Premier Li Keqiang called for more efforts in promoting China-Germany ties and their mutually beneficial cooperation to a higher level, when meeting with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Beijing on May 24.
China is satisfied with the good momentum in the bilateral relationship between the two countries, with all-around, in-depth development in cooperation across all fields, Premier Li said.
To promote them to a higher level, he made five proposals.
First, dialogue mechanisms should play a bigger role, with priorities on the new round of China-Germany inter-governmental consultation, which will be held within this year, to tap more potential in cooperation in finance, trade, investment and security.
Second, China welcomes German enterprises to share the dividends of the country’s opening-up, while expecting the German side to provide a fairer environment and stable mechanism for Chinese companies to make investment and business.
Third, cooperation can be fostered in emerging industries such as human intelligence, new energy automobiles, internet of vehicles and self-driving cars, with the possibility of building joint R&D centers to be discussed.
Fourth, more development strategies in both countries can be integrated, and cooperation programs can be piloted in third markets such as the Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs).
Fifth, by expanding exchanges in culture, education and tourism, a freer flow of people can be achieved. The Chinese government supports the internship scheme between the two countries, within which participants could learn skills from each other.
Premier Li said China and the European Union are two major forces in the world. China is a staunch supporter of the European integration process and expects to see a united, stable, open and prosperous EU.
In the current situation, China looks forward to advancing negotiations on the China-EU investment agreement, and stands ready to work with the EU in advocating multilateralism, safeguarding a rules-based multilateral trade system and pushing forward trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, so as to make contributions to world peace and development, said the Premier.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening-up, the Premier noted, adding that President Xi Jinping sent a firm signal that China is poised to open its door wider to the world at the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2018.
According to the Premier, China has recently issued a slew of key initiatives for further opening-up. Next, the country will further broaden market access; gradually relax foreign equity restrictions on joint ventures in automobile, finance and other industries; step up intellectual property protection; and quicken its pace of creating a level playing field based on laws and regulations. All these will provide more opportunities for enterprises from Germany, Europe and even the world.
For her part, Merkel said it was her first visit after taking office as German chancellor of the new government and the 11th visit as German chancellor. The German side attaches great importance to China-Germany relations and deems it important to maintain close communication and accelerate high-level reciprocal visits between the two sides.
Noting that a series of high-level exchanges are on the agenda this year, the chancellor expected to hold a new round of Germany-China inter-governmental consultation in Germany in the near future as well as regular high-level dialogues between the two countries.
Germany is willing to expand cooperation with China in fields such as economy, trade, technology and self-driving vehicles, and welcomes investments from Chinese enterprises, Merkel said.
She added that Germany-China cooperation will make positive contributions to the world and multilateral order and Germany is ready to promote relations between the EU and China and push for early progress with EU-China investment agreement negotiations.
The two sides also exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concern.
