Duits-Chinese verhoudingen leidend bij contacten China-EU

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is scheduled to start a visit to Germany on Saturday, the last stop of his first overseas trip after he took office.

The fact that Germany is the the only European Union (EU) member included in Li's ongoing four-nation trip evinces the importance of China-Germany ties in the China-EU relationship, said Shi Mingde, China's ambassador in Berlin.

"Pragmatic cooperation between Germany and China is playing a leading role in China-EU relations," he said.

Such pragmatic cooperation is featured by frequent exchange of visits and contacts of the two countries' leaders, as well as by a fruitful economic and trade relationship, Shi added.

"If I exclude our European neighbors, then to my knowledge, our chancellor visited only one country twice last year, that was China," said Friedolin Strack, managing director of the Asia-Pacific Committee of German Business.