China and Germany kick off first round of diplomatic and security strategic dialogue

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (left) and his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier stand in front of a Christmas store at Gendarmenmarkt Christmas market in Berlin 19 Dec 2015. [Photo by Wang Mingjie/China Daily]

Wang Yi stressed that China will continue to work with Germany to prepare for a series of high-level talks as well as exchanges and cooperation in relevant fields in 2016, and to continue and promote the development of China-Germany relations. The two sides are looking into setting up mechanisms for further collaborations with China's One Belt One Road initiative and the German Industry 4.0 project, which charts the course of future German industrial development.

Wang Yi said China is also willing to engage in multilateral cooperation with Germany on many global issues, and China's "yes" vote for Friday's UN Security Council resolution initiating the peace process in Syria is a good reflection of China's international stance.

Steinmeier expressed the two countries will continue to keep contact, constantly enhance mutual trust and deepen cooperation so as to further advance bilateral relations.

He said good communication and cooperation between China and Germany is of great importance in pushing the settlements of major international and regional issues, thanking Wang for China's participation at the UN Security Council resolution on Syria crisis.

As an initiative to promote people-to-people and cultural exchanges, the German Foreign Minister two sides have agreed that 2016 will be China-Germany Youth Exchange Year.

Minister Steimeier hailed Wang's visit to Germany as perfectly timed, adding that in Germany Christmas is the time to be with family and close friends. As a gesture to welcome Wang, Steimeier accompanied the Chinese minister to a traditional Christmas market after the bilateral talks.

During the brief visit to the Gendarmenmarkt Christmas market, Wang and Steimeier were greeted by the market organiser, tasted the traditional mulled wine, and visited Christmas merchandise stores.

Steimeier explained to Wang that Christmas market is a great favorite of Germans during the Christmas season where family and close friends share a good time.

Gunda Kniep, one of the organizers for Gendarmenmarkt, was very proud that the Chinese foreign minister could visit their Christmas market and told Wang that more than 800,000 people visited the Gendarmenmarkt during the 2014 Christmas festival, adding "many of them were Chinese and in fact I saw many Chinese tourists this morning."