威力彩玩法

China and Germany share a 鈥淒ream鈥� and a 鈥淭reasure鈥� 鈥� two giant pandas personally delivered to Berlin Zoo by President Xi Jinping on a two-day visit to Germany ahead of the G20 summit in Hamburg.

Panda diplomacy has been a longstanding feature of Chinese foreign policy, demonstrating close ties to a partner country. Germany and China, two outstanding economic powerhouses of the last decade, are going into the summit with a public show of unity to preserve the conditions they thrive on at a summit especially aroused by questions concerning energy and climate.

Apart from Mengmeng and Jiao Qing, as the two pandas are called in Chinese, both also share the 鈥渄ream鈥� of putting the global economy on track towards a sustainable and low-carbon energy future, an idea promoted by the German G20 presidency and by that of China in the year before . And the countries with the in the world also share the 鈥渢reasure鈥� of being prepared to massively benefit from a shift towards renewable energy generation.

Consequently, US President Donald Trump鈥檚 announcement to pull his country out of the Paris deal was strongly denounced by Beijing and Berlin. On his visit to the German capital, Xi vowed to back Merkel鈥檚 focus on climate protection at the G20 summit, promising Chinese support for 鈥減ositive progress鈥� towards a greener ecomony.

Merkel thanked her guest for his support, saying together their countries could convince sceptics to stick to the goals of the Paris Agreement. 鈥淎lthough I don鈥檛 know what the result will be,鈥� she cautioned.

"A collective sigh of relief"

This can be seen as a positive development by those who had hoped Trump鈥檚 opt-out might galvanise an axis between China and Germany to further the Paris Agreement鈥檚 aims and replace America鈥檚 leadership on climate diplomacy. Under Trump鈥檚 predecessor, Barack Obama, Washington was of the agreement.

鈥淭here was almost a collective sigh of relief across Europe when China reaffirmed its support of the climate agreement,鈥� Bj枚rn Conrad, researcher at the German think tank Mercator Institute for China Studies (), said at a conference on Sino-German climate cooperation a week before the Hamburg summit.

Although China and Germany are among the world鈥檚 biggest greenhouse gas emitters, , 鈥減robably more than many other countries, they have understood the economic opportunities that come with climate protection鈥� and are eager to 鈥渁void a downward spiral of declining ambitions,鈥� Conrad argues.

Germany鈥檚 Energiewende is a long-term project held close to the public鈥檚 heart, and is finally starting show potential for profitmaking. China, meanwhile, is experiencing the of three decades of rapid industrialisation and has shifted from being an obstacle to international climate diplomacy to the in the world.

Germany makes no secret of its ambitions to use its trademark Energiewende both to protect the climate and to as an of low-carbon technologies.

And although China鈥檚 energy-hungry economy each year, the country also is also a , boasts four of the and is set to in battery production, a key component for the success of renewables and electric mobility.

Shared "core interests" override disputed issues

From human rights and press freedom to copyright infringement and trade barriers, there are plenty of points of contention between Beijing and Berlin (). But Susanne Dr枚ge, climate policy researcher at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), says a diplomatic entente on energy policy is indeed viable.

鈥淚 see a common set of values arising as the basis of this alliance,鈥� Dr枚ge says. 鈥淭he Trump administration regards compliance as irrelevant,鈥� while China and Germany, together with the EU, are saying, 鈥渘o, rules are important and we鈥檒l abide by agreements like the one made in Paris.鈥�

Ongoing trade disputes between China and Germany over solar panels and steel production are a sticking point, Dr枚ge admits. 鈥淏ut they agree on settling these issues via institutions, like the WTO, that follow clear rules and don鈥檛 revert to populist slogans.鈥�

Karsten Sach, climate policy director at the Federal Environment Ministry (BMUB), says despite their differences, shared 鈥渃ore interests鈥� give Beijing and Berlin good reason to close ranks on climate policy and persuade other G20 members to continue the process initiated in Paris. Their governments must take a 鈥減ragmatic鈥� approach in Hamburg, 鈥渟how we are moving in the right direction and strive to find solutions,鈥� Sach says.

Germany鈥檚 chief climate diplomat says the countries could focus on existing initiatives, such as 鈥済etting carbon prices right鈥� via a jointly developed emissions trading system. Collaboration could also leverage green growth opportunities in fast-developing regions in Asia or Africa, he says. Merkel's and Xi's announcement in Berlin to intensify cooperation in joint projects in third countries, for instance in the framework of Bejing's New Silk Road Initiative, seemed to confirm Sach's assessment.

But the climate diplomat adds that they must also ramp up efforts to forge a common strategy on contentious issues like decarbonising transport, where China鈥檚 plans to introduce a mandatory electric car quota caught the German car industry unprepared.

According to Germany鈥檚 former environment minister Klaus T枚pfer, the Chinese initiative could ultimately help Germany address inevitable changes in the industry. Shortly after China announced its e-car quota plans in November 2016, T枚pfer mused that the planned policy, in the country that recently replaced the US as , could do more to speed up German carmakers鈥� historically sluggish shift to e-mobility than any piece of domestic legislation.

Relieve Germany's Energiewende of its "provincial character"

A tough Sino-German position on energy at the G20 might appear an ad-hoc alliance forged under pressure. But it is not entirely new. began in 2006, well before Trump began to disrupt international politics, and was formalised in mutual agreements on energy efficiency and renewables expansion in 2013.

Aside from high-level political alliances, there are numerous examples of Chinese-German cooperation on energy in academia, industry and civil society, says Shuwei Zhang, energy policy researcher for emerging economies at German think tank Agora Energiewende. 鈥淐hinese partners benefit from German energy policy methods,鈥� Zhang says.

The German example for setting up a detailed timeline for a gradual energy transition, as well as its transparency on the make-up of its energy system are valuable lessons for Chinese, he says.

Meanwhile, Germany benefits from a cheap supply of green energy technology from China. By lowering costs, China makes it possible to actually replace fossil fuels with renewables, Zhang argues. 鈥淐hina is not the origin of many energy transition technologies,鈥� he argues. 鈥淏ut its competitiveness lies in manufacturing costs.鈥�

Writing , Maximilian Meyer, a researcher at the Germany Institute at Tongji University in Shanghai, argues that China鈥檚 energy transition could help 鈥渞elieve the German energy debate of its provincial character鈥� 鈥� allowing the German Energiewende to realise its potential as part of a truly global transition.