German leader's visit a vote of confidence in China's economy

The significance of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's visit to China on Friday cannot be judged by the time he spent in Beijing but by what it achieved in terms of bilateral relations and trade and investment.

That Scholz became the first major Western leader to visit China in three years shows the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on international trade and travel. And yet the United States, instead of mending fractures, continues to use its unilateral and protectionist policies to divide the world into rival blocs in order to check China's rise. Germany is one of the countries the US wants to exploit to target China, because it is not only the largest economy in Europe but also has close economic and trade ties with China.

However, Scholz recognized China as an important trade partner of Germany and the European Union, and said he would deepen cooperation with China, promote bilateral investment, and keep upholding multilateralism and opposing decoupling.