A Mature Partnership.docVIP

A Mature Partnership 　　On June 12-14， Angela Merkel paid her ninth visit to China since becoming German chancellor in 2005. During the trip， Merkel， together with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang， co-chaired the fourth China-Germany inter-governmental consultation， which focused on advancing the two nations’ bilateral relations primarily through economic cooperation. A meeting of the China-Germany Economic Advisory Committee and a China-Germany economic and technological cooperation forum also took place during the chancellor’s visit. 　　On each previous China trip， Merkel visited at least one other city besides Beijing. Adhering to custom， Merkel this time also landed in Shenyang， capital of Liaoning Province， with the intention of scoping out the potential for bilateral cooperation in the transformation and upgrading of China’s former industrial heartland， the nation’s northeastern provinces. 　　The China-Germany inter-governmental consultation， inaugurated in October 2010， is the first such mechanism established at the prime-ministerial-level between China and a developed country. It has become an important symbol of the breadth and depth of cooperation between the two nations. The four rounds of consultation to date have played an outstanding role in planning and advancing ChinaGermany pragmatic cooperation. 　　A total of 96 contracts worth $15 billion were signed between Chinese and German companies during the consultation’s latest round. 　　The two sides agreed to create a fair and open environment for two-way investment and work more closely in intelligent manufacturing， finance， automobile manufacturing， information technology and aviation in addition to increasing efforts to explore cooperation in third countries. 　　 Collaboration 　　These outcomes， plus many more in politics， innovation， environment， climate change， education and cultural exchanges， add to the already long list of achievements made in the previous sessions. 　　During the first round of con