BERLIN (Sputnik) — The Chinese premier met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel after arriving in Germany for his European tour earlier in the day.
"Germany is China’s most important partner within the European Union" Li said during a joint press conference after meeting Merkel.
The premier stressed that the two leaders were able to discuss a wide range of topics and managed to agree on even closer cooperation.
"We are ready to contribute to global peace and stability," he added.
The European Union has been Beijing’s biggest trading partner for many years, while China overtook the United States as Germany’s largest trading partner earlier this year. EU-China trade volume in 2016 stood at $547 billion, according to China's Ambassador to the European Union Yang Yanyi.
The Chinese premier is also scheduled to meet German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Germany is the first stop in Li Keqiang’s three-day tour of Europe. He is to arrive in Belgium later on and co-chair the China-EU leaders’ meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk.
