German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Beijing to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping in the first such trip by a G7 leader to China in three years. The visit came after months of mounting tensions between Beijing and the west.
Both leaders condemned Russia’s threat to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine and expressed their desire for the conflict to end.
Scholz told reporters that he called on Beijing to exert its influence on Russia. “I told President [Xi] that it is important for China to use its influence on Russia,” Scholz said. “We have agreed that threatening nuclear attacks is irresponsible and dangerous.”
The trip sparked some concerns in Europe but the German chancellor said that global problems can only be solved through cooperation with China. “It’s a good thing that we met in person and held talks,” he said.
Reliability and trust – these two values play an important role in 🇩🇪 and 🇨🇳 culture. At the same time, they form the basis of diplomatic relations and political partnerships. It’s a good thing that we met in person and held talks.
— Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz (@Bundeskanzler) November 4, 2022
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock recently said mistakes made in the past that led to heavy dependence on Russia must not be repeated with China. Germany is currently struggling with inflation, mainly fuelled by the energy crisis.
Focus on trade talks
The German chancellor led a high-level business delegation to China with a focus on boosting economic ties with Beijing. The visit comes after Xi secured his third unprecedented term as president at a major Communist Party congress last month.
Scholz emphasized the need for continued economic cooperation with China. The German leader said he wanted to discuss “how we can further develop our economic cooperation on other topics: climate change, food security, indebted countries.”
President Xi underscored the need for China and Germany to work together in times of change and instability and contribute more to world peace and development. “China will work with Germany for a future-oriented all-around strategic partnership and for new progress in China-Germany and China-Europe relations,” he said.
China said that it will work with Germany and Europe to further deepen aviation cooperation, conduct exchanges and cooperation on COVID-19, green development and ecological conservation, and encourage more people-to-people exchanges. Xi also stressed exploring cooperation potential in emerging fields such as new energy, artificial intelligence and digitalization.
Develop China-Germany economic ties
The German leader also held talks with China’s Premier Li Keqiang on the one-day trip.
Scholz and Li discussed Europe-China relations, the climate crisis as well as ways to develop China-Germany economic ties. Scholz also complained about access to the Chinese market saying it had “become more difficult for German companies recently” because of China sealing off access to many of its market sectors.
The German leader hailed a breakthrough deal to allow Germany’s BioNTech to become the first non-Chinese manufacturer to sell its COVID-19 vaccine to expatriates in China and pressed to allow the shot to be made freely available to Chinese citizens.