Chinese media entities, usually with connections to state organizations and espousing Communist Party narratives, have increasingly entered into agreements with German media that have the effect of laundering propaganda. For instance, German outlets including Handelsblatt and Süddeutsche Zeitung publish China Watch, a paid media placement prepared by the China Daily, over which the CCP exercises financial and editorial control. Similarly, a newsletter from DPA, Germany’s largest press agency, now carries content from Xinhua, including materials promoting the Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing’s effort to fuse infrastructure and economic investments with geopolitical influence. Hamburg-based Europe Times is owned by a company touting “excellent connections to companies, officials, ministries and associations in China,” with scarce detail publicly available on what these connections entail. Though proponents of the media collaboration efforts note that such content is usually listed as paid advertising, critics still contend that Chinese state media are piggybacking off of the greater trust citizens place in their local news outlets, and that standalone content from a foreign authoritarian government would not be very persuasive.