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Germany and China sign string of trade deals

AFP/The Local
AFP/The Local - [email protected]
Germany and China sign string of trade deals
Merkel and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. Photo: DPA

UPDATE: China and Germany signed a string of trade and investment deals on Monday during a visit by Chancellor Angela Merkel, including two new Volkswagen factories and the sale of 123 Airbus helicopters.

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The two countries are both exporting giants - with Germany the EU's biggest economy and China the world's second-largest - and Merkel was looking to strengthen their economic relationship on her three-day visit, her seventh since coming into power in 2005.

Merkel and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang oversaw the signing of a series of agreements on Monday.
   
According to a statement by Volkswagen, the German carmaker will build two new vehicle plants in the northern port city of Tianjin and Qingdao in the east as it invests €2 billion along with Chinese auto manufacturer FAW.
   
The new plants' production capacity will be finalized "based on market demand and relevant industrial policies", the company said in an email to AFP.
   
Merkel toured a Volkswagen factory in the southwestern city of Chengdu on Sunday.
   
China has become Volkswagen's largest and most important market, the company said, adding the group sold more than 1.5 million vehicles in the country in the first five months of this year, including sales by its joint ventures FAW Volkswagen and Shanghai-Volkswagen, up 17.7 percent on year.

Helicopter deal
 
European aerospace giant Airbus announced that its helicopter division has signed contracts to sell "a record" 123 aircraft over up to six years to three Chinese companies.
   
The helicopters - mainly light single-engine aircraft from the Ecureuil family and the light twin-engine EC135 - will be used for general aviation activities, it said in a statement. No financial details were provided.
   
"It is evident that China's relaxation of its low-altitude airspace regulations is enabling the country's burgeoning helicopter market to realize its potential," Airbus Helicopters CEO Guillaume Faury said in the statement.
   
Also on Monday, German airline group Lufthansa said that it had signed a memorandum of understanding to form a joint venture with Air China.
   
The new partnership, which will come into force in October, will provide passengers with additional travel options and flight connections and allow Lufthansa "to have even better access to the second largest aviation market after the US", according to the German carrier.
   
China is a crucial mass market for Germany, with Chinese companies wanting its technology and millions of newly prosperous citizens craving German goods ranging from Audi sedans to luxury home appliances.
   
Germany last year sold goods worth €67 billion to China, its number-two export market outside Europe after the United States. Imports from the Asian powerhouse, meanwhile, topped €73 billion.
   
Merkel angered Beijing in 2007 by meeting Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, whom ruling Communist Party leaders consider a dangerous separatist.
   
But during the latest visit, any discussion of human rights is likely to take place behind closed doors, an approach that German officials have argued can be more effective in China than finger-wagging reprimands.
 
   
In Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, Merkel attended an urban forum with provincial Communist Party secretary Wang Dongming, went shopping at the Shenxianshu Market and visited the FAW-Volkswagen factory, where she was hosted by VW CEO Martin Winterkorn and FAW group CEO Xu Jianyi.
   
On Tuesday Merkel will address students at Beijing's renowned Tsinghua University before departing for Berlin.
 

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