Visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Premier Wen Jiabao yesterday that she is committed to building close relations with China "in all fields".
"I've visited China every year since assuming office as German chancellor, and I believe it's the right thing to do," she told Wen during a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
Merkel arrived in the capital yesterday to join about 40 other heads of state for the 7th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM7), held today and tomorrow.
"Germany will continue strengthening its close cooperation with China in all fields," she said.
The chancellor said she expected China, a country "with rapid economic growth and such a vast territory" to play a "weighty role" in fighting the current financial crisis, which can be solved only "through international cooperation".
German officials said the fact that Merkel was one of the few foreign leaders making a formal state visit to China for the ASEM summit showed Berlin attached great importance to ties between the two nations.
Merkel was also the only foreign head to introduce Wen to a delegation of business leaders that had traveled with her to China.
Wen greeted five businessmen, mostly heads of German companies with significant investments in China, and in a 10-minute speech encouraged them to join their Chinese counterparts in facing the current "arduous economic situation".
Wen's 50-minute meeting with Merkel, his longest of the day, was described by German newspaper Die Welt as "a precious gift to Merkel".
"Relations between China and Germany are recovering and now have good momentum," Wen told Merkel.
Sino-German relations chilled last year after Merkel received the Dalai Lama at the chancellery in Berlin.
China responded by canceling a series of high-level exchanges and other joint cultural events.
Relations thawed slowly, thanks in part to the efforts of German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and in June, the foreign ministers of both countries announced a resumption of the exchanges.
Despite the chilly interlude, trade between the two countries never suffered.
Wen told Merkel yesterday that bilateral trade volume may this year might exceed $100 billion.
"We all know that a stable and healthy bilateral relationship is beneficial for the people of both countries," he said.
"I think that (with this visit) Merkel would like to make a signal as chancellor that there has been a normalization of relations between China and Germany."
Barbara Unmuessig of the nonprofit, pro-democracy organization the Heinrich Boell Foundation said recently: "Merkel's trip now is all the more important because when it comes to resolving the financial crisis China has to play a very central role."
Source: China Daily
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