Otto Wolff's Trip to China and the West German-Chinese Trade Agreement in 1957

The trip of Otto Wolff to China in 1957 and the subsequent bilateral trade agreement created direct trade relations between West Germany and China and built channels of communication and trust among trade officials, businessmen, and mid-level diplomats in these two countries. The role played by Wolff and his fellows at the Ostausschuss, as well as their Chinese interlocutors was equally important in the negotiations towards an agreement. The decision to engage with China through private business ventures ultimately created a model with lasting commercial success. However, inherent flaws of the agreement and an intertwinement of political and economic factors together led to the nonrenewal of the 1957 agreement, which also demonstrate the limit of multinationals and business associations in building economic relations without political and diplomatic relations during this phase of the Cold War.