US, Europe need to develop joint strategy on China, Russia: Merkel

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for the United States and Europe to find a joint strategy to deal with China and Russia and also stressed the need for dialogue with these two countries.

Taking to the stage at the 2021 Munich Security Conference (MSC) on Friday after the address by US President Joe Biden, Merkel said that China has gained more power on the international stage and the transatlantic alliance needs to react to the development. "We need to address that," she said.

"In recent years, China has gained global clout, and as trans-Atlantic partners and democracies, we must do something to counter this," Merkel said at the MSC, an annual conference on international security policy that has taken place in Munich since 1963. This year it was held virtually due to the Covid pandemic.

The German head of state noted that dealing with China and Russia is "perhaps more complicated" as Beijing is both a competitor but a necessary partner of the West.

"China, on the one hand, is a competitor, but on the other hand we need China to settle global problems such as climate change, biodiversity and others," the chancellor said.

According to European Union statistics released on Monday on Eurostat, China has overtaken the US as the EU's top trading partner in 2020. The EU inked an investment deal with China earlier this year, while US tariffs put in place during the Trump administration remain under Biden.