Li Qiang Visits Europe
Chinese Premier of the State Council Li Qiang is paying his first foreign visit to Europe at the invitation of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the French government. The visit, as state media described, “sends out a clear message that China attaches great importance to its relations with Europe.”
Before
becoming the Premier, Li was the Governor of Zhejiang, the Communist
Party Secretary of Jiangsu, and the Communist Party Secretary of
Shanghai. The regions, which are next to each other, have strong
connections with Europe.
German
Chancellor Olaf Scholz hosted Li in Berlin yesterday. The two sides
then had the 7th Sino-German government consultations (China: Zh).
Green development, advanced manufacturing, and education are at the
core of their discussions, which were “efficient, pragmatic, and
fruitful.” The last such consultations were held online in 2021 during
the pandemic (China: Zh/En; German: En). The consultation mechanism was established in 2011.
According to China’s readout, the two governments acknowledged the great significance of their cooperation.
双方一致认为，中德合作基础扎实、充满活力。双方在更高水平、以更高标准和更高质量深化合作，共同维护全球产供链稳定，符合两国利益，也具有重要世界意义。双方一致同意建立气候变化和绿色转型对话合作机制，举行第三次中德高级别财金对话以及新一届中德环境论坛、卫生对话，继续深化经贸、投资、汽车制造、高科技、新能源、数字经济、人文等领域合作。(Both sides agreed that China-Germany cooperation has a solid foundation and is full of vitality. It
is in the interests of both countries that the two sides deepen
cooperation at a higher level, with higher standards and higher quality,
and jointly maintain the stability of the global production and supply
chain, which is also of great global significance. The
two sides agreed to establish a dialogue and cooperation mechanism on
climate change and green transformation, hold the third China-Germany
high-level financial dialogue and the new China-Germany environmental
forum and health dialogue, continue to deepen economic and trade,
investment, automobile manufacturing, high-tech, new energy , digital
economy, humanities and other fields.)
During the talks with Premier Li, Scholz was explicit about the opposition to decoupling:
朔尔茨表示，德方欢迎中国实现发展繁荣，反对任何形式的脱钩，去风险不是“去中国化”。德方致力于同中方发展稳定的关系，愿进一步加强双方交往，深化互利合作，在应对气候变化、绿色发展等领域达成更多合作共识。德方支持双向投资，将为中国企业赴德投资提供良好营商环境。(Scholz
said that Germany welcomes China's development and prosperity, and
opposes any form of decoupling. De-risking is not "de-Sinicization". Germany
is committed to developing stable relations with China, and is willing
to further strengthen exchanges between the two sides, deepen mutually
beneficial cooperation, and reach more cooperation consensus in the
fields of addressing climate change and green development. Germany
supports two-way investment and will provide a good business environment
for Chinese companies investing in Germany.)
Li met with business leaders in Germany on Monday (Zh), emphasizing that “risk prevention and cooperation are not mutually exclusive.”
李强……表示，……越是形势严峻复杂，越需要冷静思考，在诸多不确定中把握确定性，主动顺应规律，把握大势，特别是经济全球化的历史大势、中国经济长期向好的发展大势、中德两国互利共赢的合作大势……。(Li
Qiang said … The more severe and complex the situation is, the more it
is necessary to think calmly, grasp certainty in many uncertainties,
actively follow the law, and grasp the general trend — especially the
historical trend of economic globalization, the long-term development
trend of China's economy, and the general trend of mutually beneficial
and win-win cooperation between China and Germany.)
李强指出，我们理解各方都有自己的安全关切，重要的是如何合理界定和防范风险。如果处理不当，将风险扩大化，只会造成更多和更大的问题。企业对风险的感受最直接、最敏锐，知道如何规避和应对，应该把防风险的主导权还给企业。防风险和合作不是对立的，不合作才是最大的风险，不发展才是最大的不安全。经济全球化使世界经济你中有我、我中有你，应该辩证看待依赖问题，不能人为夸大“依赖”，甚至把相互依存与不安全简单画等号。对于一些具体问题要具体分析，各方完全可以通过协商合作，共同防范应对。(Li
Qiang pointed out that we understand that all parties have their own
security concerns, and what is important is how to reasonably define and
prevent risks. If it is not handled properly and the risk is magnified,
it will only cause more and bigger problems. Enterprises have the most direct and keen sense of risks, and know how to avoid and deal with them. They
should return the initiative to prevent risks to enterprises. Risk
prevention and cooperation are not mutually exclusive. Failure to
cooperate is the greatest risk, and failure to develop is the greatest
insecurity. Economic globalization has made the world
economy inextricably linked. We should look at the issue of dependence
dialectically, and we should not artificially exaggerate "dependence",
or even simply equate interdependence with insecurity. For some specific
issues, specific analysis is required, and all parties can fully
prevent and respond to risks through consultation and cooperation.)