Xi Jinping welcomes ‘new chapter’ for China-Germany ties in congratulating Friedrich Merz

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Uploaded: 2025-05-07T08:00:08.000Z
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China’s president tells new chancellor their countries’ relationship can ‘guide China-EU cooperation in the right direction’

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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks during the handover ceremony at the Chancellery in Berlin on Tuesday. The new German government is expected to be formed between the Union parties of Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU) and the coalition partner, Social Democratic Party (SPD). Photo: EPA-EFE

Alyssa Chen

Published: 4:00pm, 7 May 2025

Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated Friedrich Merz on Tuesday after he was elected chancellor by the German parliament, and called for deeper cooperation and globalisation.

In the congratulatory message, Xi told Merz that China and Germany – the world’s second- and third-largest economies – should deepen cooperation and jointly promote economic globalisation.

Describing the world as marked by upheaval, surging unilateralism and protectionism, Xi said he held the development of China-Germany relations in high regard.

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Trump justifies ‘China tariffs’ as US effort to curb ‘greatest job theft in the world’

“I am ready to work with the chancellor to … consolidate political mutual trust, deepen exchanges and cooperation and open a new chapter in the all-round strategic partnership between China and Germany, so as to guide China-EU cooperation in the right direction,” state news agency Xinhua quoted Xi as saying.

In a separate congratulatory message to Merz, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said practical cooperation between the two countries had yielded remarkable results and offered broad prospects.

“I am looking forward to establishing and maintaining a sound working relationship with Merz, deepening exchanges and jointly promoting development … and guiding China-Germany and China-EU cooperation in the right direction,” Li said.

Merz became Germany’s 10th post-war chancellor on Tuesday after a historic stumble in which he did not pass the first vote in the Bundestag.

The 69-year-old has the daunting tasks of reviving Germany’s economy, responding to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, confronting United States tariff threats against Germany’s export-heavy economy and grappling with the murky prospects in the American-European relationship.