According to Channel NewsAsia’s article published on November 17, 2022, BASF Chief Executive Martin Brudermueller still sees China as a growth market despite unfavourable political developments, but there are "red lines" for the company's presence there, he told the Handelsblatt newspaper on Thursday.
There are "red lines for us, which are based on our value system and corporate principles. Once they are crossed, we cannot go any further," said Brudermueller, who expressed concern about less political plurality in the Communist Party.
At the same time, there needs to be more balance in Germany's current discussions about China, said Brudermueller, who travelled to China with Chancellor Olaf Scholz this month together with other top executives.
"Of course there are unfavourable developments there. But not everything is suddenly bad," said Brudermueller.
BASF plans to build a 10 billion euro chemical complex in Zhanjiang, southern China, to run entirely on renewable energy, as it banks on booming Asian markets and looks to reduce reliance on Europe, defying heightened concerns in the German government over economic dependence on China.
