THE German counterintelligence warned today them companies to be in stand-bybecause of the industrial espionage carried out by Beijing, warning them nDon’t be naive about China but not overly dependent either.

The warning from the deputy head of the Federal Agency for the Protection of the Constitution, Sinan Selen, came days after three German nationals were arrested on suspicion of handing over technology with military applications – a case that highlighted growing concern across Western Europe about with Chinese espionage.

Germany is seen as particularly under threat because of its strong industrial sector and good business relations with China, its main trading partner. Chancellor Olaf Solz visited China just 10 days ago accompanied by a business delegation.

The government has urged companies to reduce their exposure to risks in China, the world’s second-largest economy, but critics say many still focus on short-term profit over long-term strategy.

“I think we are on a course of change, from a very naïve and over-optimistic attitude towards other economic partners, to a more realistic, perhaps more resilient and diversified attitude in terms of cooperation and protection of Germany as a business location,” Selen said. .

“We have numerous examples where a perhaps too optimistic and positive attitude towards trade with China has led to the practical dissolution of these companies,” he said at an event on China’s impact on the security of German companies.

One issue, he said, is that Chinese businesses insist they are completely private, but in reality they are subject to and supported by Chinese state interests.

And China’s ultimate goal is to become the world’s largest economic, technological and political power by 2049, he said.

“German actors are not only interacting with these Chinese counterparts, with their trading partners,” he said. “In the background you have the entire Chinese state … pursuing its own interests and using all necessary and available resources to that end.”

Areas of particular interest to China include aerospace technology, robotics, electromobility and energy-saving technology, biomedicine and information technology, he said.

German counterintelligence wants to increasingly monitor Chinese activities in terms of university spin-offs and start-ups as Beijing seeks to acquire civil-military technologies through research cooperation.

Selen said Germany generally faces major espionage challenges.

The arrest last week of two German-Russian nationals on suspicion of plotting sabotage attacks, including on US military installations, showed a “new quality” in espionage operations that goes beyond intelligence gathering and influencing society.