On May 3, 2004, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao of the State Council held talks with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in the German Chancellery. The two sides exchanged in-depth views and reached broad consensus on China-Germany and China-EU ties as well as international issues of common interest.

Schroeder extended his warm welcome to Wen for his official visit to Germany. He said that Germany-China relations enjoy a solid foundation and maintain a good momentum of development, and the two countries boast close economic exchanges and share identical or similar stances on many international issues. Germany will continue to firmly uphold the one-China policy and such a policy will never be changed under any circumstances.

Wen said that the Chinese government gives top priority to further developing its relations with Germany and is satisfied with good cooperation between the two countries in various fields. Developing China-Germany friendly relations is in the common interests of the peoples of both countries. China highly appreciates the German government's persistent adherence to the one-China policy and its support for China's lofty cause of peaceful reunification.

Wen said that his current visit to Germany came amid the enlargement of the European Union (EU). China supports the EU's integration process and hopes the EU will play a positive and constructive role in international affairs. We attach great importance to the role played by Germany within the EU, and hope to constantly enrich the implications of bilateral strategic partnership. To this end, we propose to set up an annual meeting mechanism between the Chinese Premier and the German Chancellor, to establish a dialogue mechanism on counter-terrorism and law enforcement, and to strengthen consultations and cooperation on international affairs.

As for economic and trade relations, Wen noted that Germany is China's largest trading partner in Europe while China is Germany's largest trading partner in Asia, with bilateral trade volume reaching US$41.8 billion in 2003. China hopes bilateral trade volume can be doubled by 2010 through joint efforts by the two sides. As a vital part of future China-Germany economic cooperation, high-tech cooperation should be given higher priority. Cooperation among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) constitutes another important part of bilateral economic and trade cooperation and the two governments need to provide facilitation for cooperation between enterprises.

Schroeder fully agreed with Wen's proposals on bilateral relations. He added that Germany supports the EU's recognition of China as a market economy and the lifting of the arms sales ban on China. Germany is willing to play a positive role in these respects.

The two sides issued a joint statement on China-Germany relations following the talks.