Beijing, August 27th–Wang Yi, Member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, met here today with a delegation of Social Democratic Party (SPD) of Germany led by Rolf Mutzenich, Chairman of the SPD of Germany parliamentary group in the German Bundestag. 

Wang stated that both China and Germany are major global economies with significant international influence. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the all-round strategic partnership between China and Germany and the 40th anniversary of the establishment of relations between the CPC and the SPD. In April, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, charting the course for the development of bilateral relations. The Chinese side is willing to work with the German side to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, strengthen inter-party exchanges, consolidate strategic mutual trust, deepen communication and cooperation, promote the stable and long-term development of bilateral relations, and jointly implement the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative, so as to inject greater stability and positive energy into the turbulent world and jointly build a community with a shared future for mankind. China and the European Union (EU) share important common interests in maintaining world peace and promoting shared development. The development of China and the EU is deeply intertwined and inseparable. China’s policy toward the EU remains stable. And China continues to work with the EU to uphold the positioning of the comprehensive strategic partnership. He expressed the hope that the EU side would also view China-EU relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, address differences through dialogue and consultation, resist and oppose unilateral protectionism, and jointly preserve the hard-won win-win cooperation between China and the EU. Wang expressed his expectation that Germany would play a positive role in the continued development of China-EU relations. 

Wang noted that the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee was successfully held in Beijing recently. The plenary session focused on advancing Chinese modernization and laid out a grand blueprint for further deepening reform comprehensively. Centering on basically realizing socialist modernization in 2035, the plenary session identified over 300 key reform tasks. As China continues to deepen reform comprehensively and further expand opening-up with high standards, its new development will bring new opportunities to the rest of the world. The Chinese side is willing to take this as a new starting point to strengthen practical cooperation with the German side in various fields, to contribute to the development of China-Germany and China-EU relations as well as to global prosperity and stability. 

Mutzenich, on behalf of the SPD, expressed that Germany attaches high importance to its relationship with China, praises China’s tremendous development achievements, and welcomes China’s constructive role in the world. In recent times, German Chancellor Scholz had met with Chinese President Xi Jinping twice, demonstrating Germany’s strong interest in maintaining cooperative dialogue with China and the desire to continue this dialogue. He said that inter-party relations are an important component of the relationship between the two countries. Forty years ago, Mr. Willy Brandt and Mr. Deng Xiaoping initiated dialogue between the two major Parties of Germany and China. The SPD believes that Germany needs to engage in dialogue with China. The SPD is committed to making unremitting efforts for the continued development of Germany-China relations.