Overview
- German Chancellor Friedrich Merz met President Xi Jinping in Beijing during a state visit that included talks with Premier Li Qiang and a stop in Hangzhou.
- The visit produced five intergovernmental agreements, including climate cooperation and the reopening of German pork exports halted since 2020 due to swine fever.
- Merz said Beijing would purchase an additional 120 Airbus aircraft, while also pushing for a "dialogue between equals" and fairer cooperation.
- He rejected a full decoupling from China as a mistake and raised concerns about industrial overcapacity and Chinese curbs on strategic raw materials.
- The trip comes as Germany’s trade deficit with China nears €90 billion and German automakers’ market shares in China have fallen by about one-third as BYD leads the market.