In a significant shift in the global economic landscape, Chinese companies have become the largest source of investment projects in Germany. According to an annual report released by the federal agency Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI), firms from the Chinese mainland overtook the United States for the first time since 2017 during the 2025 calendar year.
The data reveals a contrasting trend between leading global economies. In 2025, Chinese firms launched 228 investment projects in Germany, marking a 14.6% increase from the previous year. In contrast, US companies accounted for 206 projects, representing a 10% year-on-year decline, while Switzerland ranked third with 174 projects, down 13.9%.
While the total number of investment projects from outside Germany fell by 9.3% to 1,564—reflecting a challenging global investment environment—the country showed remarkable resilience. The GTAI report noted that the decline in Germany was significantly lower than the roughly 18% drop seen across the broader European Union.
The nature of these investments indicates a strategic pivot toward high-value industries. Chinese investors demonstrated the strongest interest in digitalization, energy, transport, logistics, electronics, and automation. Notably, more than one in five Chinese projects involved production and research-and-development (R&D) activities, a rate that exceeds the overall average for other international projects in Germany.
This trend suggests a deepening integration of Chinese firms into Germany's local industrial base. Thomas Bozoyan, a GTAI expert and the report's author, highlighted that Chinese companies are continuously expanding their footprint, particularly in knowledge-intensive services and cutting-edge future technologies.
"This not only underlines Germany's long-term attractiveness for Chinese investors, but also reflects the accelerating international expansion and global ambitions of Chinese companies," Bozoyan stated.
Reference(s):
China ranks as Germany's top source of investment projects in 2025
cgtn.com
