German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in Beijing on Wednesday aiming to attain “fair” cooperation with China and deepen economic ties with the Communist dictatorship.
Merz and his roughly 30-people delegation will conduct a two-day agenda to China that will run through Thursday and includes encounters with dictator Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang. The BBC reports that Merz, before leaving to Germany, said that Germany wants “a partnership with China that is balanced, reliable, regulated and fair.”
“China has risen to the ranks of the major powers,” he told reporters in Berlin on Tuesday before departing, as per Bloomberg. “Our China policy has to take account of that.”
Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) is greeted with military honors by Li Qiang, Premier of China, in the Great Hall of the People. This is Merz’s first visit to China as Federal Chancellor. (Michael Kappeler/picture alliance via Getty Images)
“Our message from a European point of view is the same: We want partnership with China balanced, reliable, regulated and fair,” Merz asserted, according to The Associated Press. “This is our offer. At the same time, it is what we also hope for and expect from the Chinese side.”
The BBC noted the trade imbalance between Germany and China, with Germany importing more than double the value of its exports to China. The broadcaster also detailed that Merz is expected to press China to use its influence with Russia to end the war in Ukraine.
“Roughly 7,500 kilometers lie between Berlin and Beijing. A distance that we have been happy to bridge for many years. It is very important to me to maintain and deepen our diplomatic and economic relations,” Merz wrote on a social media post. “For that to succeed, we need open channels of communication.”
Merz met with Premier Li shortly after his arrival in Beijing. Deutsche Welle reported that Li urged Germany to “help safeguard free trade,” referencing President Donald Trump’s trade policies such as tariffs, which China has opposed. China is presently Germany’s largest trade partner.
“China and Germany, as two of the world’s largest economies and major countries with important influence, should strengthen our confidence in cooperation, jointly safeguard multilateralism and free trade, and strive to build a more just and fair global governance system,” the Chinese Premier reportedly said.
Despite their calls for a deeper engagement between both countries. Reuters reports that “no consequential deals” were signed between Merz and Li
The five agreements reportedly signed between both officials were “narrowly targeted” and covered industries peripheral to both economies, including “continued efforts in climate change and green transition,” cooperation in animal disease prevention, poultry products protocols, and football and table tennis sports collaboration.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (C) is served lunch at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on February 25, 2026. Michael Kappeler / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)
Merz is expected to meet with Xi later on Wednesday. According to Bloomberg, the German Chancellor is scheduled to visit a Mercedes-Benz plant in Beijing on Thursday before traveling to Hangzhou for a our of facilities operated by Chinese robotics firm Hangzhou Unitree Technology Co. and Germany’s Siemens.
“At a time when the world is experiencing turbulence and transformation, China and Germany, as major economies and advocates of multilateralism, share the responsibility to uphold the stability of global industrial and supply chains and oppose protectionism and economic coercion,” China’s state-run Xinhua news service wrote.
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