plans to forge links between this German rust-belt city and Beijing have ground to a halt.

Duisburg's aspirations of using Chinese tech giant Huawei to modernize its administration, schools and traffic systems are on ice. Construction of a Chinese business hub on the Rhine River has been abandoned, and embarrassment hangs in the air.

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