Wang Yi boosts China, Germany friendship paving way for Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s Berlin visit

China’s top diplomat tells German official the two countries should work together and send ‘a positive signal to Europe and the world’

Foreign and security policy adviser Jens Plotner was in Beijing as part of preparatory work for Li Qiang’s widely expected trip to Germany

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Chinese Premier Li Qiang is expected to visit Germany, although no date has been confirmed. Photo: AP

Published: 2:27pm, 1 Jun 2023Updated: 5:05pm, 1 Jun 2023

China’s top diplomat Wang Yi has signalled Beijing’s willingness to join hands with Berlin in the face of global uncertainties, in a meeting on Wednesday aimed at preparing the way for a widely expected visit to Germany by Premier Li Qiang.

“China and Germany should work together to make the seventh China-Germany intergovernmental consultation a success, and send a positive signal to Europe and the world,” Wang told Jens Plotner, the German foreign and security policy adviser.

According to the Chinese foreign ministry, Plotner said Germany was also “very much looking forward” to the consultation and would work with China to speed up the preparatory work.

The pair also “exchanged views” on the war in Ukraine, the foreign ministry said. Germany was among the stops on Chinese special envoy Li Hui’s recent peace mission, which included visits to Ukraine, Russia, France, Poland and Brussels.

There has been little evidence that Li’s visit turned around widely held suspicions in Europe about China’s close relations with Russia, which Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have hailed as a “no limits” friendship.

Before his meeting on Wednesday with Wang – the most senior diplomat in China’s party system – Plotner had talks with Foreign Minister Qin Gang, as part of the planning for Li Qiang’s visit to Berlin.

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Wang Yi boosts China, Germany friendship paving way for Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s Berlin visit

China’s top diplomat tells German official the two countries should work together and send ‘a positive signal to Europe and the world’ Foreign and security policy adviser Jens Plotner was in Beijing as part of preparatory work for Li Qiang’s widely expected trip to Germany

China’s top diplomat tells German official the two countries should work together and send ‘a positive signal to Europe and the world’

Foreign and security policy adviser Jens Plotner was in Beijing as part of preparatory work for Li Qiang’s widely expected trip to Germany