German Chancellor Merz Plans Official Visit to China This Week

RunWithRugs · 2026-02-25T09:10:28+00:00

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will visit China this week, becoming the third top Western leader to do so this year. The visit aims to strengthen ties between Germany and China, which are key trading partners.

RunWithRugs

2026-02-25 09:10:28

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(MENAFN) German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will make an official visit to China this week, Beijing announced Monday.

The two-day visit will begin Wednesday at the invitation of Premier Li Qiang, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Merz will be the third top Western leader to visit China this year, following trips by the Canadian and British prime ministers in January, marking the first visits by their countries in several years.

Earlier this month, Merz met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, and he spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping over the phone last May.

Germany and China established diplomatic relations in 1972, later upgrading their ties in 2014 to an “all-round strategic partnership.” In 2024, China became Germany’s second-largest global trading partner, with bilateral trade totaling $201.88 billion, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

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