EU should see China’s rise as an opportunity, Xi tells Merkel

‘We hope that the EU will make a correct judgment independently and truly achieve strategic autonomy,’ Chinese president tells German chancellor

EU will uphold autonomy on foreign policy and Germany will play a positive role in strengthening dialogue and cooperation between Europe and China, Merkel says

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese President Xi Jinping (pictured together in 2019) spoke over the telephone on Wednesday. Photo: DPA

Published: 10:34pm, 7 Apr 2021Updated: 11:24pm, 7 Apr 2021

Europe must make correct judgments about China independently and demonstrate true strategic autonomy, Chinese President Xi Jinping told German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday.

In a telephone conversation, Xi urged Germany and the European Union to recognise China’s rise as an opportunity, promote cooperation with mutual respect and “exclude external interference”, as tensions between the two sides have been rising over issues like human rights and Brussels regarding Beijing as a “systemic rival”.

“China’s development is an opportunity for the EU, and we hope that the EU will make a correct judgment independently and truly achieve strategic autonomy,” Xi told Merkel.

“China is willing to work together with Europe to negotiate a series of important political agendas for the next phase, deepen and expand pragmatic cooperation in various fields, strengthen communication on global governance issues such as climate change, and jointly practice multilateralism,” he said.

According to Xinhua, Merkel said the EU would uphold its autonomy on foreign policy and Germany would play a positive role in strengthening dialogue and cooperation between Europe and China, as this “is not just in the interest of our two sides, but also in the interest of the world”.

In March, the EU imposed its first significant sanctions against Chinese officials since 1989. Photo: AFP

Last month, at a summit of the EU’s 27 leaders and US President Joe Biden, Merkel said the EU had much in common with the US but a different identity on China policy.