{"id":13402,"date":"2026-02-25T08:44:53","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T08:44:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=13402"},"modified":"2026-02-25T08:44:53","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T08:44:53","slug":"germanys-merz-arrives-in-china-for-two-day-visit-with-focus-on-trade-international-trade-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=13402","title":{"rendered":"Germany\u2019s Merz arrives in China for two-day visit with focus on trade | International Trade News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>Chancellor says he wants to deepen trade relationship while making it fairer during visit that sees signing of several agreements.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><button class=\"article-listen-container\" aria-labelledby=\"listen-text listen-duration\" data-testid=\"listen-to-article-button\"><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"article-listen-container__text\" data-testid=\"listen-to-article-text\">Listen to this article<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">\u00a0|\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"article-listen-container__duration\">4 mins<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/button><button tabindex=\"0\" class=\"tooltip-accessible_trigger\"><svg class=\"icon icon--info icon--main-grey-dark icon--16 listen-to-article-tooltip__icon\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\"><title>info<\/title><path class=\"icon-main-color\" d=\"M12 0a12 12 0 1 0 0 24 12 12 0 0 0 0-24Zm-.226 3.225a2.039 2.039 0 0 1 2.155 1.924v.193a1.998 1.998 0 0 1-2.155 2.149 2.029 2.029 0 0 1-2.146-2.15 2.039 2.039 0 0 1 1.955-2.122h.193l-.002.006Zm3.227 15.525a.75.75 0 0 1-.752.75H9.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.75h.748V12h-.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.751h3a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.752v6.75h.75a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.749L15 18.75Z\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has kicked off his inaugural visit to China with a focus on resetting trade relations and deepening cooperation.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking in Beijing on Wednesday, Merz told Chinese Premier Li Qiang that Germany sought to build on the decades-old economic ties with China, while emphasising the need to ensure fair cooperation and open communication.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 4 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>\u201cWe have very specific concerns regarding our \u2060cooperation, which we want to improve and make fair,\u201d said Merz, in an acknowledgement of the strain faced by Germany\u2019s manufacturing sector from Chinese competition.<\/p>\n<p>Li, who met Merz shortly after his arrival in Beijing\u2019s Great Hall of the People, called on both sides to work together to safeguard multilateralism and free trade, in a reference to US President Donald Trump\u2019s tariff policy that has upended the global trading system.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChina and Germany, as two of the world\u2019s largest economies and major countries with important \u200cinfluence, should strengthen our confidence in cooperation, jointly safeguard multilateralism and free trade, and strive to build a more just and fair global governance system,\u201d Li said.<\/p>\n<p>During the meeting, representatives from both sides signed several agreements and memorandums, including on climate change and food security.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe share responsibility in the world, and we should live up to that responsibility together,\u201d Merz said, adding there was \u201cgreat potential for further growth\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>He added that open channels of communication were essential, as he announced visits by several ministers in the months ahead.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"more-equal-playing-field-sought\">\u2018More equal playing field\u2019 sought<\/h2>\n<p>Reporting from Beijing, Al Jazeera\u2019s Rob McBride said the visit, in which Merz was being accompanied by a large delegation of German business executives, was important for both Europe\u2019s economic powerhouse and the world\u2019s second-largest economy.<\/p>\n<p>Alongside the signing of deals with Chinese companies, a key focus of Merz\u2019s visit would be \u201clooking for a more equal playing field when it comes to trade\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is a real concern in markets like the European Union about cheaper, sometimes subsidised Chinese products that are looking for markets other than the US, suddenly flooding other marketplaces such as Germany \u2026 undercutting many domestic manufacturers there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Germany\u2019s imports from China increased 8.8 percent to 170.6 billion euros ($201bn) last year, while its exports to China dropped 9.7 percent to 81.3 billion euros ($96bn).<\/p>\n<p>McBride noted Beijing was seeking to pitch itself as a \u201cresponsible advocate of free trade compared to the sometimes unpredictable and chaotic tariffing policy of the US\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>He said the visit would also see Merz attend a banquet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and visits to German companies with strongly established presences in China, such as Siemens and Mercedes-Benz.<\/p>\n<p>Geopolitics and human rights would also be on the table, he said, with Germany particularly concerned about Beijing\u2019s support, tacit or otherwise, for Russia amid its war on Ukraine.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"western-leaders-court-beijing\">Western leaders court Beijing<\/h2>\n<p>Merz is the latest in a string of Western leaders to visit Beijing in recent months, including the UK\u2019s Keir Starmer, France\u2019s Emmanuel Macron and Canada\u2019s Mark Carney, amid the fallout from Trump\u2019s tariffs on long-established trade relationships.<\/p>\n<p>The chancellor said on Friday he was going to Beijing in part because export-dependent Germany needs \u201ceconomic relations all over the world\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut we should be under no illusions,\u201d he said, adding that China, as a rival to the United States, now \u201cclaims the right to define a new multilateral order according to its own rules.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chancellor says he wants to deepen trade relationship while making it fairer during visit that sees signing of several agreements. Listen to this article\u00a0|\u00a04 mins info German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has kicked off his inaugural visit to China with a focus on resetting trade relations and deepening cooperation. Speaking in Beijing on Wednesday, Merz told [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13403,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-pacific"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13402\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}