Changes in Germany’s perception of the People’s Republic of China, its global role, and its policies had been underway for some time, but the Zeitenwende meant particularly two things for Germany’s China policy. First, Germany recognized China did not stand at Germany’s and the West’s sides in condemning and aiming to stop Russia, but rather, on the contrary, China turned out to be an active Russia-neutral actor that has been using the Russian invasion of Ukraine for its own goals. And second, Germany acknowledged its critical dependency on imports and vulnerable supply chains from China at a time of conflicting paradigms and an increasing weaponization of trade.