China and Germany have seen deepened cooperation with new achievements being made in such areas as economy and trade, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Sunday in Germany, which is the first stop of his first overseas visit since he took office.  

The two countries have been each other's main trading partners. China has been Germany's largest trading partner for the seventh year in a row. Meanwhile, Germany has been China's largest trading partner in Europe. 

Goods worth $227.6 billion were traded between the two countries in 2022, according to China's General Administration of Customs. In the first five months of this year, the bilateral trade volume between the two countries reached $87.8 billion.

China mainly imports from Germany vehicles and spare parts, mechanical appliances, electrical equipment and optical instruments, while exports to Germany textile products, furniture, organic chemicals, toys and plastics. 

Germany has remained the most popular destination for Chinese investment in Europe. There were 141 Chinese invested projects in Germany in 2022. Chinese investors have mainly been attracted by German machinery manufacturing, automobile sector, consumer goods and food industry. 

Germany has been China's largest source of foreign investment. In 2022, Germany invested $2.57 billion in China, with a year-on-year increase of 52.8 percent. In 2021, there were 536 newly established German companies in China. 

German companies mainly invested in China in areas such as automobiles, chemicals, power generation equipment, transportation and communications, most of which are high-tech manufacturing projects. 

They have been optimistic about the long-term development in China. For example, BMW has increased stake in its Chinese joint venture, and BASF has broken ground on a new production complex in Zhanjiang, south China's Guangdong Province.

Li noted that the more chaos and changes the world today is witnessing, the stronger a need should be advocated for the two countries to enhance cooperation. The premier will also hold the seventh China-Germany intergovernmental consultation during his stay in Germany. 

Data editor: Yao Nian

Graphics designer: Mukesh Mohanan