Germany’s Merkel in Beijing for trade talks

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is in the Chinese capital, Beijing, to discuss economic and business relations with Chinese officials.

Merkel, who is heading a large business delegation, met with Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday morning.

Merkel and Li oversaw the signing of contracts, including one with European aircraft manufacturer EADS for 100 helicopters, worth over 400 million dollars.

Prior to meeting with Li, Merkel said cooperation between the two countries is broad-based and should deepen.

The German Chancellor will also attend a meeting of the China-Germany economic and trade commission on Monday. Furthermore, the German chancellor will meet on Monday evening with China’s President Xi Jinping. The two leaders are expected to discuss regional and international issues, including Iran’s nuclear talks as well as the crisis in eastern Ukraine.

Merkel began her three-day trip on Sunday in China’s south-western province of Sichuan, where she visited a factory operated by German car manufacturer Volkswagen.

The visit to China, which is Merkel’s seventh as chancellor, comes just over three months after Chinese President Xi’s trip to Germany when both parties signed a raft of economic pacts.

China is Germany’s second-largest trading partner outside the European Union and the fifth-biggest buyer of German exports. The two countries, which are among the world’s leading exporters, had a bilateral trade volume last year of EUR 140.4 billion (USD 193 billion).