At the invitation of Premier Li Keqiang, Premier Angela Merkel of the Federal Republic of Germany will pay an official visit to China from July 6th to 8th. This is Merkel's 7th visit to China as German Chancellor. By then, President Xi Jinping will meet Merkel for the second time in six months. The German media believes that Merkel’s visit to China will have economic cooperation as the main issue, among which new energy vehicles are likely to be the focus of discussion.
First stop Chengdu to Beijing
For China, Merkel is already an "old acquaintance." This is the 7th visit to China since she became German Chancellor in 2005 and her first visit to China since she was elected as the German Chancellor for the third time last year.
According to information previously released by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during Merkel’s visit to China, Chinese leaders such as President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang, and Chairman Zhang Dejiang will meet with her to discuss bilateral relations and international and regional issues of common concern. Exchange ideas.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that he believes that this visit will further enhance mutual political trust between China and Germany, deepen bilateral pragmatic cooperation in all fields, and raise the all-round strategic partnership between China and Germany to a new level.
According to the German ambassador to China, Ke Muxian, Merkel will visit Chengdu first to attend the 2014 Sino-German Dialogue Forum held in Chengdu and then arrive in Beijing on the evening of July 6. While in Beijing, in addition to the leaders’ talks, she will also visit Lijiang and visit Tiantan Park and deliver a speech at Tsinghua University.
In an interview with the media, Ke Muxian stated that the first stop of Chengdu’s selection is in line with China’s strategy for the development of the west. “The focus of China’s economic development strategy is shifting from the east to the west. I think that the most dynamic part of the western economy is Sichuan, especially Chengdu. In Chengdu, we already have many German companies, such as Volkswagen and Siemens, but compared with the eastern part, especially the coastal provinces and cities, the number of German companies in the west is still relatively small. Therefore, Merkel’s visit to Chengdu is exactly what German companies have to do to expand the Western China market. a signal."
Economic cooperation is a main topic <br> <br> In recent years, Sino-German relations have maintained a good momentum of development, high-level visits frequently. In March of this year, Xi Jinping visited the four countries of the Netherlands, France, Germany and Belgium. This is the first time that Xi Jinping has visited Germany since he became China's president. He is also the first Chinese state chairperson to pay a state visit to Germany in eight years.
At the time, Merkel and Mr. Shaw were personally invited by Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan at the official residence of the Prime Minister. This is also the first time that the German female prime minister has received guests in such a private manner. During the visit to Germany by Xi Jinping, China and Germany issued a joint statement. Xi Jinping also delivered an important speech at the reception of the business sector in China and Germany, expounding the idea of ​​strengthening Sino-German economic and trade relations.
Ke Muxian stated that in the joint statement issued by the two countries in March this year, the two countries decided to develop a mutually beneficial and innovative partnership. The specific scope of the innovation partnership will be refined during the Sino-German government consultations held this autumn. During this visit to China, Merkel will share her views on innovation partnership with Li Keqiang, which will lay an important foundation for the formal definition of the fall.
In addition, the German media believes that Merkel's visit to China, economic cooperation will be the main issue, including energy, environmental protection and high-tech fields will be the focus, and new energy vehicles are likely to be the top priority of the discussion.
Many car companies in Germany have achieved remarkable results in China. At present, the development of new energy vehicles in China is accelerating, coupled with increased pressure for energy conservation and environmental protection, and a large number of encouraging policies have been introduced, which has also greatly attracted German car companies to China Energy car market attention. Merkel’s arrival will have a positive effect on China’s acceleration of the development of new energy vehicles.
Numerous CEOs to accompany visits in China <br><br> According to German media reports, Merkel’s visit to China also brought a "All-Star lineup" business delegation, including CEO of the company Siemens, Mr. Joe Ke. Zell, Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn, Airbus Group CEO Thomas Enders, Deutsche Bank CEO Jürgen Wuchen, and Lufthansa Group CEO Karsten Schöbel.
The data shows that the foundation of Sino-German economic and trade cooperation has been very solid. Germany has been China’s largest trading partner in Europe for more than 30 consecutive years; bilateral trade volume reached 161.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2013; it has accounted for 30% of Sino-European trade for five consecutive years since 2009; half of EU exports to China come from Germany, and imports from China A quarter of them go to Germany; 40% of China’s technology imports from the European Union come from Germany; Germany’s investment in China accounts for a quarter of the EU’s investment in China and has surpassed the UK as Europe’s largest investor in China since 2003.