Germany regards China as important economic, political partner: Schroeder

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, December 04, 2003

Germany regards China as important economic, political partner: Schroeder

Germany regards China as an important economic and political partner, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said in a recent written interview with Xinhua.

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Germany regards China as an important economic and political partner, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said in a recent written interview with Xinhua.

Schroeder, who is currently on his fifth visit to China since taking office, said his visit is aimed at continuing the trustful dialogue with the Chinese leadership and deepening economic relations between the two countries.

"Germany and China are for each other not only economically, but also politically important partners," Schroeder said.

During his stay in China, Schroeder will travel to Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, for the first time, to show Germany's support for China's strategies to develop its western region.

He said he wanted to convey a clear message that there was an outstanding chance for investment in western China.

On the Taiwan issue, Schroeder reaffirmed that Germany firmly adheres to the one-China policy.

He noted that the two countries have enjoyed dynamic two-digit increase in bilateral trade in recent years and seen positive development in scientific and technological cooperation.

He said the potential for further expansion of bilateral economic ties lies in cooperation between Germany's small and medium-sized firms with Chinese partners.

These German firms still have a long way to realize their potential in China, said Schroeder, expressing his willingness to help them tap the Chinese market.

The chancellor said bilateral cooperation in education and culture have also reached an unprecedented depth and intensity, with Chinese being the second largest group of foreign students in Germany and the top group of foreign recipients of research fund there.

The arrival of more and more Chinese students in Germany has created "important contacts and ties, which allows our two societies to move closer and has laid the foundation for further developing our relations to benefit each other," he said.

Schroeder expressed the hope that more German students will go to China to study. With the opening of a Chinese cultural center in Berlin and expansion of activities of the Goethe institutes in China, bilateral cultural ties will be further increased, he said.

China and Germany have been cooperating well on international issues, including coordination of positions in such multilateral frameworks as the United Nations Security Council, Schroeder said.

The major issues both countries pay great attention to include a bigger United Nations role in resolving international conflicts, the fight against international terrorism and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, he said.

"The fact that we agree on many international questions is not least a result of the close relations of trust, which Germany and China have developed in the past years," he said.

Sustainable development and peace are the foundations for each other, Schroeder said. He called on Germany and China to strive together for the implementation of the Action Plan of the United Nations Johannesburg Summit in 2002, so that as many people as possible in the world can benefit from it.

Germany has made explicit contributions to important progress in Sino-European relations and supported China's efforts to be recognized as a market economy by the European Union (EU), he said.

The relations between the EU and China are delightfully close and fruitful, Schroeder said, citing examples such as China's participation in the EU project of the satellite-based navigation system "Galileo," the launch of dialogue on industrial policy and talks on protection of intellectual property rights.

Germany is China's largest trading partner in Europe, while China is Germany's No. 1 trading partner in Asia.

Trade between China and Germany reached 33.46 billion US dollars in the first 10 months of this year, a 49.8-percent increase over the same period of last year.

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