Chinese Premier Li gave a message of cooperation to Europe against economic security concerns.
Chinese Premier Li Chiang, in his visits to Germany and France at a time of increasing economic security concerns in Europe, called for developing openness and cooperation towards risk perception.
Prime Minister Li, who took office in March, made his first overseas visits to Germany and France, giving the message that China supports Europe’s “strategic autonomy” at a time when competition and tensions with the United States are increasing.
Li, who has been in contacts in Germany and France since the beginning of the week, met with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his counterpart Olaf Scholz in Germany, President Emmanuel Macron and his counterpart Elisabeth Borne in France.
Li, who held the China-Germany intergovernmental advisory conference meeting with his German counterpart in Berlin, and attended the New Global Finance Pact Summit hosted by the French government in Paris, met with business representatives in both countries.
Li preferred to make his first overseas visits as prime minister to two countries, which are the engines of the European Union (EU), and gave the message of developing economic and political relations with the continent against the political confrontation at a time when the global power competition with the USA increased.
It was noteworthy that the Chinese Prime Minister’s visits to Europe coincided with the visit of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Beijing. While Blinken’s visit to China aimed to establish channels of communication to stabilize tense relations, Li’s contacts in Europe focused on improving economic cooperation and easing perceptions of risk to economic security.
He made contacts in Berlin.
Prime Minister Li, who started contacts in Berlin on June 18, called for more openness and cooperation instead of breaking economic ties, during his meeting with business representatives there.“Avoiding risks and cooperation are not opposites. It is understandable that the parties have security concerns, but the important thing here is how we will rationally identify the risks and take precautions accordingly,” Li said. said.
Arguing that governments should create a stable business environment and leave risk assessment and management to companies according to market dynamics, Li said, “We hope Germany maintains the open market understanding and provides a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese companies investing in the country.” used the phrase.
Speaking at the China-Germany Forum for Economic and Technical Cooperation, Li expressed his views on the “reduce risks” approach recently voiced in Europe:
“I worked in local governments for a long time, most of the vehicles we used were German brands. When I was the Party Secretary for 5 years in Shanghai, the government-issued official vehicle was a Volkswagen brand car produced in China. I did not see this as a risk. When we go to the hospital and have a CT scan, these are always done with Siemens devices. but when you get into ‘This is insecure.’ We did not see any of this as a risk in China and said, ‘Let’s reduce the risk.’ We didn’t have a thought.”