GChina is Germany's biggest trading partner, having surpassed the US for the second consecutive year - yet recent events have threatened this happy state.

That's because China's President Xi Jinping has tightened his grip on day-to-day life, making the state apparatus more intrusive even to the point of lodging Communist Party agents in Germany's Chinese subsidiaries.

One must keep in mind that Germany has had bad experiences with authoritarianism. In fact, in an otherwise free-speech country, Germans can be jailed simply for advocating the return of National Socialism or anything that resembles it.

This sensitivity has recently been expressed by unhappy noises from the German Industry and Commerce in China and the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce in China.

Before dismissing such concerns, what should be weighed by the host country is the size, health and enormous influence Germany has in Europe compared to all other EU partners. And with Britain departing next year, that influence will soon be considerably larger and commanding.

Like other westerners, the Germans are upset with the abolition of presidential term limits, increasing restrictions on internet access, but most importantly, the insistence of embedding Communist Party agents must be hired by wholly-owned foreign companies.

German trade groups have warned that members of the German business community in China are concerned about a request from the ruling Communist Party to set up cells in their companies and will pull out of the market to avoid such outcomes.

“We do not believe that foreign-invested companies generally should be required to promote the development of any political party within company structures,” the joint statement said.

“Should these attempts to influence foreign-invested companies continue, it cannot be ruled out that German companies might retreat from the Chinese market or reconsider investment strategies.”

The Communist Party has been trying to make inroads into foreign-funded companies since President Xi came to power and began pushing to increase its role in all aspects of life in China, Reuters reports.

“As far as I know, some foreign-funded companies have been required to offer full pay for at least one party branch member who would deal with the company’s party branch issues,” said Liu Kaiming, head of the Institute of Contemporary Observation, a Shenzhen-based think tank, reported Reuters.

Perhaps in response, German exports started to plunge in February, posting their biggest monthly drop in more than two years and narrowing the country’s trade surplus.

“It looks as if we have surpassed the top of the economic upswing. The German economy will continue to grow, but with less momentum,” said HSBC analyst Lothar Hessler.

Germany’s gross domestic product expanded 2.2 per cent last year, the strongest rate in six years. Economists had expected growth to accelerate in the first three months of 2018 after reaching 0.6 per cent quarterly growth at the end of 2017.

And there is much more to lose. Germany's trade with China rose to EUR186.6 billion (US$230 billion) last year, from EUR170.2 billion in 2016. China was also Germany's third biggest market valued at EUR86.2 billion.

Germany has what it calls a "social market economy" with a highly skilled labour force, a great capital resources and a high level of innovation.

It is the world's third largest exporter of goods, and has the largest national economy in Europe, which is also the world's fourth largest by nominal GDP.

With a population of 82 million, Germany is the biggest in the EU, the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, ranking 16th in the world.

The US, which was Germany’s biggest trading partner in 2015 when it surpassed France in the role, remained the biggest export market for German companies.

The data highlights the importance of both China and the United States for Germany. US President Donald Trump has criticised Germany’s large global trade surplus and the data showed the United States had the biggest bilateral trade deficit with Germany last year at EUR50.5 billion.

France, which was Germany’s biggest trading partner for more than five decades until 2015, is now in fourth place. The Netherlands became Germany’s second-biggest trading partner.

France’s bilateral trade with Germany totalled EUR169.4 billion last year, but it remained the second-most important export destination for German goods with purchases of EUR105.2 billion.

Germany has the largest national economy in Europe, the fourth-largest by nominal GDP in the world. In 2017, the country accounted for 28 per cent of the euro zone economy, according to the IMF.

The economy of Germany is the largest manufacturing economy in Europe and it is less likely to be affected by the financial downturn and conduct applied research with practical industrial value and sees itself as a bridge between the latest university insights and industry-specific product and process improvements, and by generating a great deal of knowledge in its own laboratories as well.

It has posted the highest trade surplus in the world worth $310 billion, making it the biggest capital exporter globally. Germany is the third largest exporter in the world with EUR1.21 trillion in goods and services.

The service sector contributes 70 per cent of GDP, industry 29.1 per cent, and agriculture 0.9 per cent. Exports account for 41 per cent of national output. The top 10 exports of Germany are vehicles, machinery, chemical goods, electronic products, electrical equipment, pharmaceuticals, transport equipment, basic metals, food products, and rubber and plastics.

In July 2017, the International Monetary Fund gave the country's economy "yet another bill of good health" and some advice on steps it might take to maintain this level in the long run.

Germany is rich in timber, potash, salt, uranium, copper and natural gas. Energy in Germany is sourced predominantly by fossil fuels (50 per cent), followed by nuclear power second, then gas, wind, biomass (wood and biofuels), hydro and solar.

Germany is the first major industrialised nation to commit to the renewable energy transition called Energiewende. Germany is the leading producer of wind turbines in the world.

Renewables now produce over 27 per cent of electricity consumed in Germany.

Ninety-nine per cent of all German companies belong to the German "Mittelstand," small and medium-sized enterprises, which are mostly family-owned. Of the world's 2,000 largest publicly listed companies measured by revenue, the Fortune Global 2000, 53 are headquartered in Germany, with the top 10 being Allianz, Daimler, Volkswagen, Siemens, BMW, Deutsche Telekom, Bayer, BASF, Munich Re and SAP.

Germany is the world's top location for trade fairs. Around two thirds of the world's leading trade fairs take place in Germany. The largest annual international trade fairs and congresses are held in several German cities such as Hanover, Frankfurt, Cologne, Leipzig and Dusseldorf.