German Chancellor Seeks to Consolidate Cooperation With China

On Friday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met with President XI Jinping in Beijing where he called for greater bilateral cooperation and fairer trade relations.

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Previously, the German leader said he is not in favor of decoupling his country's economy from China. Instead, he proposes "greater reciprocal openness to investment."

Germany firmly supports trade liberalization, supports economic globalization, and stands ready for closer trade and economic cooperation with China, Scholz confirmed, stressing that he supports more mutual investment by Chinese and German businesses.

Scholz said on issues where the two countries' positions diverge, Germany is willing to exchange views with China to increase mutual understanding and trust, and stabilize, cement and grow bilateral ties.

A multi-polar world is needed in which the role and influence of emerging countries can be taken seriously. Germany opposes bloc confrontation for which politicians should be responsible. Germany will play its role in furthering Europe-China relations.

Scholz is the first European leader to visit China after the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC). This visit will further enhance the mutual understanding and trust between the two sides and deepen practical cooperation in various fields, and gives the two sides an opportunity to plan for the growth of bilateral ties going forward.

Xi stressed that China-Germany relations could not have reached today's level without the extraordinary vision and political courage of generations of Chinese and German leaders, mentioning this year marks the 50th anniversary of China-Germany diplomatic relations.

The five-decade journey shows that as long as the two sides follow the principles of respecting each other, seeking common ground while reserving differences, maintaining exchanges and mutual learning, and pursuing mutually beneficial cooperation, bilateral ties will keep going in the right direction on the whole and making steady progress, he said.

The five-decade journey shows that as long as the two sides follow the principles of respecting each other, seeking common ground while reserving differences, maintaining exchanges and mutual learning, and pursuing mutually beneficial cooperation, bilateral ties will keep going in the right direction on the whole and making steady progress, Xi said.