Li and Merkel tout their 'innovation partnership'
Premier Li Keqiang met German Chancellor Dr Angela Merkel yesterday in the third round of talks this year between the two countries as they grapple with slowing economies.
Premier Li Keqiang met German Chancellor Dr Angela Merkel yesterday in the third round of talks this year between the two countries as they grapple with slowing economies.
The visit comes as Beijing deals with Hong Kong's prodemocracy protests and the host nation gears up to celebrate a quarter of a century since the fall of the Berlin Wall ended communism in East Germany.
But Berlin and Beijing, in a year of persistent diplomatic efforts, stressed they wanted to boost their already multibillion-dollar trade and investment ties and deepen their "innovation partnership".
In a meeting with German President Joachim Gauck, Li said cooperation between China and Germany had reached an "unprecedented level" and called on the two nations to deepen ties.
"The two nations should have an objective and comprehensive view towards each other, and through understanding of the conditions of both nations based on the principles of mutual respect, mutual benefit and being accommodative of each other," he was quoted by state television as saying.
In his second trip to the German capital since taking office last year, Li took part in joint-cabinet talks at Merkel's chancellery, followed by the signing of about 20 bilateral agreements.
Airbus, which has manufacturing operations in Germany, said China had signed an agreement to buy 70 A320 family aircraft, an order worth US$6.6 billion at list prices.
"We are grateful to China for its strong vote of confidence in our leading A320 family aircraft, and are happy to see them assembled at our Chinese facilities," Airbus chief executive Fabrice Bregier said.
Airbus has already assembled and delivered 190 A320 aircraft from a facility in Tianjin . It said it had also signed a letter of intent with its Chinese partners to build a facility for A330 family aircraft, wide-body planes.
Li is scheduled to travel to the port city of Hamburg today to deliver a keynote speech.
The German economy is on the brink of recession as exports to China and Russia sag. Exports plunged 5.8 per cent in August, the biggest drop in 51/2 years. The government is reviewing its growth forecasts after four economic institutes that advise Merkel said gross domestic product would probably only expand 1.2 per cent next year instead of the 2 per cent they envisaged in April.
"Germany is suffering a perfect storm as demand from both the euro zone and from emerging economies such as China is slowing," said Hans Kundnani, a research director at the European Council on Foreign Relations. "What it illustrates is how vulnerable the German economy is to external shocks, as so much of Germany's GDP is from exports."
Trade between the two countries rose 0.3 per cent last year to US$162 billion, according to data from China's Berlin embassy.
