In Germany, Chinese Premier Li Qiang tells businesses not to mistake interdependence for insecurity
- ‘Risk prevention and cooperation are not opposites’, Li tells Berlin meeting of industry leaders
- German business representatives reportedly confident in China’s economic outlook despite recent doubts about the country’s post-pandemic recovery
“Risk prevention and cooperation are not opposites,” Li said, according to state news agency Xinhua.
“It is understandable that all parties have their own security concerns, [but] what is important is how to reasonably define and guard against risks. If not handled properly and the risks are amplified, more and bigger problems will only be created.”
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Attendees at the meeting reportedly included representatives from Siemens, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Schaeffler and Allianz.
While Blinken’s visit focused on stabilising ties to prevent the intensifying US-China rivalry from descending into conflict, Li’s European tour is centred more on promoting economic relations and other bilateral cooperation with the continent.
Li arrived in Berlin earlier on Monday at the start of a six-day trip that will include a visit to France and attendance at the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact.
Li was greeted on arrival by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and later had dinner with Chancellor Olaf Scholz ahead of bilateral government consultations on Tuesday.
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This month, Li hosted a German delegation from the ruling Social Democratic Party in Beijing, where he called economic cooperation a “foundation” of bilateral ties and promised China would continue to expand market access for foreign companies.
According to Xinhua, German business representatives at the Monday meeting hailed the “great success” they had had through trade ties with China and rejected decoupling as an effective way to manage risk.
The long-planned state visit came after a meeting between Xi and Scholz in November which resulted in a “major consensus” agreed by the two country leaders, Li previously said.
Scholz was the first leader of a Western country to visit China since the pandemic and has insisted that Germany should not decouple from China.
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China has been showing support for the European Union’s strategic autonomy and sought to improve ties with Europe as it faces increasing pressure from the United States.
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In the run-up to the intergovernmental dialogue, senior officials, including Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi, had meetings and phone calls with their German counterparts to exchange views on topics ranging from the Ukraine war to trade cooperation.
