Deutschland AG continues to pour billions into China

THE IDEA of “political change through trade” has lost its appeal across much of the West as China has grown more, not less, authoritarian under President Xi Jinping. That has not stopped Karl Haeusgen, chairman of Hawe, a maker of hydraulic pumps, from believing in the long-term success of its German version, Wandel durch Handel.

Mr Haeusgen has a self-interested reason for optimism. China accounts for about one-quarter of Hawe’s sales. This will grow substantially once a 25,000-square-metre factory in Wuxi near Shanghai is finished. On January 1st Ye Jiang, an engineer who has worked for the family firm since 1999, joined its management board as its first Chinese member.