Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday spoke with German Chancellor Angela Merkel over the phone. The two leaders exchanged lunar New Year greetings and views on China-Germany ties, China-EU relations and global affairs.

The Chinese premier said that during the past year, China-Germany relations have witnessed plenty of momentum and bilateral cooperation has achieved positive results. The international political and economic scenes are facing several uncertain factors, Li said, adding that China and Germany should send stable signals to the global markets and jointly safeguard the existing international system through trade and investment liberalization.

China is willing to maintain close communication with the German side so as to make the upcoming G20 Leaders' Hamburg Summit a success.

China, which is closely following developments in Europe, will as always be a staunch supporter of European integration, Li said, adding that his country hopes to see Europe remain stable and prosperous, and looks forward to working with Europe to enhance bilateral ties.

The Chinese premier added that he wishes for Germany to continue to advance the European Union's implementation of Article 15 of the Protocol on China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001 as early as possible.

According to the article, WTO members should cease the surrogate country approach in anti-dumping investigations on China after December 11, 2016 - exactly 15 years after China's admission.

For her part, Merkel extended her wish to keep high-level exchanges with China in the New Year and work bilaterally on trade, new energy and electric vehicles.

She also wished to enhance cooperation with China on international issues and deliver a positive message to the world that global issues can be settled through multilateralism.

Germany, highly appreciative of China's support for European integration, is willing to promote the EU's commitments within the Protocol on China's accession, and conclude negotiations on an investment agreement between China and the EU as early as possible, said Merkel.

(Source: Xinhua)