bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

SCMP Reporter

GERMAN Chancellor Dr Helmut Kohl arrived in Beijing yesterday for a five-day visit to China that has sparked controversy over his decision to place military co-operation on the agenda.

Dr Kohl was welcomed at Beijing's Capital airport by Deputy Foreign Minister Jiang Enzhu.

 In Beijing at the invitation of premier Li Peng, Dr Kohl is heading a delegation of about 200 officials - including Economics Minister Guenter Rexrodt - and businessmen on his fourth visit since becoming Chancellor.

He spent yesterday resting and will launch his high-profile economic and political visit with a stream of meetings and talks with China's leaders today.

During the visit he is due to meet President Jiang Zemin, Mr Li and Vice-Premier Zhu Rongji, the man in charge of economic reforms.

Aside from the political discussions today and a dinner hosted by the premier, Mr Li is due to travel with Dr Kohl to Qingdao, a German concession city until 1922.

In return, Dr Kohl has agreed to a Chinese proposal to visit the 196th Light Infantry Division stationed on the Beijing-Tianjin Highway, the first time since 1989 a foreign leader has visited a People's Liberation Army division.

German politicians have sharply criticised the visit.

Last week, the parliamentary foreign affairs spokesman for the opposition Social Democrats, Guenter Verheugen, said it was 'absolutely not normal for the host country's Army to be visited during an official visit'.

'Whether Kohl likes it or not, this raises the status of the Army. It may even be seen in China itself as a kind of rehabilitation,' he said.

But Germany's Ambassador to China, Dr Konrad Seitz, said Bonn viewed China as not only a future economic superpower but a political one.

'What happens in China will be the major event in world politics in the next 10, 20 or 30 years,' he said.

'If you have political dialogue you have to include Chinese military leaders.' More than 10 major contracts are to be signed under the watchful eyes of Mr Li and Dr Kohl this week. The contracts are mainly in infrastructure and transport.

 German firms had originally hoped to seal 26 accords, but sources said China's Foreign Trade Ministry had scrapped 16 deemed not 'ripe'.

 Xinhua (the New China News Agency) yesterday said bilateral trade volume in the first three quarters of this year hit US$9 billion (HK$69.56 billion), forecasting a new record.

In 1994, German imports from China amounted to some US$11 billion, but exports were less than US$7.3 billion, according to German figures.

In a meeting with Mr Rexrodt yesterday, Foreign Trade Minister Wu Yi asked him 'to correct some discrimination against China such as one-sided limit on trading quotas and anti-dumping', Xinhua said.

Mr Rexrodt said political and economic relations between Bonn and Beijing were at their 'highest level'.

Chemical giants Bayer, Hoechst and BASF are planing big projects with investments totalling US$5 billion.

German carmakers plan to expand their 59 per cent share of the Chinese market.

 Telecommunications giant Siemens, with three joint ventures two years ago, now has 29 with a new one opening almost every month.



Kohl welcomed to Beijing