Merkel's lighthearted moments in China
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/culture/2015-10/30/content_22313619_10.htm
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is currently visiting China for the eighth time in her official capacity since 2005. Let's take a look at some of the fun moments from her past trips featuring Chinese food, culture, attractions and more.
'Hometown diplomacy' between Chinese and foreign leaders
http://europe.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2015-10/30/content_22313758.htm
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is on her eighth official visit to China which will take her to Premier Li Keqiang's hometown Hefei in East China's Anhui province on Friday. Invited and accompanied by Li, Merkel will visit farmhouses and a local school.
Why do Chinese leaders invite foreign leaders to their hometowns? Where are the leaders' hometowns and who have been invited to visit? You'll find the answers here.
Economic cooperation tops agenda for Merkel's China visit
( Xinhua ) Updated: 2015-10-29 23:29:19
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/cn_eu/2015-10/29/content_22312782.htm
BEIJING -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel is making her eighth visit to China with strengthening economic links atop her agenda.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Merkel witnessed the signing of 13 cooperation agreements after their talks on Thursday, including a deal for China to buy 130 aircraft from Airbus.
The planes have a list price of 17 billion US dollars, making the deal one of the largest orders China has ever placed with the European aviation giant.
MERKEL THE SINOPHILE
Merkel landed in Beijing earlier on Thursday, becoming the most frequent visitor to China among Western leaders. Since 2005, she had paid seven visits to China as German chancellor and spent time in seven Chinese cities.
"The close contact and exchanges of visits between Chinese and German leaders revealed the momentum with which our relations are developing," said Chinese President Xi Jinping in his meeting with Merkel.
Xi called on both sides to consolidate trust, accommodate their respective core interests and major concerns, and achieve new progress in their cooperation in finance, urbanization, agriculture, electric vehicles, environmental protection, culture and protection of the disadvantaged.
He urged Germany to help facilitate China-EU personnel exchanges and speed up negotiation on a China-EU investment treaty.
Merkel in turn vowed to boost bilateral trade, industrial and financial cooperation, and participate in the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
Her visit comes a week after Xi visited Britain, and days before French President Francois Hollande's state visit to China.
"The recent intensive diplomatic interactions between China and European powers shows the great emphasis they have laid on cementing partnerships with one another," said Cui Hongjian, a specialist in China-Europe relations at the China Institute of International Studies.
Cui said trade cooperation is the driving force behind this interaction. "China-EU trade is of vital importance because trade with China serves as a pillar in the EU's economic recovery, and it helps boost China's foreign trade growth amid the country's economic slowdown."
On Friday, Merkel will fly with Premier Li to Hefei in the eastern province of Anhui, where Merkel is expected to visit a local family and a village school. The two leaders will attend a seminar with business leaders from both countries.
It is the first time that Li has invited a foreign leader to visit his home province.
ECONOMIC TIES TOP AGENDA
"The two countries should lay special focus on fostering new growth points in two-way investment and cooperation in finance, innovation and entrepreneurship," Li told Merkel in their talks at the Great Hall of the People in downtown Beijing.
As China and Germany are pursuing similar strategies to integrate conventional industry with information technology, Li proposed establishing an intergovernmental mechanism to coordinate the two.
Merkel told Li she has confidence in the development of China's economy, stressing that the transformation of its growth mode will provide new opportunities for Germany-China cooperation.
Germany will support the RMB's inclusion in the International Monetary Fund's special drawing rights basket, and back China's application for membership of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, she said.
"Stronger economic cooperation will be the most remarkable achievement from Merkel's visit. China offers a huge emerging market for Germany while the country can learn from Germany's industry," said Feng Zhongping, vice president of the Chinese Institute of Contemporary International Relations.
Germany is China's biggest partner in Europe in terms of trade, investment and technology cooperation, while China is Germany's largest trading partner outside the EU.
Sino-German trade hit a record high of 177.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2014, accounting for around 30 percent of the China-EU trade volume.
The China-Germany partnership has also played a leading role in China-EU relations.
Li urged China and Europe to launch a feasibility study on free trade talks as soon as possible, and to speed up negotiation on the China-EU Investment Treaty. Merkel said Germany hopes China and the EU will sign a bilateral investment treaty at an early date, which would be a significant prerequisite for a further China-EU FTA.
The two leaders also attended a conference on cooperation in helping the disadvantaged later on Thursday.
Merkel's visits to China aimed at forging 'special' ties
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/cn_eu/2015-10/29/content_22310797.htm
German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives at the international airport in Beijing, Oct 29, 2015. The trip will take Merkel to East China's Anhui province, Premier Li Keqiang's hometown, where the German Chancellor will visit a rural household and a village primary school, accompanied by Premier Li. [Photo/IC]
BERLIN - German Chancellor Angela Merkel pays an official visit to China on Oct 29-30, which is her eighth trip to the Asian country since 2005 in the capacity of chancellor.
Experts here and figures from political and economic circles say that her frequent visits to China, the most among all German chancellors and a record among European leaders are aimed at forging "special" ties with the world's second largest economy.
Special relations
"Developing relations with China is the consensus of major political forces in Germany. The ties between China and Germany have a solid political foundation," Chinese Ambassador to Germany Shi Mingde told Xinhua.
"Chinese leaders also attach great importance to developing relations with Germany," Shi said, noting that mutual trust and frequent exchanges of visits between leaders of the two countries are of great significance for promoting the comprehensive development of Sino-German ties.
People have been talking about a "special" relationship between the two countries as bilateral ties have maintained a good momentum of development in recent years.
Johannes Kadura, a China expert from the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), believed that it is justified to speak of a "special" relationship at least since President Xi Jinping's visit to Germany at the end of March 2014 and the
joint declaration of establishing an all-round strategic partnership between the two countries.
The Chinese government, Kadura told Xinhua, regards Merkel as a strong leader who has a significant influence on European policy, while Merkel, in contrast to some other European representatives, has consistently shown a great interest in China.
Sino-German cooperation, Shi said, is also having an impact at the international level.
"Both China and Germany have significant international influence. The two countries have maintained close cooperation in international affairs and are both actively committed to addressing focus issues through political and diplomatic means," the ambassador said.
"The cooperation between China and Germany is not only in the interest of both countries, but also conducive to safeguarding world peace and promoting common development," he said.
Booming economic ties
Nadine Godehardt, a China expert from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), said the particularities of Sino-German relations are based, above all, on their flourishing trade relations, which are very important for both sides.
"A lasting special relationship between Germany and China is well founded because of the mere fact that Germany is by far the largest trading partner of China in the EU," Kadura said.
"With Germany, China probably has the strongest partner relationship in Europe. A look at the economic cooperation illustrates this: Germany has become China's most important economic partner in Europe in 2014 with a trading volume of over 150 billion euros ($165 billion); China is Germany's most important trading partner in Asia," he added.
According to Chinese official statistics, the trade volume between China and Germany has reached 177.8 billion dollars in 2014, accounting for around 30 percent of China-EU trade volume.
Close cooperation between the German and Chinese governments has clearly strengthened, and promoted bilateral trade and investment relations in the last decade, noted Benno Bunse, CEO of Germany Trade and Invest, adding that German exports to China have more than tripled since 2004, while imports of Chinese goods have more than doubled.
The cumulative amount of German direct investment in China has increased by more than 300 percent during 2004-2013, Bunse told Xinhua. Meanwhile, Chinese investment in Germany has also increased rapidly.
According to a report by Germany Trade and Invest, China has become the number one investor in Germany in 2014 with record 190 investment projects, ahead of the United States with 168 projects and Switzerland with 130 projects.
Future development
"Both the German and the Chinese governments continue to have a clear interest in expanding the successful economic and political cooperation between their countries," said Kadura while commenting on the future development of Sino-German bilateral ties.
"More than 60 dialogue forums, partly taking place at the highest level, support this position," he added.
Meanwhile, Bunse predicted that Merkel's upcoming visit to China would further intensify mutually beneficial trade relations.
"Merkel's visit will further strengthen bilateral cooperation in the fields of innovative industries and digitalization of production chains. It will create new opportunities for both sides in 2015, the year of 'innovation partnership' between China and Germany," the CEO said.
Sino-German relations, said Shi, are facing new development opportunities. "Last year, China and Germany agreed on a leading role of innovation in future bilateral cooperation. This is the first time that China has established a broad innovative partnership with a Western power."
Also, bilateral cooperation has broad prospects in the field of high-end manufacturing, the ambassador said. In addition, the two countries can enhance their cooperation to jointly promote the "One Belt One Road" initiative.
Speaking of the main challenges facing Sino-German relations in the next few years, Shi noted that the two countries should fundamentally promote mutual understanding between the two peoples, properly handle differences and continue to tap new growth points for the development of bilateral ties.
"There is a Chinese saying: Rowing upstream, not to advance is to drop back. China and Germany should have a long-term perspective, and continue to tap potential and fortify cooperation in order to promote the development of bilateral relations to a higher level," he said.