BEIJING: China and Germany signed a series of trade and investment deals yesterday during a visit by Chancellor Angela Merkel, including agreements on two new Volkswagen factories and the sale of 123 Airbus helicopters.
The two countries are both exporting giants — with Germany the EU’s biggest economy and China the world’s second-largest — and Merkel was looking to strengthen their economic relationship on her three-day visit, her seventh since coming into power in 2005.
She was accompanied by executives from Siemens, Airbus, Lufthansa and Deutsche Bank among other companies, according to German media.
Merkel and Premier Li Keqiang oversaw the signing of a series of agreements yesterday.
According to a statement by Volkswagen, the German carmaker will build two new vehicle plants in the northern port city of Tianjin and Qingdao in the east as it invests €2bn ($2.7bn) along with Chinese auto manufacturer FAW. Merkel toured a Volkswagen factory in the southwestern city of Chengdu on Sunday.
China has become Volkswagen’s largest and most important market, the company said, adding the group sold more than 1.5 million vehicles in the country in the first five months of this year, including sales by its joint ventures FAW Volkswagen and Shanghai-Volkswagen — up 17.7 percent year-on-year.
European aerospace giant Airbus announced that its helicopter division has signed contracts to sell “a record” 123 aircraft over up to six years to three Chinese companies.
The helicopters will be used for general aviation activities, it said in a statement. AFP
