‍Chinese Vice Premier Liu He met with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Monday, who is in Beijing to attend the fourth round of the Sino-German Diplomatic and Security Strategic Dialogue. 

Liu said that since Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Germany in 2014, when the two countries established the Sino-German comprehensive strategic partnership, the two countries have maintained close high-level exchanges and their political mutual trust has been significantly enhanced. He said he hoped that both sides will seize the opportunity to continuously expand mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation in various fields, promote international economic governance, and enhance the well-being of the two peoples.

Maas said that Germany attaches great importance to developing relations with China and appreciates China's policy of further opening up. He expressed willingness to continue deepening bilateral pragmatic cooperation with China and jointly safeguarding the global multilateral system.

Yang Jiechi, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, also met with Maas on Monday.

Yang, also director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, said that with the guidance of the leaders of the two countries, Sino-German relations have gained rapid development and two countries' cooperation prospects are broad.

He noted the high-level exchanges between the two sides are frequent, and mutual trust is continuously enhanced. 

The sustained and healthy development of Sino-German relations is in accordance with the fundamental interests of the two countries and is the common expectation of the two peoples, Yang added.

He also expressed that China is willing to work with Germany to deepen cooperation in various fields, strengthen communication and coordination in international and regional affairs, and jointly make positive contributions to promoting an open world economy, maintaining multilateralism and world peace and stability.

Maas said that China plays an increasingly important role in global issues, and strengthening cooperation between Germany, and China is of strategic significance.

The German side opposes trade protectionism and is willing to work with China to maintain multilateralism, the foreign minister added. 

(Top image: Chinese Vice Premier Liu He (R) meets with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas in Beijing, capital of China, November 12, 2018. /Xinhua Photo )