German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived in Beijing on Sunday
night to start an official visit to China from May 21 to 23. This
is the German Chancellor's first visit to China since she came to
power in November 2005.
During Merkel's stay in Beijing she'll meet with Chinese
President Hu Jintao. Premier Wen Jiabao will hold talks with her.
Wen and Merkel will host a joint news briefing after their
talks. The two leaders will attend the fourth meeting of the
China-Germany High-Tech Dialogue Forum to be held in Beijing. The
two sides will also sign a number of cooperation agreements and
project contracts.
Merkel's delegation, which comprises senior officials including
Economy Minister Michael Glos, Transport Minister Wolfgang
Tiefensee and a delegation of 40 executives from companies such as
Siemens and Lufthansa, clearly indicates the economic importance of
her trip.
A series of contracts and documents will be signed during her
two-day visit.
Siemens, which led a group that helped build the 30-kilometer
magnetic levitation (Maglev) train link between downtown and Pudong
International Airport in Shanghai, could be among the winners of
new contracts.
A Siemens-led group is bidding to build a 35-billion-yuan
(US$4.4 billion) Maglev link between Shanghai and the nearby city
of Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province.
Merkel pledged to "develop a long-term partnership-style
strategy" with Beijing when she took office on November 22. Her
trip to China is only the second country outside Europe she has
visited as Chancellor following two trips to the United States.
Germany is an important economic partner for China. Trade volume
between the two sides was US$63.2 billion last year, accounting for
one-third of the total between China and the European Union,
according to Foreign Ministry statistics. There are more than 1,800
German companies operating in China according to the German Embassy
in Beijing.
Merkel, who is in Beijing at the invitation of Wen, will also
visit Shanghai.
(Xinhua News Agency, China Daily May 22, 2006)