China and Germany to cooperate on new-energy vehicles, AI sectors
CHINA and Germany agreed in Beijing yesterday to step up winwin cooperation and especially in emerging industries such as artificial intelligence and newenergy vehicles.
The agreement was made between Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
In a joint media appearance with Merkel, Li said China and Germany both upheld global free trade, and stressed the huge potential for cooperation between them.
“China’s door is open. You can say it will open even wider,” Li said.
He said China would protect the interests of German firms investing in China.
“If they come across any problems during their investment, especially when it comes to legal protections, I can clearly tell you that China is striding forward to being a country with rule of law.”
Merkel welcomed China’s recent announcements that it would further open its financial sector to foreign participation and reduce Chinese joint venture requirements in sectors such as automobiles.
In their talks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Li proposed giving full play to the role of bilateral institutional dialogues in various areas, make good arrangement for the new round of China-Germany intergovernmental consultation, and enhance exchanges in such areas as finance, trade, investment and security.
Li welcomed German companies to invest in China, and expected Germany to offer fair and open environment as well as stable institution guarantee for Chinese investment in Germany and Europe.
Li called for stronger China-Germany cooperation in digitalization and innovation, proposing to cement cooperation in emerging industries such as artificial intelligence, new-energy vehicle, vehicle networking and autopilot, in a bid to foster a new engine of bilateral cooperation.
He called on both countries to combine development strategies, facilitate people-topeople exchanges as well as cultural, educational and tourism cooperation.
Chinese government supports the two countries to exchange interns, to learn from each other’s professional skills, Li said.
China hopes to step up negotiation of a bilateral investment treaty with Europe, he said, vowing to join with the European Union to advocate multilateralism and safeguard multilateral trade system, and promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation.
As this year marks the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening-up, Li said China will open its door wider to the world.
China will further expand market access, ease restrictions on foreign ownership of joint ventures in automobile and finance industries, enhance protection of intellectual property rights, and accelerate the establishment of a market environment that is in compliance with regulations and fair competition, Li said.
Merkel, who is on her 11th China visit as German chancellor, said her government highly values relations with China.
Germany is ready to enhance cooperation with China in such areas as trade, technology and autopilot, she said, adding that Germany hopes to contribute to stronger EU-China ties, and supports to speed up negotiation of EU-China investment treaty.
Li and Merkel also attended a meeting of China-German Economic Advisory Committee after their talks, and had exchanges with enterprises of both countries on investment environment, two-way openness, financial cooperation and protection of intellectual property rights.
Li called on Germany to treat Chinese companies as equal and trustworthy partners, and offer a more fair and easier environment for Chinese investment in Germany.
Merkel said she hopes the two countries would offer equal access for mutual investment of their enterprises.
Merkel is on an official visit to China for two days. Besides Beijing, she will also fly to Shenzhen in south China’s Guangdong Province.
Li and Merkel also defended the Iran nuclear deal yesterday.
Li warned that ending the agreement with Tehran “will not just impact Iran, but also have a negative impact on (the ability) to solve other hot international issues through peaceful negotiations.”
The German leader also sounded the alarm about the economic impact on Europe of US President Donald Trump’s move to quit the Iran agreement. Trump’s decision to reimpose sanctions on Tehran, despite pleas from allies to maintain the deal, could hit European firms that have done business with Iran since the 2015 accord was signed.
Chinese President Xi Jinping also met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday, pledging to work with Germany to bring bilateral ties to a new high.