FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Mercedes-Benz Chief Executive Ola Källenius on Monday spoke out against distancing oneself from China, saying it was “absolutely inconceivable” to write off the country.
The comments came days after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz led a delegation of business leaders to China, urging German companies to diversify should the relationship between the two countries sour.
Källenius, speaking at an event at Berlin’s ESMT business school, said he was deeply convinced of the benefits of globalization and that it was absolutely right for Scholz to be the first Western leader to visit President Xi Jinping recently after his term extension.
“To back away from China because something might happen would be the wrong direction,” Källenius said.
(Reporting by Ilona Wissenbach; Writing by Tom Sims; Editing by Richard Chang)