Olaf Scholz meets Xi Jinping in China DW 04/16/2024

DW correspondent Michaela Kuefner, who is traveling to China with Chancellor Olaf Scholz's team, says the meeting with President Xi Jinping is over.

Kuefner said the delegation didn't reveal much, saying only that the discussions had been “good.”

After the meeting, the two men strolled through the grounds of the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, a sprawling complex of villas, lakes and gardens.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has warned that Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine risks harming “the entire international order.”

Scholz said the war and “the rearmament of Russia” violated “a principle of the United Nations Charter, the principle of the inviolability of state borders.”

These comments came at the start of his meeting with Xi. Scholz also highlighted the importance of cooperation between China and Germany in combating climate change.

The German Chancellor also spoke of the danger posed by nuclear escalation. “It is clear, we both said in our last meetings here in Beijing, that the use of nuclear weapons should not even be threatened,” he said.

“I would like to discuss with you today how we can further contribute to a just peace in Ukraine.”

Before Scholz's visit, Washington had accused China of massively supporting the Russian arms sector.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday he would discuss peace in Ukraine with Chinese President Xi Jinping when they meet in Beijing.

“My meeting with President Xi will also focus on how we can further contribute to a just peace in Ukraine,” Scholz said on social media platform governments.

Western countries have sought to isolate Russia since it launched an all-out invasion of its neighbor in February 2022. However, even though it remains outwardly neutral, Beijing remains the Kremlin's most important ally.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said bilateral relations with Germany would develop steadily provided the two states respect their respective differences and seek “common ground.”

“We should view and develop bilateral relations comprehensively from a strategic and long-term perspective,” Xi told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the Chinese capital, Beijing.

The German chancellor is on a three-day visit to China, his first trip since Berlin last year launched a “de-risking” strategy aimed at preventing Germany from being too closely tied to the world's second-largest economy.

“As long as the two sides adhere to mutual respect, seek common ground while reserving differences, communicate and learn from each other, and achieve win-win cooperation, relations between the two countries will continue to develop consistently,” Xi told Scholz.

Scholz said on Monday that competition between China and Germany must be fair, warning Chinese leaders against a protectionist stance in the auto industry.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz ends a three-day trip to China today with a meeting with Chinese Leader Xi and Premier Li Qiang in Beijing.

Scholz travels with senior German leaders in an effort to find balance in relations with China. German companies are pushing for what they say is fairer access to the Chinese market. Europe is worried about the glut of Chinese products flooding the European market.

Scholz's visit comes after Berlin last year developed a China strategy aimed at reducing economic exposure to the Asian power. The strategy remained vague on specific measures or binding targets, but Scholz already raised the issue of fair competition in an interview with students at Shanghai's Tongji University on Monday.

He added that Chinese cars were welcome on the German market provided competition was “fair”. “In other words, let there be no dumping, let there be no overproduction, let there be no violation of copyrights,” Scholz told the students.

He called on China to establish a level playing field for trade. The German government and German businesses are also wary of any potential future conflicts over Taiwan.

rc/rm (Reuters, AP, AFP)