Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke to German Chancellor Angela Merkel via telephone on Wednesday, with both sides pledging to push forward China-Germany and China-EU ties to a new level in 2020.

After exchanging Chinese New Year greetings, the two leaders agreed to deepen bilateral cooperation in addressing international issues such as epidemic control, climate change and WTO reform.  

Xi said the significance of China-Germany relations goes beyond the bilateral scope, urging the two sides to become reliable partners regardless of ideological differences.

China stands ready to work with Germany to advance win-win cooperation in trade, finance, technology and culture, and hopefully the German side can continue to work towards creating fair business environment for Chinese businesses investing in the country.

2020 marks an important year for China-EU relationship, Xi stressed. China is willing to join hands with Germany and other countries in Europe to safeguard open economy, multilateralism and world peace, Xi said. 

For her part, Merkel expressed her gratitude to Xi for sending a delegation to the Berlin Conference on Libya, and said she is delighted to see that German enterprises are benefiting from China's further opening-up.

The German side will ensure an open and fair business environment, deepen practical cooperation with China in various fields and expand third-party market cooperation, she said.

Merkel said she will actively improve and develop Germany-China relations. She is earnestly preparing for a series of important Germany-China and EU-China political agendas for this year, including a comprehensive bilateral investment agreement that China and EU aim to conclude in 2020, she added.

Merkel also pledged efforts to step up cooperation with China in combating the outbreak of novel coronavirus.

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