Berlin, 03 November 2022: Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz' flight to Beijing took just under eleven hours.
Federal Chancellor Scholz is the first Western head of government to visit China in two years.
The one-day visit took place under strict COVID-19 control measures.
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz and General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping.
It was good to be able to meet face to face in these difficult times, said the Federal Chancellor at the start of the visit.
Afterwards, Scholz was received with military honours by Premier Li Keqiang.
The Federal Chancellor was accompanied by a delegation from the business sector.
"Notwithstanding the changed circumstances," Scholz stressed in the run-up to the trip, "China remains an important economic and trading partner for Germany and Europe.” The objective of his inaugural visit to China, he said, was to find out how the two countries could continue their economic collaboration.
Scholz explained that he hoped it would be possible to eliminate difficulties for German companies trying to access markets in China and to enforce intellectual property rights, which he described as an imbalance in trade relations. "We have to restore more free trade here," said the Federal Chancellor.
Scholz also announced that a bilateral climate and transformation dialogue had been agreed with China. Germany and China were also keen to work together to advance the preparatory work for a global biodiversity agreement.