German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will meet President Xi Jinping during an official visit to China from February 25 to 26, following the invitation of Premier of the State Council Li Qiang.
The German leader will hold talks with Xi Jinping and Li Qiang on bilateral relations and issues of mutual interest, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said at a briefing on Tuesday.
A spokesperson, Mao Ning, described China and Germany as “all-round strategic partners” whose mutually beneficial relationship has “delivered tangibly for the two peoples.”
Beijing noted that China and Germany, being the second and third largest economies in the world, have close high-level exchanges and continue to deepen practical cooperation.
Ning said the “sound development” of relations was in the interest of the two countries and “is what the world expects to see.” Merz’s visit to China is the first since he assumed office in May 2025.
His meeting with Xi will be the third by a European leader in barely six weeks. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney were in Beijing in January at separate times.
Germany and China established diplomatic relations in 1972, and although the ties have been multifarious and intense, China views Germany as a key partner in Europe, both economically and politically.
Germany’s policy on China is based on the Federal Government Strategy on China, adopted in 2023. It lays out the status of and the prospects for relations with China, regarded as a partner and competitor.
China was Germany’s largest trading partner for goods between 2016 and 2023, and second-largest trading partner for goods in 2024, with a trade volume of around €245 billion.
