The German government is looking to become less dependent on China.

In a document published July 13 by the German federal government, entitled “Strategy on China,” the country said that it is not interested in decoupling with China, but it does want to become less dependent on the Asian nation across numerous industries, such as the medicine, battery and rare Earth elements sectors, according to CNN.

Germany said that it accepts competition with China and that it’s not looking to hinder the country's economic progress. However, de-risking from China is needed urgently.

“China has changed,” the document reads. “As a result of this and China’s political decisions, we need to change our approach to China. The federal government will, together in Europe and with international partners, define new parameters under which Germany’s interests will be upheld in its cooperation with China while living up to our global responsibility.”

The paper said that the German government will regularly report on its implementation of the “Strategy on China” and establish an exchange with business associations, trade unions and companies on how the plan is being executed in order to continue the consistent development of German-Chinese business relations.

While groups representing German companies that conduct business with China welcomed the new strategy, they still had some concerns about the plan and the paper, stating it mainly focused on de-risking while not providing enough of a framework for cooperation between China and German businesses.

Jens Hildebrandt, executive director of the North China branch of the German Chamber of Commerce, said the paper failed to address how Germany would be able to continue to participate in China’s economic growth without becoming overly dependent on the country.

China was Germany's single largest trading partner in 2022, with imports and exports between the two nations topping out at almost €300 billion ($335 billion) last year.