German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks at the Rhineland-Palatinate CDU's Political Ash on local time February 18, 2026. Photo: VCG

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will lead a high-level economic and trade delegation to visit China, accompanied by executives from about 30 leading German companies in advantageous sectors such as automotive, chemical, biopharmaceutical, machinery manufacturing, and circular economy, which fully reflects Germany's strong willingness to deepen bilateral economic and trade relations, a spokesperson from Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Tuesday.

The MOFCOM's spokesperson said that the Chinese side attaches great importance to economic and trade cooperation with Germany and is actively preparing, together with the German side, events such as a meeting of the China-German Economic Advisory Committee, building platforms for communication and dialogue to advise enterprises and jointly pursue cooperation.

The spokesperson made the remarks in response to questions over what economic and trade activities are planned and the expected outcomes during German Chancellor Merz's official visit to China from Wednesday to Thursday, and the current state and future prospects of China-Germany economic and trade relations.

Over the more than 50 years since China and Germany established diplomatic relations, bilateral economic and trade cooperation has continuously deepened. Germany has long been China's largest trading partner and source of foreign investment in Europe; the two countries' industries are deeply integrated and the foundation for cooperation has been steadily consolidated. In recent years, China‑Germany trade has remained above $200 billion, and the stock of two‑way investment exceeds $65 billion, each accounting for roughly one quarter of China-EU totals.

This year marks the opening year of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), said the MOFCOM spokesperson. "China welcomes German companies to seize the new opportunities brought by China's high‑level opening up, to continue consolidating cooperation in traditional areas, and to further explore cooperation potential in emerging fields such as clean energy, embodied intelligence, biotechnology and industrial digitalization, turning 'cooperation opportunities' into concrete 'cooperation results',"said the spokesperson.

The Chinese side is willing to work with Germany to deepen mutual understanding and trust through dialogue and communication, support free trade, uphold the rules‑based multilateral trading system, and, through concrete actions, promote high‑quality development of China‑Germany economic and trade cooperation, so as to effectively serve as both a stabilizer and a driving force for China-Germany and China-EU relations, according to the ministry.

Global Times