Xi hails five decades of ties with Germany

President also talks with Cote d'Ivoire leader, pledges to enhance cooperation

China and Germany are partners in dialogue, development and cooperation that jointly deal with global challenges, President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday, calling on the two sides to proceed with practical cooperation and guide the healthy development of China-European Union ties.

In a phone conversation with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Xi said that China-Germany relations had positively moved forward over the past five decades with solid public support and amid broad common interests.

Xi pointed out that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of China-Germany diplomatic relations, and that this is a significant year in bilateral ties.

He suggested that the two nations should build and expand their consensus through dialogue, manage their differences in a constructive manner and continue to enrich their partnership.

Noting that bilateral trade has increased 870 times over the past 50 years, Xi called on the two countries to reinforce their complementary advantages in terms of markets, capital and technology, and explore the potential of cooperation in areas such as service trade, intelligent manufacturing and digitization.

China treats German enterprises investing in China equally and hopes that Germany will provide a fair, transparent and nondiscriminatory business environment for Chinese companies in Germany, Xi said.

Speaking of China's relationship with the EU, the president said China supports EU strategic autonomy and hopes the EU will consider China and the EU as strategic partners that respect and accommodate each other for mutually beneficial cooperation.

China also hopes the bloc will maintain that China-EU relations should not target, depend on or be subject to any third party, Xi said.

He expressed his hope that Germany will continue to play an active role and work with China to promote the steady development of China-EU relations in the long term.

The German president said his country stands ready to strengthen exchanges and communication with China, deepen practical cooperation in all fields and coordinate with each other to better address challenges.

He also said that Germany firmly follows the one-China policy and is willing to actively promote the development of EU-China relations.

The two leaders also exchanged views on the Ukraine crisis. Xi stressed that China believes that a prolonged and complicated crisis is not in the interests of all parties. He also said that China supports the EU guiding the fostering of a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture for long-lasting peace and security in Europe.

On Tuesday, Xi also held a phone conversation with Cote d'Ivoire President Alassane Ouattara, in which he said China is ready to strengthen solidarity and cooperation with African countries and implement the Global Development Initiative with concrete actions to help boost African development.

China will also join hands with Cote d'Ivoire and other African countries to uphold international fairness and justice and safeguard the common interests of developing countries, he said.

He expressed China's willingness to enhance all-around cooperation with the African country with efforts such as expanding trade in agricultural products and promoting cooperation in planting and processing rice and cocoa.