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Angela Merkel and Xi Jinping discuss ‘close economic ties’ in likely last official call together
- Merkel called the EU-China investment deal ‘mutually beneficial and win-win’, according to a Chinese readout of Friday’s call
- German readout did not mention the controversial Comprehensive Agreement on Investment; Merkel’s office says they talked about Afghanistan, economic issues
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Outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel used what is likely to be her last official call with Chinese President Xi Jinping to repeat support for close economic relations between the two countries, according to China.
Just over two weeks from election day, Merkel called the EU-China investment deal – which has been effectively killed by the European Parliament because of Beijing’s sanctioning of officials – “mutually beneficial and win-win”, according to a Chinese government readout of Friday’s call.
Xi thanked Merkel for being “actively committed to promoting practical cooperation and friendly exchanges between Germany and Europe with China” and “the high level of mutual trust between China and Germany”.
The tone was starkly different from his call earlier in the day with US President Joe Biden, where Xi “pointed out that for some time, due to the US policy on China, the China-US relationship has run into serious difficulty”.
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A brief German readout of the meeting did not mention the controversial Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI), concluded in principle last December but frozen by MEPs in May. Merkel’s office said they spoke primarily about “developments in Afghanistan”, economic issues and other subjects including the coronavirus pandemic and climate change.
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