China, Germany sign 18 agreements

China and Germany Thursday signed 18 inter-governmental and commercial agreements including boosting two-way investment, energy and technology cooperation, and ordering A320 aircrafts.

The value of the commercial deals, excluding the aircraft order, is $3.2 billion.

The five commercial deals also include a Volkswagen Automatic Transmission project in Tianjin and a fixed broadband project between ZTE Corporation and the IET Germany Networks.

The agreements were signed under the witness of Premier Wen Jiabao and visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel after their bilateral talks and second Chinese-German intergovernmental consultation.

The agreements also cover cooperation in biotechnology, medical economics, motor fuel, methane, environmental protection and on the ocean and polar regions.

Merkel will travel to Tianjin on Friday before wrapping up the two day visit to China, which is her second this year and sixth since taking office in Nov 2005.