China's Xi tells Germany's Scholz to seek 'common ground'

FILE PHOTO: Chinese President Xi Jinping applauds at the closing session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China March 11, 2024. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo

By Andreas Rinke

BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday two-way ties with Germany would continue to develop steadily as long as both respected each other and sought “common ground” while reserving differences.

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

Scholz’s three-day visit to China was his first since his government launched a “de-risking” strategy last year to avoid tethering Germany too closely to the world’s second-largest economy.

The visit, which took Scholz to the major cities of Shanghai and Chongqing, along with Germany’s top corporate officials such as Ola Kallenius, chairman of Mercedes-Benz, and Oliver Zipse, chief executive of BMW, underlining the importance of the Chinese market to Europe’s largest economy.

FILE PHOTO: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attends a press conference following a meeting with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, in Berlin, Germany, April 12, 2024. REUTERS/Nadja Wohlleben/File Photo

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

(Reporting by Andreas Rinke; Writing by Ryan Woo; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)