Chinese Premier meets German leaders

Two government heads visit a supermarket

BEIJING -- Innovation, cooperation and opening-up have highlighted Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's ongoing visit to Germany, while the two countries' leaders lifted bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership to a higher level on Friday.

During his meeting with German President Joachim Gauck in Berlin, Li called for further advancement of China-Germany ties and expressed his wish that the two countries strive for a better future for their all-around strategic partnership.

China-Germany relations have enjoyed robust development thanks to joint efforts, and bilateral cooperation has reached an unprecedented level both in depth and breadth, said Li.

INNOVATION

The two nations on Friday made a joint decision to develop an innovative partnership of mutual benefit with emphasis on innovation cooperation.

On the day, Li and German Chancellor Angela Merkel co-chaired the third round of China-Germany governmental consultations and vowed to lift their countries' all-around strategic partnership to a higher level.

A document on innovation was issued following their meeting, which set the main areas of China-Germany innovative cooperation, including a strategic high-tech project "industry 4.0," a German initiative, and urbanization, industrialization, informatization and agricultural modernization, which are China's policy priorities.

At a joint press conference following the consultations, both leaders pledged closer cooperation in innovation to further promote bilateral ties.

Referring to a newly agreed comprehensive action plan on bilateral cooperation, Li said the document lays out a strategic blueprint for the two countries to deepen their cooperation in various fields in the next five to 10 years.

According to the plan, China and Germany are committed to promoting growth through reform and innovation so as to enhance the competitiveness of both countries.

The two countries agreed to deepen innovation cooperation in industry, urbanization, agriculture and other fields, and jointly undertake the tasks of sustainable development and protection of global public good.

Both sides highlighted the achievements of bilateral cooperation in research, technology and innovation, and decided to take the innovative partnership as an opportunity to deepen innovation cooperation in the field of research and development and lift the level of cooperation in jointly selected areas.

China and Germany agreed to expand dialogue within the framework of the bilateral innovation policy platform, which should be used to enhance mutual understanding of each other's national innovation systems, promote two-way investment in research and development, and strengthen cooperation on special future-oriented issues and projects.

The fourth China-Germany innovation policy platform meeting, to be held in the first half of 2015 in Berlin, will be an important milestone, says the action plan.

China is invited to participate as a partner country in Germany's "Science Year 2015: The Future City" program, a campaign organized by the German Federal Education and Research Ministry. The two countries decided to take it as an opportunity to strengthen cooperation in environmental science.

China and Germany agreed to increase governmental support for electric vehicles in research and development, market development, infrastructure construction and other fields within the framework of the Chinese-German Platform for Electric Mobility.

They also pledged to strengthen rail transportation cooperation to broaden the trade corridor on land and contribute to the China-proposed Silk Road Economic Belt initiative.

China and Germany should develop an innovative partnership and particularly boost innovation cooperation in such areas as industry, science and technology, agriculture, education, environmental protection, urbanization, health care and social security, Li said at his meeting with Merkel.

More new ideas are needed to lift bilateral relations to even higher levels, said Li, adding that the two sides should pursue innovation in cooperation models, mechanisms and measures, and create new bright spots that can lead bilateral cooperation into the future.

Merkel, for her part, said the increasingly close ties between China and Germany and the fruitful results of their governmental consultations are important embodiments of China-Germany innovation cooperation.

Prioritizing innovation cooperation will vigorously push forward the development of bilateral ties in the future, she noted.

COOPERATION

China and Germany also pledged to bolster closer political and economic cooperation with concrete efforts.

Calling each other "the most important cooperation partner in their respective regions," the two sides agreed to maintain frequent exchanges of high-level visits and close communication through bilateral and multilateral channels.

Stressing that the governmental consultation mechanism established in 2010 has played an essential coordinating role in promoting bilateral cooperation, the two governments agreed that the consultations should be held biennially in principle.

In order to enhance coordination on foreign policy and security, the two sides decided to launch an annual strategic dialogue on diplomatic and security affairs, with the first session to be carried out next year.

Meanwhile, they agreed to hold regular consultations on cyber issues to promote mutual trust and cooperation in cybersecurity, with the next round of bilateral cyber consultations to be held early next year in China.

The two sides also voiced support for cooperation on counter-surveillance and protection of online communication.

On the economic front, the document said China and Germany are committed to reaching a China-EU investment agreement with high targets, which will serve as the foundation of negotiations for a China-EU free trade agreement in the future.