China, Germany to uphold together rules-based global order

After the successful trip to Bulgaria, where Premier Li attended the seventh summit of heads of government of China and CEEC, he today begins his official visit to Germany to join the fifth round of inter-governmental consultations between the two countries. In a period where populist movements are starting to rise and trade protectionism has been a trend in the US, China and Germany are committed to uphold together the rules-based international order that aims to “seek benefits for the two countries and peoples, give impetus to China-Europe cooperation, and contribute to safeguarding free trade, multilateralism and a fair and just international order.”

As pointed out by Premier Li in a signed article for the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, China and Germany have to further expand two-way opening-up in order to facilitate bilateral cooperation for win-win achievements for both countries. Stronger innovation cooperation is one of the key topics in this Sino-German inter-governmental consultations. In the article, Premier Li goes further to discuss about the industrial and technological complementarity between China and Germany. He also advocates for increased bilateral cooperation in order to accelerate innovation and stimulate joint progress.

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries, Germany has been China’s largest trading partner in Europe and likewise is China for Germany in the last years. According to the German Federal Statistical Office, China has been Germany’s most important trading partner in 2017 for two consecutive years. A total of $168.1 billion goods, including both exports and imports, were traded between the two countries, with an increase of 11.1 percent higher than in 2016. These achievements are also the fruits of Sino-German upgrading of ties to an all-dimensional strategic partnership in 2014. Since then the two countries have retained regular high-level interactions and extensive exchanges.

Besides trades, Germany is also the biggest investor in China among the EU countries. There are currently more than 8,200 German enterprises which operate business in China with a total investment of over $80 billion in the chemical industry, automobiles, finance, retail business, etc. These enterprises have set up 9,871 German-invested projects, with an investment of $29.7 billion in 2017. Up to now, around 2,000 Chinese enterprises invested in Germany, mostly in the fields of financial and business services, food and consumer goods as well as electronic industries, with a cumulative direct non-financial investment of $10.1 billion in 2017.

China and Germany have further fostered people-to-people and cultural exchanges in the last years. In May 2017, the China-Germany high-level people-to-people exchange dialogue mechanism was launched in order to deepen cooperation in education, science, technology, culture, think tanks, media as well as deepened political dialogue. In terms of tourism, Germany is China’s largest source of travellers from the EU. Sino-German cooperation has witnessed productive development in all areas. As both major economies and members of the G20, China and Germany have the strong will to further cooperate and work together to uphold the rules-based international order.

While talking at the 2017 China-Germany Business Forum in Berlin, Premier Li emphasized the importance of Sino-German’s join efforts for promoting free trade and strengthening bilateral ties. “We need to foster a free and open environment for trade and investment, and gear up innovation cooperation. Innovation of our age is open in nature. Trade liberalization and investment facilitation are as important to innovation as fresh air is to human beings. China and Germany have both contributed to and benefited from economic globalization. We both stand for free trade. China has always approached trade issues from an overall and long-term perspective,” Premier Li said.

The inter-governmental consultations are the highest-level and most comprehensive platform of dialogue and exchanges for Sino-German relations. This year’s consultations will reaffirm Sino-German’s deep friendship and commitment to safeguarding multilateralism and international order. Besides the inter-governmental consultations, Premier Li will meet German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and hold talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Premier Li and Chancellor Merkel will also attend a forum on Sino-German economic and technological cooperation and witness the signing of several documents.

The author is a graduate of China Studies and International Relations at Peking University and the London School of Economics.?Currently, he is working in the fields of development and public policy.