BEIJING (AP) – Economic and business ties between China and Germany are expected to dominate Monday discussions between Chinese leaders and Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is visiting Beijing with a large business delegation.
On her seventh visit to China as chancellor, Merkel will meet Premier Li Keqiang on Monday morning, then attend a meeting of the China-Germany Economic and Trade Commission. In the evening, she will meet with President Xi Jinping, who visited Berlin in March.
The pair are not strangers. In March, Xi visited Germany and the two oversaw the signing of deals including agreements for automakers Daimler and BMW to deepen ties with their Chinese partners.
Hailing Merkel’s visit, China’s official news agency Xinhua said in a commentary Sunday that “China-Germany relations are at their best in history … strongly underpinned by the pragmatic cooperation between the two economic heavyweights.” It pointed out that Germany is China’s largest trading partner in Europe, while China is Germany’s biggest in the Asia-Pacific region.
Negotiations with Iran to end its nuclear program and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine may also come up in Monday’s discussions. Both China and Germany are part of the six-nation group that is trying to thrash out a nuclear deal with Iran. Merkel has been a key figure in trying to reduce tensions in Ukraine and get Russia to cooperate.