Editor's note: Hu Hong is an assistant research fellow at the Department for European Studies at the China Institute of International Studies. The article reflects the author's opinion, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel paid a two-day official visit to China, on September 6 and 7, 2019.

Merkel has visited China 12 times since she took office 14 years ago, and her footprints span from Shenzhen in the south to Shenyang in the north.

This time, in addition to Beijing, Merkel also traveled to Wuhan and witnessed the rapid development of China and the crystallization of Sino-German cooperation at the very heart of Chinese economic geography.

Innovation has become the keyword in the Sino-German relations. 

The theme of a comprehensive action plan on bilateral cooperation jointly published by the two sides in 2014 was exactly "Shaping Innovation." This document has also become a document guiding the long-term development of bilateral relations. Moreover, when Merkel visited China in May last year, the Sino-German strategic partnership was aimed at "going to a new level." 

And this time, as the Chinese ambassador to Germany Wu Ken said, Merkel will seek "new growth pole" for Sino-German cooperation. One particular dimension of the characteristics of innovation is that both sides keep digging for further possibilities in existing cooperation.

China and Germany are not content with the volume of current cooperation dimensions and are both willing to upgrade the form of cooperation wherever possible. Therefore, German companies first benefited from China's new round of reform and opening-up.

Allianz (China) Insurance was approved to be established and became the first foreign insurance holding company in China; BMW's shares in BMW Brilliance increased from 50 to 75 percent, becoming the first foreign car company controlling stake in their joint ventures in China.

Another dimension of innovative cooperation is that companies from both countries are also actively exploring new ways and areas of cooperation.

Last year, Ningde era, a Chinese leading company in power batteries, decided to invest in Germany by setting up a battery production base and research and development center on intelligent manufacturing technology.

This was a new case of Chinese investment in Germany, as Chinese companies tended to merge and acquire instead of doing greenfield investment. On September 5, the German Bosch Group and the Ningde era jointly announced the establishment of a long-term strategic partnership.

Taking to account that climate policy has gradually become "high politics" and environmentally-friendly transportation technology has become the focus of the whole world, the cooperation between China and Germany in the field of power batteries is timely.

In addition to electric vehicles, as Ambassador Wu mentioned, digital, artificial intelligence, intelligent manufacturing, and other future industries and innovative technologies will all become the "new" focus point in Sino-German cooperation.

Germany's advantages in traditional industries and Chinese development in the area of ICT could be combined and thus open up a new world in the Sino-German cooperation.

Of course, "new" is not the same as "good."

At a time when Sino-German relations continue to evolve in a positive way, the "new" environment of current international relations has occasionally added chaos to Sino-German relations. The Trump administration has made itself an enemy to the whole international community, but Trump's approach has not been resisted firmly. Instead, his diplomatic style has been imitated and influences many countries' behaviors.

The overall international politics thus became less decent. A small part of the voices between China and Germany also sound like Trump.

For example, some German officials and scholars were putting ideology high on the agenda and claiming they agreed with the essence of Trump's policy toward China. At the same time, while some Chinese are criticizing the U.S.' bullying, they were also emulating the arrogant posture of the U.S.

During Merkel's visit to China last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed to Merkel that China and Germany must set an example for win-win cooperation, take the lead in promoting China-Europe ties, advocate a new type of international relations and override the ideological differences for cooperation.

In all, grasping the cooperative nature of Sino-German relations and maintaining the strategic focus of both sides are particularly important for Sino-German relations.

The two sides need to highlight the "innovative" style of Sino-German relations, overcome the adverse effects of the "new" environment, and seize the opportunities of further cooperation in the area of global governance.

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