New goals for German relations
Print Edition
TIES between China and Germany are about to enter a new phase, China’s president said as he met the German chancellor before a G20 summit.
President Xi Jinping and Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday pledged to work together more closely on a range of issues, two days ahead of the G20 summit in Hamburg that US President Donald Trump is also due to attend.
“Chinese-German relations are now about to have a new start where we need new breakthroughs,” Xi told a joint news conference with Merkel in Berlin.
He said he hoped to make a “new blueprint, set our sights on new goals and plan new routes” for cooperation during his visit to Germany.
Merkel said: “We will have difficult discussions, since bringing 20 states together with all their developments and ideas is not easy.”
Tension is likely both at the summit and outside it. Much of the tension will revolve around Trump.
In an article for German newspaper Handelsblatt, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urged the G20 states to continue working together on climate protection, after Trump pulled the US out of the 2015 Paris agreement on climate change.
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim told Handelsblatt that he agreed with Merkel on climate change, saying: “We cannot wait.” In contrast to Trump’s protectionist stance, Kim also stressed free trade was key to alleviating poverty and boosting prosperity.
Merkel has lashed out at Trump’s administration for taking the view that globalization is creating winners and losers. She told newspaper Die Zeit that as G20 president, she had to work on reaching agreement rather than contributing “to a situation where a lack of communication prevails.”
To symbolize their close ties, Merkel and Xi opened a garden at the Berlin Zoo for Meng Meng and Jiao Qing, two giant pandas on loan from China who were seen sitting on wooden benches munching bamboo when a red curtain covering their enclosure was opened. Merkel described them as “two very nice diplomats.”
Merkel said she and Xi also talked about wanting to quickly sign an investment treaty that would ultimately turn into a full-blown free trade agreement. They also discussed improving cooperation on cyber security and working more closely together on fighting international terrorism.
In addition, they discussed bilateral cooperation in countries such as in Africa and Afghanistan, with Merkel highlighting an agreement to jointly build a hydroelectric power plant in Angola.
Xi hailed the development of the China-Germany relationship since the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties 45 years ago as a “successful story,” which had delivered real benefits to people in both countries.
Xi said China is ready to join Germany in consolidating mutual trust, building up more consensus, promoting bilateral cooperation and connectivity, so as to ensure a constant development of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two.
To better promote bilateral ties, the Chinese president called for closer high-level exchanges with Germany, fully playing the role of bilateral dialogue mechanisms and enhancing political mutual trust.
He said China and Germany need to follow an open, innovative and win-win path, conduct strategic cooperation and jointly promote their common interests.
Xi also urged the two sides to give full play to a newly launched High-Level People-to-People Exchange Dialogue Mechanism so as to deepen their cooperation in education, science and technology, culture, political parties, think tanks and media.
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