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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Wednesday he aims to expand economic and diplomatic ties with China, stressing the need for closer cooperation as global tensions remain elevated.
“I attach great importance to maintaining and deepening these relations wherever possible,” Merz said at the start of his inaugural two-day visit to China as chancellor, speaking alongside Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang at a meeting in Beijing.
Merz underlined the importance of working closely with China at a European level. “We share responsibility in the world, and we should live up to that responsibility together,” he said, adding there was “great potential for further growth” on both sides.
Open channels of communication were essential, he said, announcing visits by several ministers in the coming months.
Li described ties with Berlin as “stable.”
He pointed to “changes in the international situation” and, in light of unilateralism and protectionism “in some countries and regions,” called for “jointly safeguarding multilateralism and free trade.”
Five intergovernmental agreements were signed in the presence of Li and Merz, including accords to continue cooperation on climate change and the fight against animal diseases. Agreements were also concluded between the two countries’ football and table tennis associations.
Merz arrived in Beijing earlier in the day and was received with military honours at the Great Hall of the People.
Merz to address fair competition, security issues
He is later due to meet President Xi Jinping for talks and a dinner expected to focus on economic cooperation and security issues, including Russia’s war in Ukraine. China is regarded as a key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Concerns over fair competition are expected to be on top on the agenda. German businesses have called on Merz to raise issues such as overcapacity and export controls on critical raw materials in China, which overtook the US as Germany’s main trading partner in 2025.
German carmakers in particular have long complained of fierce Chinese competition boosted by domestic subsidies and unequal market access.
Export restrictions introduced last year on rare earths – critical raw materials used in products such as mobile phones and electric motors – have added to the woes and fuelled tensions between Berlin and Beijing.
Merz is being accompanied by a delegation of top business representatives and is also scheduled to visit the southern city of Hangzhou.
He underscored the importance of maintaining a stable relationship with Beijing ahead of his departure on Tuesday evening.
“It would be a mistake to seek to decouple from China,” Merz said. By severing ties with China “we would be shooting ourselves in the foot. We would be ruining our own economic opportunities,” while failing to make the world “a safer place.”
Merz’s first visit to a major Asian power as chancellor was a trip to India in January, in a sign that Germany is looking to diversify its alliances amid a rapidly changing political landscape.
At the Munich Security Conference earlier this month, Merz proclaimed the end of the old rules-based international order and also pointed the finger at Beijing, saying it “systematically exploits the dependencies of others” while trying to reshape the international system to suit its own purposes.
Merz to move Xi on Ukraine?
Germany has long criticized Beijing for maintaining an outwardly neutral stance on Russia’s war in Ukraine, with Merz hoping to convince Xi to back negotiations to an end to the conflict.
“If Xi Jinping were to tell Putin tomorrow to stop, then he would have to stop the day after tomorrow,” the German leader said on Monday at an editorial conference hosted by dpa, noting that China continues to support Russia by purchasing oil and gas and supplying technology for the war.
Beijing is considered Russia’s most important backer since most Western nations cut ties with Moscow following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine four years ago.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday stressed that the war in Ukraine should not strain relations between Europe and China and that Beijing supports diplomatic efforts to find a political solution.
Merz said he was hoping for “open discussions” with Xi.
“I simply want to try to understand the president. Conversely, I want to try to explain our position, my personal position in Germany and in Europe, how I view certain global developments, and what we might be able to do together.”
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