00:00Now, China and Germany want to deepen cooperation.
00:04Had the message from the German Chancellor and the Chinese Premier
00:06as Frederick Merz has become a visitor to Beijing aimed at resetting ties.
00:11Merz saying that Germany attaches great importance on maintaining
00:15and deepening intensive economic exchanges with China,
00:18its largest trading partner last year.
00:20He also emphasised the need to ensure fair cooperation and open communication.
00:25Well, we're going to cross then to Beijing,
00:27talk to our correspondent Jan Kimmons in Broombie who joins us from there.
00:30Jan, what was the message then, if you like, coming from both sides?
00:38Both sides really focusing on that key word of cooperation.
00:42The Chinese Premier Li Qiang coming out to say that it was important for both sides
00:46to safeguard multilateralism and free trade.
00:49The big theme from Berlin as well, fair cooperation.
00:53And the emphasis there is on fair.
00:55Why is that?
00:56Well, Berlin is worried about the imbalances that exist
00:59in the relationship between Berlin and Beijing.
01:03China is now Germany's biggest trading partner.
01:06It overtook the United States in 2025.
01:08And last year, the number of Chinese goods that were being imported
01:12into Germany went up, while the exports from Germany to China went down.
01:17That is something that the German authorities are worried about.
01:20Now, Mertz used the opportunity here in Beijing to call for China to reduce market distorting subsidies
01:27and to consolidate markets where we see overcapacity.
01:30That is a reference to the worry that European leaders have about Beijing pumping money into fledgling industries
01:36that explode and then ship goods over to European markets far cheaper than European countries are able to produce them.
01:43Mertz also called for the Chinese government itself to enable stronger domestic demand to increase consumption.
01:50That is a goal that the CCP has set itself as well.
01:54So the German chancellor here trying to spread, trying to tread that line between consolidating the relationship
01:59between Germany and China, increasing the trade links between the two sides,
02:04but also trying tactfully to rebalance that relationship as it exists.
02:10Yeah, and a series of world leaders have been in China in recent months.
02:14Donald Trump is also due there at the end of next month.
02:17I mean, it really does show, doesn't it, how the Chinese dragon is so important across the world now?
02:26Stuart, China is, of course, always an important country.
02:30It's the world's second largest economy.
02:31It is a pioneer when it comes to technology development, green energy, AI, research, etc.
02:39But, of course, with the policies that Washington have been enacting towards their Western allies,
02:46the Chinese relationship also takes on a bit of a new light.
02:50Mertz is the latest in a flurry of Western leaders that have made their way here to Beijing in the
02:56last few months alone.
02:57We've had French leaders, Canadian, British, people from Ireland, South Korea, as well,
03:03all of them coming here to try and shore up that relationship with the important economic power that is China,
03:09as that relationship with Washington and with the Trump administration looks increasingly unstable.
03:16This, of course, all ahead of a big meeting that is set to take place at the end of this
03:21month
03:21between Trump and Xi Jinping here in China itself that we'll be watching closely.
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