China pitches closer ties to Germany in strategic industries

China pitched stronger ties in its highest-level talks with Germany's new government as Beijing's top European trade partner seeks to smooth tensions over rare-earth curbs that have choked German production lines and prompted calls for de-risking.



Beijing has staged an uncharacteristically swift turnaround in relations with Berlin since discord over Chinese export curbs on chips and rare earths resulted in German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul cancelling an October trip to China.



"China and Germany are important economic and trade partners," China's Premier Li Qiang told German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on the sidelines of the G20 summit on Sunday, state media reported.



"Our two governments should work together to strengthen dialogue and communication to properly address their respective concerns," a Xinhua readout quoted China's second-ranking official as saying, before pitching closer cooperation in a series of strategic industries.



A meeting between the two had appeared unlikely only months earlier, but with both countries embroiled in the fallout from the U.S.-China trade war and searching for ways to diversify from the world's top consumer market, those differences have been set aside.