Zhu made the remark in Beijing Sunday in talks with visiting German Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder who arrived here earlier Sunday on a three-day working visit to China as Zhu's guest.

Zhu said Sino-German ties have made remarkable progress in various fields in recent years and the relationship is the best it has been.

Noting that Germany is China's biggest partner in Europe in terms of trade and technological cooperation, Zhu said bilateral trade this year is expected to hit a new high.

He also pointed to Germany's increasing investment in China, in many huge projects in particular, citing the successful construction of the maglev railway in China's business hub Shanghai as a milestone in the history of bilateral economic and trade relations.

The two countries have also strengthened exchanges and cooperation in culture, science, technology and law, and their bilateral ties have been continuously enriched, Zhu said.

China and Germany share identical or similar views and more and more common interests on major international issues such as safeguarding world peace and promoting universal development.

He said the two countries have worked well together in the United Nations and other international organizations, voicing China's satisfaction with the progress of bilateral cooperation and expectations of their cooperative prospects.

Schroeder, who is on his fourth visit to China, said bilateral ties are very good in various fields and firmly based. The maglev project is an important example of productive bilateral economic and technological cooperation.

He said Germany hopes bilateral ties will continue to advance at a high level, and hopes to boost cooperation in such fields as tourism, culture and personnel exchanges, as well as their consultation and cooperation within the UN Security Council.

He reiterated Germany's one-China policy, and Zhu expressed his appreciation.

Zhu and Schroeder also discussed issues concerning Iraq, the Korean Peninsula and Afghanistan during their talks.

Bilateral co-operation reaches unprecedented level

Premier Zhu Rongji said Sunday he hoped that Sino-German co-operation will "embark on the same high-speed tracks (for development) as the magnetic levitation train in Shanghai."

Following his talks with visiting German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Zhu told a press conference that he is confident about the prospects for trade and economic co-operation between China and Germany.

"We are very satisfied with the development of co-operation between China and Germany since Chancellor Schroeder took office," said Zhu, describing current bilateral co-operation as "having reached an unprecedented level of depth and scope."

Official statistics indicate that between January and October, the trade volume between China and Germany had reached US$23.5 billion, the total figure in 2001.

Apart from increased trade volumes, Zhu also expected that German investment in China will reach a record high this year.

Meanwhile, Schroeder attributed the fast development of bilateral co-operation and exchanges to the open political relationship between the two countries.

More than 30,000 Chinese students and scholars have visited Germany, and Schroeder said this ensured a bright future for Sino-German ties.

Both Zhu and Schroeder are expected to attend a ceremony that will officially start the operation of the magnetic levitation train in Shanghai tomorrow. They visited the construction site last year.

Construction started in March last year on the 30- kilometer magnetic levitation railway. The project, costing a total of nearly 10 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion) will be the first of its kind to be used for commercial purposes.

The project is one of the major events in the history of Sino-German economic co-operation, Zhu was quoted as saying during his meeting with Schroeder by a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman.

According to the spokesman, Schroeder replied by saying that the Shanghai project is an important indication of fruitful bilateral economic and technological co-operation.

Schroeder added that Germany hopes to further develop co-operation and exchanges with China in various fields including tourism, culture and personnel exchanges as well as consultations in the United Nations Security Council.

(People's Daily December 30, 2002)