German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has begun a five-day state visit to China, as Berlin and Beijing seek to manage trade tensions and maintain bilateral cooperation.
Steinmeier began his visit on October 27 in Hefei, the capital of Anhui Province in eastern China. It marks the German president’s first visit to China in nearly eight years.
In a social media post ahead of the trip, Steinmeier said the visit would focus on Germany’s multifaceted relationship with China and the challenges facing both countries.
During his stay in Anhui, Steinmeier is scheduled to visit the Huangshan Mountains and a Volkswagen facility.
Jian Feng, a researcher at Shanghai International Studies University, told the Global Times that Steinmeier’s visit to Volkswagen’s facilities demonstrated the importance he attaches to practical industrial cooperation alongside broader strategic dialogue.
According to Jian, Volkswagen’s operations in Anhui illustrate emerging models of Chinese-German cooperation in the automotive industry, including vehicle exports to Europe. The visit will give Steinmeier an opportunity to observe firsthand how such initiatives could help address bilateral trade disputes and create new opportunities for cooperation, the researcher said.
“China’s relations with Germany and the European Union have reached a point where trade tensions and differing strategic perceptions are making cooperation increasingly difficult,” Jian said.
He added that Steinmeier, who has long supported closer ties with China, could use the visit to deepen his understanding of the country and encourage German leaders to view China as a strategic partner rather than a source of Europe’s challenges.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a press briefing that the healthy and stable development of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Germany, the world’s second- and third-largest economies, served the interests of both countries.
She added that such a relationship was also in the interests of Europe and the wider international community.