Germany promotes its own Chinese expert team, when the country seeks to reduce Beijing's influence on universities.

The German Ministry of Education at the beginning of the week announced that they were investing 24 million EUR (28.4 million USD) into a program that lasted from 2017 to 2024 to strengthen independent Chinese research capacity in schools.

German Prime Minister Angela Merkel (right) and Chinese President on the Zoo in the zoo in Berlin 2017. Photo: AFP.

The purpose of the project is to support scientific and research cooperation with China based on European values, according to a statement from the Ministry of Education.

However, she added that such efforts must be conducted independently by Germany and calling for universities to cut off cooperation with the Confucius Institute, the Chinese State-providing Education Partner

I don't want the Chinese government to influence our universities and society, Karliczek said.

Since 2006, 19 Confucius Institute was established throughout Germany.

There are more than 500 Confucius Institutes around the world.

Stress between China and the West is increasing.

China responded with wide-scale sanctions for European politicians, diplomats and European researchers, causing members of the European Parliament to freeze the approval of investment agreements between the two

Despite political stress, economic relations between the two countries are still sturdy.