In December 2019, Wu Ken, the Chinese ambassador to Germany, was quoted as threatening the German auto manufacturing industry to restrict its access to the Chinese market should Chinese tech giant Huawei be excluded from participating in contracts to build Germany’s 5G networks. Chinese consumers purchased approximately 28 million cars in 2018 of which 25% were German brands. Despite warnings from Germany’s intelligence community, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, supported by several German telecommunications companies, remains opposed to banning any particular company outright.