Germany urges China to assure level playing field

Germany’s Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said it does not see a level playing field for its companies in China and he has had no discussions with the Chinese government about the purchase of a German chip equipment maker.Just days before he left for a trip to China, his ministry withdrew approval for Fujian Grand Chip Investment Fund (FGC) to buy chip equipment maker Aixtron, citing new security concerns.“First of all we did not have a discussion on Aixtron,” he told reporters when asked about his discussions with Chinese government officials on Tuesday and Wednesday.On a trip to China earlier this week, he urged the Chinese government to reduce barriers to German firms wanting to do business there and establish a level playing field.He reiterated those points in Hong Kong on Friday.“What we need is a level playing field,” Gabriel said.“What we asked our Chinese colleagues for is that we want to have the same conditions in China.”