China's Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC) Shi Guangsheng said in Beijing on Monday that Germany is China's largest trade partner in Europe and China would like to boost economic cooperation with Germany.
Shi made the remark at the 11th meeting of the Sino-German mixed committee on economic cooperation. He said that the two countries had witnessed rapid growth in trade and economic cooperation.
MOFTEC figures showed that last year bilateral trade between the two countries was worth US$23.53 billion, a record year-on-year rise of 19.5 percent. And trade figures topped US$9.95 billion in the first five months of this year.
The European Union still imposed tariffs on Chinese products exported to Europe and this not only caused great losses among Chinese companies but also held back the expansion of Sino-European and Sino-German trade, Shi said.
China hoped the EU would reduce trade barriers as soon as possible in a bid to create a more favorable environment for both Sino-EU and Sino-German trade, he added.
Shi pledged that China would further open its service sector, including securities, foreign trade, transportation and tourism, according to the promises China had made when entering the World Trade Organization.
There would be great potential for China and Germany to jointly develop the service sector, he added.
German Economic Minister Werner Mueller said at the meeting that China would have a bright future after its WTO entry, which would have a positive impact on boosting employment and improving the investment environment.
Germany hoped that China would further improve its legal system and make more effort to protect the interests of foreign investors, he added.
After the meeting the two sides signed an initial agreement on Sino-German investment protection.
(Xinhua News Agency July 2, 2002)
