However, this achievement carries costs. For instance, the EU integration process is only successful if the most powerful members sometimes concede to the smaller, less developed ones. In terms of subventions given by member states to the central EU administration for re-disbursement, the UK, France and Germany are the largest contributors, with Germany in front by a large margin. It is a massive net contributor to the EU. What is not so easy to deal with is an EU in which one of the members alone becomes economically and, almost inevitably, politically dominant. Currently, the UK is struggling to service a 12-percent deficit, France is consumed by arguments over union rights, migration and public services and Spain is suffering 20-percent unemployment. In this context, Germany's dominance is becoming increasingly obvious.

A dynamo for Europe

There are many ways in which Germany's recent success should be a cause for celebration. Its growth acts as a dynamo for the rest of the EU, and for the euro zone. But it is clear that increasing numbers of Germans are conscious of their unequal contribution to the EU as a whole, and are also aware of their increasing power. This lack of equilibrium creates nervousness among other EU partners. The system where there is, by and large, a reasonable balance of strength among central members is viewed as the one that works best. One partner way ahead will cause difficulties. Some German anger at Greece's problems highlighted this issue, with many voters asking why their tax money was going to pay for the bailout of a government they felt was treating its own public sector workers far too generously.

For China, it raises a different set of questions. China somehow must balance separate policies with the collective EU, and with the individual states within the EU. This has become increasingly demanding. There are times when it is clear that China would prefer the EU states work more closely with each other. But during the global economic crisis and the Group of 20 meetings, China was once more forced to deal bilaterally with countries such as France, Italy, Germany and the UK, largely because consensus had yet to be reached in the EU. While China sees the merits of having a large bloc to talk to as one, it often finds the EU's inability to reach agreement on key issues quickly extremely frustrating. The Lisbon Treaty has not yet remedied that.

Germany is a key provider of some of the most advanced technology in the world, and this is of great interest and significance to the Chinese. Cities such as Hamburg, because of their logistics links, have managed to attract large numbers of Chinese investors. There are direct air links between Frankfurt and Berlin and a large number of Chinese cities. Trading links between the two remain important. Even so, the UK overtook Germany last year as the largest destination for outward Chinese investment. And only a fraction of Chinese students chose to study in Germany, due to the lack of spoken English.

Other members of the EU have to rise to the German challenge, rather than complaining about it or feeling anxious. A new era of competitiveness has arrived, where developed countries must find sources of growth. They are competing not just with each other, but with emerging markets such as India, China and Brazil. Some of the advantages they had in the past are gone, never to return. Germany offers an example of how investment in education, in research and in hi-tech manufacturing, can work. Nearby countries now need to meet the challenge of competing with it, while also studying how it has achieved its current success.

The UK has already said that it feels its companies are underachieving in China. The huge consumer opportunities among the new Chinese middle class and other sectors of the population are not being fully explored. Germany shows that with the right approach and the right products, it can be done. The EU needs to stop worrying about a single member getting too far ahead, and start working so that everyone is trying to up their game to keep up. We say that copying someone is the best form of flattery. It is now time other members of the EU started copying Germany, and try to emulate its success.

The author is a senior fellow with Chatham House, London

(Viewpoints in this article do not necessarily represent those of Beijing Review)