Premier Li’s visit to Europe featured a tight schedule

2017-06-05
english.gov.cn

Premier Li Keqiang’s whirlwind visit to Europe last week drew worldwide attention, with a number of remarkable results gained during the packed schedule.

Within the less than 25 hours’ stay in Berlin, the Premier took part in 12 activities, and in Brussels, up to 19 activities and meetings were arranged within 24 hours.

From meeting room to forum, business summit, and even during most of the lunch and dinner hours, the Premier stayed busy communicating and negotiating with leaders from other countries.

In the first leg of Premier Li’s three-day Europe tour, in Germany, Premier Li attended a private banquet hosted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel after the annual meeting between the two leaders on May 31.

After the banquet, Merkel was finally convinced that Germany will support the EU to fulfill its obligations under Article 15 of the protocol on China’s accession to WTO, which she announced at a news conference on June 1.

On the same day, Premier Li attended a China-Germany forum on innovation along with Merkel in Berlin, and met with entrepreneurs from both countries.

The Premier’s tight schedule illustrates the importance that he attached to ties between China and Germany, as well as other EU countries, with big and small mutual benefits being put in sight.

From a big-picture perspective, China and Germany agreed to work together to build an open world economy, support free trade and investment facilitation, and maintain economic globalization and a multilateral trade system, support the signing of the China-EU investment agreement and launch a China-EU free trade cooperation.

China and Germany also agreed to make reciprocity arrangements for intern exchanges, conduct negotiations in expanding aviation rights, and recognize the validity of driving licenses issued by the other country.

China and EU will further strengthen bilateral personnel exchanges and dialogue on immigration, simplify visa procedures for non-diplomatic passport holders, enhance travel and tourism, and prepare for the China-EU Tourism Year 2018.