President Hu Proposes Uplifting Sino-German Ties

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, September 12, 2003

President Hu Proposes Uplifting Sino-German Ties

Chinese President Hu Jintao said the China-Germany ties have seen all-around expansion since the two established diplomatic relations over 30 years ago and put forward a four-point proposal on promoting bilateral relations in his talks with visiting German President Johannes Rau.

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Chinese President Hu Jintao Thursday put forward a four-point proposal on promoting Sino-German relations in his talks with visiting German President Johannes Rau.

The first point of Hu's proposal was to continue the exchanges of high-level visits between China and Germany and enhance bilateral political consultation and cooperation. Secondly, he recommended promoting the in-depth expansion of Sino-German economic cooperation and trade and strengthening economic and technological cooperation, including that between small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Hu's third point was to expand communication and cooperation in various fields apart from economic cooperation and to tighten the non-governmental exchanges between the two countries, and finally, to properly handle each other's concerns, and safeguard the healthy and sustained development of Sino-German relations.

Johannes Rau expressed his appreciation for Hu's proposal, and said both governments should not only encourage the large enterprises to enhance cooperation, but also should help SMEs to establish contacts and communication.

He said German SMEs are robust and very interested in developing cooperative ties with Chinese enterprises, noting that such businesses would make a vital contribution to bilateral economic cooperation and trade.

On the international situation, Hu said global multi-polarization is an irreversible trend in the long run, and China upholds the democratization of international relations and promotes the establishment of a just and rational new international political and economic order.

China welcome the integration process of Europe, Hu said, noting that China is willing to further deepen China-European ties and hopes that the European Union could play a more important constructive role in the international arena.

The Chinese president also reiterated that China firmly opposes terrorism in any form.

Looking back, Hu said the China-Germany ties have seen all-around expansion since the two established diplomatic relations over 30 years ago, adding that the exchange of high-level visits was frequent and the mutual political trust has been enhanced.

Sino-German economic cooperation has seen sustained expansion, he said, citing that the bilateral trade volume of last year was 100 times that of 1972 when the two established diplomatic relations.

China appreciates the German government's adherence to the "one-China" policy and dedication to China-Germany friendship, the Chinese president added.

While hailing the economic achievements China has made, Johannes Rau said that German-Chinese ties have seen unprecedented expansion, that Germany values its relations with China and that it is willing to further promote the bilateral cooperation in various fields.

Prior to the talks, Hu hosted a grand welcoming ceremony in honor of the German president, who is here for his first state visit to China at the invitation of Hu.

Germany, China's Largest Trade Partner in Europe for 28 Years

Germany has become China's largest trade partner in Europe since 1975, Chinese Customs statistics show.

According to the customs' figures, China-Germany trade hit 22.3 billion US dollars in the first seven months of this year, up 55.3 percent year-on-year.

Bilateral trade between the two countries accounted for 26 percent of China's total trade volume with Europe and 33.6 percent of China-EU (European Union) trade, figures show.

On technology transfer to China, Germany also tops all the European countries. As of July this year, China had signed 6,768 technology transfer contracts with Germany, with a total capital of 26.14 billion US dollars.

Mutual investment also highlighted the Sino-German bilateral economic cooperation. Statistics from China's Ministry of Commerceshow that German enterprises' actual investment in China hit 9.17 billion US dollars in July this year, lower only to Britain among all EU members. The investment includes the fields of automobile, airplane maintenance and steel.

By the end of 2002, 12 German banks had opened branches or offices in China, among which three were allowed to do Renminbi (RMB) business. Eight German insurance companies have begun business operations in China.

Meanwhile, China's investment in Germany also increased steadily in recent years.

As of June 2003, China has established 159 non-financial business organizations in Germany, with a total investment of 74.77 million US dollars.

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