German Chancellor Friedrich Merz yesterday urged Chinese firms to step up investment in Germany, but also called on Beijing to reduce market distortions as he began a visit aimed at resetting relations between the world’s second and third-largest economies.
On his first visit to China as chancellor, Merz, who was accompanied by a large business delegation, told Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) that he wanted to deepen economic ties with China, Germany’s largest trading partner last year.
“There are challenges, which we should talk about today, but the framework in which we operate is exceptionally good and we have worked together very well over the past decades,” he said.
Photo: Reuters
Xi, who has sought to position China as a reliable partner in an increasingly unpredictable world, welcomed the comments from Merz, who faces a tough balancing act of redefining an economic relationship that is increasingly unfavorable to German interests.
“The more turbulent and intertwined the world becomes, the more China and Germany need to strengthen strategic communication and enhance strategic mutual trust,” he said.
In an earlier meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強), Merz said there were “very specific concerns regarding our cooperation, which we want to improve and make fair.”
“We want Chinese investment in Germany,” Merz said at a business event attended by senior German and Chinese business leaders from the tech and auto sectors.
Li called on both sides to work together to safeguard multilateralism and free trade, in a comment seen as a reference to US President Donald Trump’s trade war.
“China and Germany, as two of the world’s largest economies and major countries with important influence, should strengthen our confidence in cooperation, jointly safeguard multilateralism and free trade, and strive to build a more just and fair global governance system,” Li said.
Despite their calls for deeper engagement, the agreements Merz and Li formalized after their meeting were narrowly targeted and in industries peripheral to both economies.
The five documents signed covered continued efforts in climate change and green transition, cooperation in animal disease prevention and a poultry products protocol, as well as sports collaboration agreements for soccer and table tennis.
That paled in comparison with Canada and the UK, which respectively signed eight and 12 documents with China last month during visits by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
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