Xi's Germany visit lifts bilateral cooperation to higher level: FM

HAMBURG -- President Xi Jinping's state visit to Germany has promoted comprehensive strategic cooperation between the two countries to a higher level, and has driven further development of China-Europe relations, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Saturday.

During the July 4-6 visit, Xi met with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin to review bilateral ties and discuss guidelines for the promotion of China-Germany comprehensive strategic partnership.

The two sides set targets for the development of bilateral ties in the next five years, and reached new consensus on promoting political mutual trust, deepening pragmatic cooperation, enriching cultural exchange and strengthening international cooperation, said Wang.

They also agreed to make a good use of bilateral communication mechanisms including government consultation, diplomacy, security, finance and economy, and culture, attend to each other's concerns and properly handle their differences, to further lift China-Germany relations to a higher level.

The Chinese president called on both sides to synergize "Made in China 2025" and Germany's "Industry 4.0" so as to unleash potential for innovation when the two nations' manufacturing strengths are combined with the Internet, said Wang.

Xi and Merkel agreed to step up bilateral cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative so as to share the enormous market opportunities brought about by inter-connectivity between Asia and Europe.

Encouraging more robust people-to-people exchange between the Chinese and the Germans, Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel jointly attended the ceremony to inaugurate a newly built Panda garden in the Berlin Zoo, and watched a friendly football match between youth teams of the two countries.

Xi's visit to Germany has also produced positive impact on the deepening of China's overall cooperation with Europe.

China supports the EU to be "united, stable, prosperous and open," Xi noted during the visit, urging both sides to actively make efforts to build a partnership featuring peace, growth, reform and civilization.

China and Germany are respectively the second and fourth largest economies in the world. This year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Germany.

Xi's visit to Germany this time is the third by the Chinese leader to Europe in less than seven months. It is believed that the visits in such a frequency have not only injected lasting drive force into China-Europe relations, but has also brought about optimism over the prospect of Europe's development, Wang said.