China-Germany Ties: Chinese, German FMs pledge to uphold open trade, multilateralism

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Europe

02:18

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his German counterpart Heiko Maas have vowed to promote ties and protect free trade and multilateralism. They made the remarks after a Diplomatic and Security Strategic Dialogue in Beijing on Tuesday. Zheng Yibing has more.

A meeting aimed at better ties between China and Germany. Foreign ministers from both nations agreed to look after each other's development more effectively as comprehensive strategic partners, while expanding business and trade opportunities. Both announced unwavering support for multilateralism in international affairs.

WANG YI CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER "Our world is undergoing complicated and profound changes. The rise of unilateralism and power politics brings a lot of instability and uncertainty. China and Germany should maintain sound bilateral ties, while jointly safeguarding global stability and the general interests of every country."

Maas says more high-level China-Germany exchanges are on the way. He says Germany will increase interconnectivity between it and China, and Asia and Europe as a whole.

HEIKO MAAS GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER "We firmly believe that free trade is important to all sides, and protectionism harms the interests of all which we don't wish to see. We noticed that president Xi Jinping said that China will further open its market. This is an important signal. We hope that our business and trade ties with China will be further developed and expanded."

This is Maas' first official visit to China since taking office in March. He praised China's support for Germany to play a more active role in international affairs as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.

And Wang and Maas hope both sides play more positive roles in international affairs, namely anti-terrorism, tackling climate change, maintaining nuclear deal with Iran and supporting talks on Korean Peninsula issues.

And a fresh round of human rights talks between the two countries is set for next month.

ZHENG YIBING BEIJING "Both ministers agree that it is important to have strong and effective channels of dialogue. And they hope both sides continuously expand cooperation in various fields. Zheng Yibing, CGTN, Beijing."