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Full transcript of SCMP’s interview with Michael Clauss, German ambassador to China

Can you tell us more about what’s the agenda the whole visit and the purpose of it, and what kind of agreements or deals German and China is going to sign during the trip?

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Michael Clauss, German ambassador to China. Photo: Simon Song

Q: Can you tell us more about what’s the agenda the whole visit and the purpose of it, and what kind of agreements or deals German and China is going to sign during the trip?

A: This is the first visit of Xi Jinping as President of the People’s Republic to Germany. Chancellor Merkel and President Xi have met previously and now they have the opportunity to deepen their relationship.

There are lots of issues on the agenda. One topic is the state of reforms in China after the decisions of the Third Plenum last autumn. Ukraine will be another prominent issue. We also expect several agreements to be signed. Just to give you one example: We are confident that there will be an agreement on establishing a Renminbi offshore centre in Frankfurt.

Q: Can you give us a rough estimation of how much these deals are worth?

A: Many German companies will sign agreements, among them car companies and others. But at this point I cannot yet give you the exact value of the agreements.

Q: How do you describe the current relationship between China and Germany?

A: Our relationship has become very strong and close. Up to the highest level of leadership relations are very good and supported by mutual confidence. Our trade relations are excellent. Chinese and German bilateral trade has been soaring. That is especially true for the years 2010 and 2011, when both China and Germany lost markets in Southern Europe due to the effects of the euro debt crisis. At that time we discovered each other even more and bilateral trade increased quite rapidly. Today, China is our biggest trading partner in Asia and Germany is China’s biggest trading partner in Europe. We see bilateral trade increasing even further. The implementation of decisions taken by the Third Plenum will certainly create new market potential for our companies.

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