As suggested by the opinion polls, Germany's Black and Yellow Coalition has suffered a continuous slide of popularity,which is reflected most obviously by its defeat in the 7 state elections in 2011. The Coalition has radically changed Germany's nuclear energy policy and launched reforms of the federal army. On the economic side, Germany is experiencing low GDP growth and rising inflation, however, it has a record high import and export and a blooming labour market. On the social side, population ageing and old-age poverty become exaggerated and there is a severe lack of professionals. With regard to external relations, the debt crisis in the euro zone is the single biggest challenge that Germany must deal with. On the international scene, a reconstruction plan has been put forward by Germany after the end of Libya crisis to help the German enterprises enter the Libyan markets. A government-to-government consultation mechanism between China and Germany started to be operational in 2011 in order to advance the overall cooperation between the two parties. <<