Reliance on cheap Russian energy along with brutal competition from China has hit the German economy hard, and President-elect Trump's threat of tariffs are creating more uncertainty.

China and Germany should join forces to confront urgent global economic challenges, such as fragmentation and protectionism, said a German financial expert on Monday at the 10th China Day event within the framework of the 27th Euro Finance Week in Frankfurt.

Chinese media reported that Chinese leader Xi Jinping told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday that he hopes Germany will help resolve the issue of EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. The leaders' meeting took place on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Brazil.

EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles as well as the war in Ukraine were on the agenda as the leaders of two of the world's largest economies met on the sidelines of the summit in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro.