Chinese Premier Li Qiang headed to Germany and France as Beijing seeks to improve ties with Europe in the face of growing pressure from the United States. The visit, which the Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed will run until June 23, is Li’s first overseas visit since taking office as China’s number No 2 in March. China has urged the European Union to insist on its strategic autonomy in the face of U.S. efforts to create a united front with its allies against China. Germany and France are the two largest economies in the EU.
Last week, Li told a visiting delegation from the German Social Democratic Party that China is ready to raise its strategic partnership with Berlin to new heights. The meeting followed a visit by Chancellor Olaf Scholz in November, making him the first leader from a Group of Seven country to visit since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
French President Emmanuel Macron also visited China in April, saying afterwards that Europe must reduce its dependency on the U.S. and avoid getting dragged into a confrontation between Beijing and Washington over Taiwan – a comment that sparked controversy on both sides of the Atlantic. Choosing Germany and France for Li’s first foreign trip as premier shows “China’s high regard” for its relationship with the two countries, Wang Wenbin, Spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said. “In the face of the turbulent international situation, sluggish global economic recovery and increasing common challenges to humanity, China looks forward to further deepening and expanding its relationship with Germany,” he told a press conference. As Germany unveiled its first national security strategy, it labelled Beijing a “systemic rival”. Wang also said that China-France relations “have maintained a good momentum” in recent years and Beijing is aiming to “make a new contribution to the healthy and stable development of China-European relations” during the visit.
The Premier’s agenda will include talks with German government officials, a forum on economic and technological cooperation with Germany, and the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris, hosted by Macron, Wang added, as reported by the South China Morning Post.
A recent poll by the European Council on Foreign Relations found that the prevailing view is that China is a “necessary partner”. A large majority of Europeans want to remain neutral between China and the United States and are reluctant to “de-risk” from China, according to the poll results, which were released on June 7. Many European leaders, including European Council President Charles Michel, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Macron and German Chancellor Scholz, have said recently that “decoupling” from China is neither viable nor desirable, and they underlined the importance of maintaining contact and cooperation with China, the China Daily adds.
