Xi Jinping meets with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz

On the morning of April 16, President Xi Jinping met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xie Huanchi

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, April 16 (Reporter Yang Yijun) On the morning of April 16, President Xi Jinping met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing.

Xi Jinping pointed out that this year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of an all-round strategic partnership between China and Germany. Over the past 10 years, despite great changes in the international situation, China-Germany relations have always developed steadily, and cooperation in various fields has been consolidated and deepened, providing impetus for the development of the two countries. At present, the world is undergoing changes in a century at an accelerated pace, and the risks and challenges facing human society are increasing. China and Germany are the second and third largest economies in the world, and the significance of consolidating and developing Sino-German relations goes beyond the scope of bilateral relations and has an important impact on the Eurasian continent and the whole world. The two countries need to view and develop their bilateral relations from a long-term and strategic perspective, and work together to inject more stability and certainty into the world.

Xi Jinping stressed that both China and Germany have made significant contributions to the progress of human civilization. There is no fundamental conflict of interest between China and Germany, and they do not pose a security threat to each other. Sino-German cooperation is beneficial to both sides and to the world. The more turbulent the world becomes, the more important it is for the two sides to enhance the resilience and vitality of bilateral relations, adhere to the main tone of cooperation and the general direction of development of China-Germany relations, and firmly grasp the positioning of China and Germany as all-round strategic partners. China's policy toward Germany has maintained a high degree of stability and consistency. The two sides should continue to engage closely with an open mind and enhance strategic mutual trust. As long as the two sides adhere to mutual respect, seek common ground while reserving differences, exchange and mutual learning, and win-win cooperation, the relations between the two countries will continue to be stable and far-reaching.

Xi Jinping pointed out that the industrial and supply chains of China and Germany are deeply intertwined, and the markets of the two countries are highly interdependent. Mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Germany is not a "risk", but a guarantee for the stability of bilateral relations and an opportunity to create a future. Whether it is traditional fields such as machinery manufacturing and automobiles, or emerging fields such as green transformation, digitalization, and artificial intelligence, the two countries have great potential for win-win cooperation. The two sides should carry forward the distinctive characteristics of mutual benefit and win-win results and achieve each other's achievements. China's exports of electric vehicles, lithium batteries, photovoltaic products, etc., not only enrich global supply and alleviate global inflationary pressure, but also make great contributions to the global response to climate change and green and low-carbon transformation. Both China and Germany are industrially founded and both support free trade and economic globalization. The two sides should be vigilant against the rise of protectionism, adhere to the market vision and global vision, proceed from economic laws, objectively and dialectically look at the issue of production capacity, and explore more cooperation. China adheres to the basic national policy of opening up to the outside world, and hopes that Germany will provide a fair, transparent, open and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese enterprises to develop in Germany. China and Germany have a lot in common on the issue of multipolarization in the world. In essence, multipolarization should be mutual respect and peaceful coexistence among countries with different civilizations, different systems and different paths. China and Germany should independently carry out multilateral cooperation, and urge the international community to take concrete actions to better respond to global challenges such as climate change, unbalanced development, and regional conflicts, so as to make more contributions to the balance and stability of the world.

On the morning of April 16, President Xi Jinping met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ding Haitao

Scholz said that at present, German-Chinese relations are developing well, and the two sides have close exchanges at all levels and in all fields. The two sides have successfully held government-to-government consultations, high-level dialogues in the areas of strategy and finance, and will also hold a dialogue on climate change and green transition. In the past two days, I visited Chongqing, Shanghai and other places with representatives of the German business community, and personally experienced the tremendous achievements made by China's economic development in recent years, and was deeply impressed by the close and good cooperation between the German and Chinese business circles. Germany is willing to work with China to continue to strengthen bilateral relations, deepen bilateral dialogue and cooperation in various fields, and promote people-to-people exchanges in education, culture and other fields, which are of great importance to Germany and China as well as to the world. Germany is ready to strengthen communication and coordination with China to jointly address global challenges such as climate change, and is committed to upholding the multilateral international order and promoting world peace and development. Germany opposes protectionism and supports free trade. As an important member of the European Union, Germany is willing to play an active role in promoting the sound development of relations between the EU and China.

The leaders of the two countries also had an in-depth exchange of views on the Ukraine crisis, saying that both China and Germany are committed to abiding by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, opposing the use of nuclear weapons or attacks on peaceful nuclear facilities, properly resolving international food security issues, and abiding by international humanitarian law.

Xi Jinping stressed that under the current situation, in order to prevent the conflict from spiraling or even spiraling out of control, all parties should work together to restore peace at an early date. To this end, we should grasp the following principles: First, we should attach importance to the overall situation of peace and stability and refrain from seeking our own selfish interests. Second, we must cool down the situation and not add fuel to the fire. Third, it is necessary to accumulate conditions for the restoration of peace and not to further aggravate contradictions. Fourth, we must reduce the negative impact on the world economy and not undermine the stability of global industrial and supply chains. China is not a party or a participant in the Ukraine crisis, but it has been promoting peace talks in its own way. China encourages and supports all efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of the crisis, and supports the convening of an international peace conference at an appropriate time, with the equal participation of all parties and fair discussion of all peace plans, and is ready to maintain close communication with all relevant parties, including Germany, in this regard.

The two sides also exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concern, such as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Both sides believe that UN Security Council Resolution 2728 should be implemented to prevent the situation from escalating and deteriorating further, to ensure barrier-free and sustainable humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip, to support an early negotiated settlement of the Palestinian issue on the basis of the two-state solution, and to call on influential countries to play a constructive role in maintaining regional peace and stability and to promote a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian issue at an early date.

On the morning of April 16, President Xi Jinping met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing. This is Xi Jinping walking with Scholz.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ding Haitao

After the meeting, Xi Jinping and Scholz walked and had lunch together for further in-depth exchanges on a wide range of topics.

On the morning of April 16, President Xi Jinping met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing. This is a photo of Xi Jinping and Scholz.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xie Huanchi

Wang Yi attended the meeting.

【Earlier Bulletin】

2024-04-16 10:33:18

On the morning of April 16, President Xi Jinping met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Beijing, who was on an official visit to China.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the all-round strategic partnership between China and Germany. The spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said earlier that China is willing to work with Germany to take this visit as an opportunity to enhance understanding and trust, deepen practical cooperation, uphold the principles of mutual respect, equality, mutual benefit and win-win results, and seek common ground while reserving differences, promote greater development of China-Germany relations, and jointly make greater contributions to world peace and prosperity.