Chinese Premier Wen
Jiabao arrived in the southern city of Munich Sunday on a
three-day official visit to Germany. It is Wen's first visit to
Europe since he took office as premier one year ago.
Wen's plane touched down just around 1:00 PM local time (11:00
GMT) at Munich's Franz Josef Straus Airport and he was greeted by
Bavarian Minster-President Edmund Stoiber. Then the Chinese premier
went straight to visit a farm and the headquarters of German giant
automobile maker Audi AG in Ingolstdt.
At the Audi AG headquarters, Wen was shown around the assembly
lines and an Audi car exhibition. He also witnessed the signing of
an agreement between the Volkswagen automobile giant and its
Chinese cooperation partner.
Wen said he hoped the German automobile makers could transfer
its technology to its Chinese partners, expand cooperation on joint
research and development and enhance personnel training. "I
believe, our cooperation partnership will be constantly developed,"
said the Chinese premier.
Then he attended a signing ceremony for an intention agreement
on setting up a new joint venture plant near Shanghai between
Volkswagen AG and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. Volkswagen,
including Audi, boasts the biggest automobile share on the Chinese
market. Volkswagen AG has sold nearly 700,000 automobiles in China
in 2003, a 36 percent increase over the previous year. Audi has
sold 63,000 automobiles in China in the past year.
On Sunday evening, the Chinese premier attended a welcoming
banquet hosted by Bavarian Minister-President Stoiber in his honor.
Wen highly praised Bavaria state's role in promoting Sino-German
ties. He said the current Sino-German relations are in the best
period in history and Bavaria state has greatly contributed to the
development of relations of all-round cooperation and friendship
between China and Germany.
Stoiber extended a warm welcome to Wen. He noted that the
European Union admitted 10 new members on Saturday and the Chinese
premier began his visit to Europe just one day after the EU
enlargement, showing the importance of developing all-round
cooperation between China and the EU.
Stoiber said the Bavaria state has been constantly pushing
forward the friendly relations and cooperation between China and
Germany, and is willing to make concerted efforts to further
enhance the German-Chinese comprehensive partnership.
Germany is the first leg of the Chinese premier's five-nation
European tour, which will also take him to Belgium, Italy, Britain
and Ireland. He will also visit the European Union in Brussels.
During his visit to Germany, the Chinese premier will meet with
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and others leaders and deliver
a speech to a group of German business representatives.
Wen said earlier that his current visit to Germany was aimed at
boosting Sino-German ties, establishing a mechanism of cooperation,
strengthening consultations on major international issues and
expanding trade, economic and technological cooperation, including
that between small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The Chinese premier added that he hoped both sides would forge
closer cooperation in the high-tech field and establish a mechanism
for solving trade disputes.
Sino-German relations have made smooth progress since the two
countries established diplomatic ties in 1972, with exchanges of
high-level visits on the rise in recent year. Germany is also
China's largest economic and trade partner in Europe. The bilateral
trade volume totaled US$41.8 billion in 2003.
(Xinhua News Agency May 3, 2004)