On June 13, 2016, President Xi Jinping met in Beijing with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany.
Xi Jinping welcomed Angela Merkel to visit China again, and congratulated on the successfully-held 4th round of China-Germany inter-governmental consultation as well as its fruitful results. Xi Jinping pointed out that after over 40 years of joint efforts since the establishment of diplomatic relations, China-Germany relations have reached a rather mature development stage and a rather high level in practical cooperation. To deeply advance China-Germany cooperation at a high starting point requires concerted efforts from both sides. Both sides should stay on the correct direction, tighten the bond of mutual trust, grasp the mainstream of cooperation, meet each other halfway and take respective core interests and concerns into consideration so as to ensure that bilateral relations do not derail from the healthy track of development. The two sides should take on a long-term perspective and expand the vision of cooperation. China and Germany should enhance strategic communication in diplomacy and security, innovate and enrich the cooperation mode in international affairs, encourage and support enterprises of both countries to launch third-party cooperation. Both governments have set up a platform for the alignment between “Made in China 2025” strategy and Germany’s “Industry 4.0”, and should guide and encourage enterprises of both countries to realize project implementation. It is hoped that Germany and the EU can look at the relationship of competition and cooperation in an objective perspective, properly deal with disputes in China-EU trade and fulfill their obligations as stipulated in Section 15 of the Protocol on the Accession of China to the World Trade Organization in due course in order to promote the healthy development of China-EU economic and trade relations. Both countries should comply with the general trend and consolidate the public opinion foundation. China supports both sides to deepen cooperation in education, visa facilitation, traffic rights arrangement, traditional Chinese medicine and other areas.
Xi Jinping stressed that as a member of the G20 troika, Germany plays an important role in the preparation of the G20 Summit to be held in Hangzhou. Both sides should jointly promote the G20 to formulate blueprint for innovation growth, and identify the course for world economic growth. The two countries should jointly call on all sides to strengthen coordination in macro-economic policies, safeguard stability of the international market, and jointly propose specific actions for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, boosting trade and investment and other aspects. Germany will host the G20 Summit next year. It is hoped that both sides can work together to push for productive results from G20 Summits of this year and the next year.
Angela Merkel expressed that the 4th round of Germany-China inter-governmental consultation was a great success. She agrees with President Xi Jinping’s opinions on further developing bilateral relations. Both sides should endeavor to enhance mutual trust, step up efforts in implementing the docking of Germany’s “Industry 4.0” and “Made in China 2025” put forward by China, and continue to deepen cooperation in areas including economy, trade, finance, innovation, exploration of third-party market, capacity building in disaster prevention and alleviation, and visa facilitation. The German side pays close attention to honoring its obligations as stipulated in Section 15 of the Protocol on the Accession of China to the World Trade Organization. Germany welcomes China to play a significant role in international affairs, and stands ready to strengthen communication and coordination with China in international and regional hotspot issues. Germany is willing to intensify cooperation with China to do a good job in hosting the G20 Summits of this year and next year.
Both sides also exchanged in-depth views on major international and regional issues of common concern.
State Councilor Yang Jiechi and others attended the meeting.