BEIJING: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the first EU leader to come to Beijing after the successful convening of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, paid an official visit to China on Friday.
Noting the complex and fluid international landscape, Chinese President Xi Jinping told Scholz that the two major countries, with great influence, should work together “in times of change and instability” and contribute more to global peace and development.
Scholz stressed that his country hopes to maintain communication and coordination with China to better safeguard regional and world peace and security.
China-Germany cooperation benefits EU, and the world
As Germany is a pivotal country in the EU, the continent’s prosperity is closely associated with Germany, and thus deepening China-Germany and China-EU cooperation will serve the interests of both sides and beyond.
During their meeting, Xi stressed that China is ready to work with Germany to build a future-oriented all-round strategic partnership and push for new progress in China-Germany and China-EU relations.
China and Germany should respect each other, accommodate each other’s core interests, adhere to dialogue and consultation, and jointly resist the interference of camp confrontation, Xi said.
China is ready to strengthen coordination and cooperation with Germany and the EU in international affairs and jointly find solutions to global issues such as climate change, biodiversity protection and food security, said the president.
Scholz said that the world needs a multi-polar pattern and the role and influence of emerging countries should be taken seriously.
Germany opposes camp confrontation, he stressed.
Meanwhile, the two leaders also exchanged views on the crisis in Ukraine. China supports Germany and the EU in playing an important role in promoting peace talks and building a balanced, effective and sustainable European security framework, Xi said.
“This is a critical moment for both Germany and China. Their relationship may not be based on shared political values, but on reciprocal interests, on the common fight against climate change and the strong willingness to build a multilateral world,” said Song Xin, former political adviser at the European Parliament, in an article published on CGTN.
Liu Lirong, an associate professor at the Institute of International Studies of Fudan University also told CGTN that China-Germany cooperation not only benefits the EU but also the world.
“China is the second largest economy in the world, and Germany is the largest economy in the EU. Chinese-German cooperation is of great significance in addressing many global challenges such as climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic and global food security,” Liu said.
China-Germany cooperation shows huge potential
The German chancellor’s visit coincides with the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Germany.
Over the past 50 years, China-Germany practical cooperation has deepened, and bilateral trade has grown by nearly a thousand-fold, Xi said, adding that the two sides should continue to make the “pie” of common interests bigger.
In this regard, he highlighted revitalizing cooperation in new areas such as new energy, artificial intelligence and digitalization while expanding the potential of cooperation in traditional areas.
Scholz said that China is an important economic and trade partner of Germany and Europe, and his country is ready to deepen economic and trade cooperation with China.
Germany firmly supports trade liberalization and economic globalization and opposes “decoupling”, he stressed.
China was Germany’s most important trading partner in 2021 for the sixth consecutive year. The trade volume between them has mushroomed to more than $250 billion in 2021 from less than $300 million at the very beginning of diplomatic relations.
In the first nine months of this year, foreign direct investment into the Chinese mainland expanded 15.6 percent year on year to 1.00376 trillion yuan. In U.S. dollar terms, the inflow went up 18.9 percent year on year to $155.3 billion, data from China’s Ministry of Commerce showed.
