China’s Premier Li Qiang, during a Sunday meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on the sidelines of the G20 summit, called for deeper cooperation in areas such as new energy, smart manufacturing, biomedicine, and intelligent driving, according to Xinhua.
Relations between the world’s second- and third-largest economies have improved significantly over the past month, after Chinese export curbs on chips and rare earths caused major disruptions for German firms and German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul to cancel a visit to Beijing last month due to China rejecting all but one of his meetings.
German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil paid Merz’s first official visit last week, meeting Vice Premier He Lifeng to steady ties as Trump’s tariffs pressure both exporters.
Merz is also expected to visit China soon.
Call for Closer Cooperation
“China is willing to work with Germany to seize future development opportunities … in emerging fields such as new energy, smart manufacturing, biomedicine, hydrogen energy technology, and intelligent driving, Li said in Johannesburg, South Africa, which is hosting the first G20 summit on the continent.
China bought $95 billion worth of German goods last year, around 12% of which were cars, Chinese data shows, putting it among the $19 trillion economy’s top 10 trading partners. Germany purchased $107 billion of Chinese goods, mostly chips and other electronic components.
Trade Relations
But Berlin stands out for China as an investment partner, having injected $6.6 billion in fresh capital in 2024, according to data from the Mercator Institute for China Studies, accounting for 45% of all foreign direct investment into China from the European Union and the United Kingdom.
For Germany, China represents a practically irreplaceable auto market, and is responsible for almost a third of German automakers’ sales. German chemicals and pharmaceuticals firms also have a large presence in the country, although they are facing increasing pressure from domestic competitors.
(With inputs from Reuters)
