German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited Beijing University on Thursday (29th), interacting with students at Qibabei Sports Gymnasium. He played a friendly doubles match with Liu Wei, a professor from the Sports Research and Teaching Department of Beijing University and former World Champion in table tennis, against Chancellor Gao Song and German table tennis legend Timo Boll. During his speech at Beijing University, Steinmeier emphasized that Germany does not wish to decouple economically from China and hopes that bilateral trade will continue to benefit both sides. Before his visit to China, he landed at Hefei New Bridge International Airport on the evening of October 27th, marking the start of his China trip. He inspected sustainable development concepts in Hefei’s Luogang Park and visited the German automaker Volkswagen’s R&D center in China to experience their locally developed intelligent electric vehicles, witnessing Sino-German cooperation.
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz led a large delegation consisting of representatives from German industrial, technological, defense, and energy companies on an Asia tour, visiting Singapore, Japan, and South Korea. This trip coincides with Steinmeier’s visit to China, highlighting the ongoing close economic and political ties between Germany and China. Merz’s delegation is expected to further strengthen Sino-German technological and defense cooperation.
Steinmeier's visit to China highlights Germany's commitment to maintaining robust economic and cultural exchanges with China, despite occasional international tensions. The visits of both Steinmeier and Merz underscore the importance of Sino-German relations in the global context and the desire for mutual economic benefits.