BERLIN — Premier Li Keqiang said on July 9 China and Germany need to further explore their potential to improve trade facilitation and expand service trade between the two countries.
Premier Li, who is in Germany for a three-day official visit, made the remarks at the closing ceremony of a bilateral forum on economic and technological cooperation. German Chancellor Angela Merkel also attended the event.
The Premier called on the two countries to increase two-way investment and offer a fair, transparent and predictable investment environment for each other’s enterprises.
Noting that China-Germany cooperation has seen comprehensive, stable and healthy development, Premier Li said the two countries need to actively promote innovation cooperation and further synergize their development strategies in innovation.
China-Germany cooperation is a fine example of cooperation between major countries as well as the South and the North, Premier Li said. Such a partnership has guided the China-Europe ties for a long time and injected vitality to the growths of both countries and the world at large, he added.
Premier Li also said industries like electric vehicle and intelligent manufacturing should be taken as a cooperation platform, calling on the two countries to step up cooperation in emerging industries including artificial intelligence, new-energy driven cars and autopilot.
When it comes to trade and investment, the Premier said without free and open trading and investment environment, the economic and technological cooperation between China and Germany will come to a standstill.
China and Germany reaffirmed the stance that the two economies will jointly safeguard free trade and firmly oppose unilateralism and protectionism, and defend the rule-based multilateral trading system, he said. In addition, China will stay committed to continuously expanding opening up so as to better cope with unilateralism and protectionism, Premier Li added.
Given the current circumstance of globalization, starting a trade dispute not only harms the benefits of both sides, but is detrimental to the interests of all parties involved in the global industrial chain, Premier Li said, stressing that there must be no winner in any trade dispute.
The current good momentum of China’s development is the result of the continual optimization of economic structure as well as the rising internal driving force of growth, he said, noting China will do it better to maintain a more stable and sustainable growth.
China is confident in and capable of handling any risks and challenges, Premier Li said, adding that his country will diversify its market with fair, open and transparent competition. Prior to the forum, Premier Li and Merkel held a meeting and co-chaired the fifth round of China-Germany intergovernmental consultations, in which they agreed to continuously cement and advance political mutual trust and lay a solid foundation for the two countries’ all-dimensional strategic partnership to promote the two countries’ cooperation to a higher level.
Premier Li arrived in Berlin on July 8 after wrapping up his trip to Bulgaria.
When addressing the forum, Merkel highlighted the fruitful achievements in the two countries’ cooperation, saying that Germany welcomes the increasing investments from China.
She spoke highly of China’s active measures in improving market environment and opening up the financial sector.
Merkel said she hoped the upcoming 20th European Union (EU)-China summit could bear fruitful results and push forward the negotiations of the China-EU investment agreement.
Germany is willing to work together with China to voice supports for free trade, Merkel said.
