German Chancellor Olaf Scholz travels to China on Saturday for a three-day trip in which he will meet President Xi Jinping after stopping in Chongqing and Shanghai.
He is due to arrive in Beijing on Tuesday for political talks that are expected to cover Russia’s war with Ukraine, tensions with Taiwan and also trade.
Western countries have sought to isolate Moscow in light of Russia’s all-out invasion of its neighbor, but Beijing is the Kremlin’s most important ally, although it remains ostensibly neutral. China’s leadership has not condemned the Russian war and instead blames the West for the conflict.
Meanwhile, relations between China and Taiwan are tense, with Beijing seeing autonomous democracy as part of its territory, even though Taiwan has had an independent government since 1949.
China is Germany’s most important trading partner and around a dozen managers from important German companies will join Scholz. He also brings Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir, Transport Minister Volker Wissing and Environment Minister Steffi Lemke in his delegation.
It is Scholz’s second trip to China since taking office at the end of 2021, but he only spent one day there in November 2022 due to the pandemic. This three-day trip is longer than any other visit he has made to any country on a trip as chancellor.
He must first stop in Chongqing, the largest city in the world, with around 32 million inhabitants, located on the banks of the Yangtze River. There, and later in Shanghai, Scholz will visit German companies and also address students.
