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US$1.7b deals dominate Hu's German agenda
(China Daily)
Updated: 2005-11-11 05:47
BERLIN: Lucrative commercial deals dominated the agenda on the first day of
President Hu Jintao's first state visit to Germany yesterday.
The eight deals worth US$1.7 billion were scheduled to be signed after talks
between Hu and German President Horst Koehler, who officially welcomed his
Chinese counterpart with full military honours at the historic Charlottenburg
Palace.
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German President Horst Koehler (R) and his
Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao shake hands at Charlottenburg castle in
Berlin November 10, 2005. Hu Jintao is on an official four-day visit to
Germany. [Reuters]
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The largest deal would be an agreement with German electronics giant Siemens
to produce 60 high-speed ICE trains valued at nearly US$1.5 billion for China.
Other agreements would cover environmental technology, power generation,
banking, telecommunications, sanitation, culture and construction of a
friendship hospital.
These agreements are set to deepen trade links between China and Germany,
which is China's largest trade partner in the European Union, and spur economic
co-operation.
Bilateral trade amounted to US$54.2 billion last year, accounting for one
third of China-EU trade, and is estimated to hit US$130 billion by 2010.
At the end of last year, Germany's direct investment in China had reached
US$9.9 billion.
During their talks, Hu on a four-day visit and Koehler agreed to raise
Sino-German relations to a new level through maintaining exchanges of high-level
visits and more fruitful co-operation.
Hu hailed Germany as an important and reliable partner in China's course to
build a well-off society.
He added that the extensive interests shared by the two countries in a
complicated, globalized and multi-polar world have laid a solid political
foundation for developing bilateral ties.
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