“We want a partnership with China”

Friedrich Merz has travelled to the People's Republic of China for an official visit lasting several days - for the first time in his office as Federal Chancellor. After visiting the Forbidden City on Thursday - the palace complex in the centre of Beijing that served as the centre of power for Chinese emperors for centuries - the Chancellor followed up with a visit to the Mercedes-Benz Group. Federal Chancellor Merz then travelled on to the megacity of Hangzhou in the east of the country, where he was first welcomed by the Party Secretary of Zhejiang Province, Wang Hao. Finally, he visited the robotics company Unitree and Siemens Energy.

Following talks with the Chinese leadership on Wednesday, the Federal Chancellor emphasised that discussions had focused on the growth of both economies and trade policy issues. He also mentioned the 30-strong business delegation that had accompanied him on the visit and announced further visits by specialist ministers over the course of the year.

At the end of his trip to China, Federal Chancellor Merz said that he was returning home with many good impressions and with many tasks that still needed to be accomplished together. Germany and China, he said, wanted to work more closely together - both economically and politically. Among other things, German-Chinese government consultations were being planned for this purpose. However, he acknowledged that there were still challenges - such as competition - that were being worked on jointly. The two countries are seeking a good cooperation and so also openly address difficult issues, said Merz.

Economy and security policy take centre stage

The Federal Chancellor took part in a meeting of the China-Germany Economic Advisory Committee. A number of declarations were signed at a signing ceremony.

Following the talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Chancellor said: "We started off by agreeing that we want to strengthen our comprehensive strategic partnership." According to Merz, the question of how Germany and China organise their competition played an important role here. This, he said, was not only of economic importance, but also says something about the quality of the bilateral partnership. "The Chinese and Germans are aware that our economic exchange contributes significantly to the prosperity of both countries", said Merz. He cited the Chinese government's order for 120 additional aircraft from Airbus as a concrete example.

German-Chinese government consultations

The Chancellor also announced the resumption of German-Chinese government consultations, which had been interrupted by the change of government and the pandemic. He also reiterated his desire to deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership between Germany and China. He emphasised the need to talk about current challenges in the area of international trade and said that there would be further bilateral dialogue formats.

The Chancellor expressed his satisfaction with China's commitment to peace in the region. He said that the EU had an interest in security and stability and would seek co-operation in diplomatic efforts - among other things, to ensure that Russia was not supplied with dual-use goods. The Chancellor also made it clear that an escalation in the Indo-Pacific region would also be dangerous for Europe.

Five guiding principles for the trip to China

"Overall, we want to continue the success story of cooperation between China and Germany", said the Chancellor. This requires regulated access to the markets, he said, and competition needs to be fair and based on compliance with jointly set rules. During his trip, the Federal Chancellor also wanted to gain an impression of how rapidly innovations in the fields of autonomous driving, energy and climate technology, and artificial intelligence are developing in China and what opportunities are opening up for the German economy.

Germany and China enjoy close economic relations. The state in East Asia is Germany's most important trading partner, but is now regarded by the Federal Government as both a trading partner and a competitor. Before his departure, the Federal Chancellor also outlined five guiding principles that would shape his trip:

• "A smart China policy starts here, at home": A balanced partnership with the People's Republic of China requires a strong and competitive Germany and Europe.
• "We want to and must pursue a policy of de-risking": Mutual risks arising from ever closer networking and one-sided dependencies must be minimised.
• "Competition stimulates business": The aim is fair and transparent competition based on reliable, agreed rules.
• "China has risen to the ranks of the major powers; our China policy must take this into account": China can no longer be ignored when it comes to major global political issues. Common challenges must be tackled without lecturing each other.
• "We Germans are embedding our policy towards China in a European context": And out of European conviction, because common interests can be represented more effectively in this way.

Chinese-German economic and trade relations are far-reaching. With a foreign trade turnover of more than 250 billion euros, the People's Republic was once again Germany's most important trading partner in 2025 - as it was from 2016 to 2023. With 5,200 German companies, China is one of Germany's most important foreign locations overall - with a focus on the automotive, mechanical engineering and electrical industries.