China, Germany ink 13 deals to step up cooperation

China and Germany today signed 13 agreements to step up their cooperation as Chancellor Angela Merkel made her eighth visit to Beijing, signifying the importance she attached to ties with the Communist giant.
Premier Li Keqiang accorded a red-carpet welcome to Merkel after which the two leaders agreed to maintain frequent high- level contact, promote exchanges in various fields, improve coordination on major international affairs and seek more common interests in diplomacy and security.
Following their talks, the two leaders witnessed the signing of 13 deals, concerning finance, transportation, communication and healthcare cooperation among other fields, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

China, the world's second largest economy, signed a USD 17 billion contract with European aerospace consortium Airbus to buy 130 aircraft. China is also the world's leading aviation market.
State-owned China Aviation Supplies Holding Group and Airbus signed the giant deal to buy 30 wide-body A330 planes and 100 single-aisle A320 aircraft.
The two also agreed to try to coordinate their economic strategies more as China is pursuing similar programs to integrating conventional industry and information technology.

China is the European Union's largest trading partner and several major EU countries including Germany, Britain and France are wooing the country in the hope of becoming hubs for the growing overseas trade of China's yuan currency.

At Li's invitation, Merkel is making an official two-day visit to China. It is her eighth visit to China since 2005 in the capacity of chancellor.
Her current visit followed close on the heels of the high profile visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Britain during which a number of deals amounting to billions of dollars signed signifying China's forays into EU.
"We need to adopt advanced technology and concepts from Germany," Li said, stressing that China offers a big market for the European economic powerhouse.
This year has been designated the Year of China-Germany Innovation Cooperation. Both sides will aim at creating new growth points in investment, financial cooperation and tech.

Li called on the two countries to cooperate more in innovative development and modern urbanisation as China encourages entrepreneurship to promote growth. He urged to work together to transfer their excess industrial capacity to developing countries.