Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday welcomed German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Beijing, with both countries seeking to deepen economic cooperation on a trip that has prompted criticism over Berlin's growing reliance on China's power.
Update: 14h00 UT
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has announced an agreement to let expatriates in China use the Covid-19 vaccine from Germany's BioNTech and has pressed for Beijing to allow the shot to be made freely available to Chinese citizens.
During his visit to Beijing, Scholz said China and Germany had different approaches to fighting the virus but had a joint responsibility to eliminate it.
BioNTech would be the first non-Chinese coronavirus vaccine to be administered in China as Beijing has hitherto insisted on administering domestically produced vaccines.
Scholz, who promised a "candid exchange" with Chinese leaders on a number of issues – including Russia's invasion of Ukraine – said he was seeking a deeper economic relationship with Beijing but expected equal treatment.
He is the first G7 leader to visit China since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, which led the world's number two economy to close its borders and Xi to largely eschew in-person diplomacy.
However, the German leader's trip, accompanied by top business executives, has sparked controversy at home, coming just after Xi strengthened his hold on power.
Tensions are also running high between the West and Beijing on issues ranging from Taiwan to alleged human rights abuses.
Received by a smiling Xi at Beijing's Great Hall of the People, Scholz said he hoped to "further develop" economic cooperation – while alluding to areas of disagreement.
"It is good that we are able to have an exchange here about all questions, including those questions where we have different perspectives – that's what an exchange is for," Scholz said.
"We also want to talk about how we can further develop our economic cooperation on other topics: climate change, food security, indebted countries."
Is Germany's Olaf Scholz making the same mistake again?
— POLITICOEurope (@POLITICOEurope) November 4, 2022
To his critics, he's yet again overrelying on China as Berlin previously did with Russia.
But the Chancellor is determined to keep the cozy relations with Beijing stable.https://t.co/u0EHc6Io6Z
Beijing's Xinhua News Agency said of the meeting: "Noting the complex and fluid international landscape, Xi underscored the need for China and Germany, two major countries with great influence, to work together in times of change and instability and contribute more to global peace and development."
Scholz also spoke with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang later in the afternoon at a meeting in which he called for fair trade between the two countries.
"We do not believe in ideas of decoupling (with China)," he said, while calling for "economic ties as equals, with reciprocity".
The delegation of more than 60 people was met on the tarmac at Beijing airport by a military guard – as well as health workers in white hazmat suits who conducted mandatory PCR tests in buses converted into mobile laboratories.
Opposition concerns over China relations
China's economic importance is seen by some in Berlin as more crucial than ever, as Germany hurtles towards a recession battling an energy crisis triggered by the Ukraine war.
China is a major market for German goods, from machinery to vehicles made by the likes of Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
But German industry's heavy dependence on China is facing fresh scrutiny after the over-reliance on Russian energy imports left it exposed when Moscow turned off the taps.
Concern about China has also come from within Germany's ruling coalition, with Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock saying past mistakes with Russia must not be repeated.
A row erupted last month about whether to allow Chinese shipping giant Cosco to buy a stake in a Hamburg port terminal.
Scholz ultimately defied calls from six ministries to veto the sale over security concerns, instead permitting the company to acquire a reduced stake.
Balancing act
There are also concerns that the trip – coming on the heels of Xi securing a historic third term at a Communist Party Congress last month – may have unsettled the United States and the European Union.
Berlin, however, says there have been consultations with key partners, while Scholz has insisted he is visiting China as a "European" as well as the leader of Germany.
He maintained that direct talks with Chinese leaders were "all the more important" after the long hiatus caused by the pandemic.
He also promised earlier to raise thorny topics such as respect for civil liberties and the rights of minorities in Xinjiang.
However, Beijing has already warned that it opposes any interference in what it calls "internal affairs".
