Chinese premier wraps up official visit to Germany

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao wrapped up his three-day official visit to Germany on Wednesday and left for Belgium and the European Union headquarters in Brussels.

During his visit to Germany, the Chinese premier held talks with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and met with President Johannes Rau and other statesmen to exchange views on Sino-German and Sino-European ties and other international issues of mutual concern.

The Chinese premier also attended the third meeting of the China-Germany Hi-Tech Dialogue Forum which opened on Tuesday.

The Chinese and German governments also issued a joint declaration on deepening bilateral ties and signed several cooperation agreements.

Wen also delivered a speech to German business representatives and put forward a five-point proposal for enhancing the two countries' economic cooperation and trade.

Sino-German relations have made smooth progress since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1972, with exchanges of high-level visits on the rise in recent years. Germany is also China's largest economic and trading partner in Europe, with two-way trade totaling 41.8 billion US dollars in 2003.

Wen started on Sunday his official visit to Germany, the first leg of the Chinese premier's five-nation European tour, which willalso take him to Belgium, Italy, Britain and Ireland.

He will also visit the EU headquarters in Brussels.