German leader Scholz to visit China
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will travel to China on Saturday for a three-day visit that will include talks with President Xi Jinping. Scholz will meet Xi and Premier Li Qiang in Beijing at the end of his trip on April 16, the chancellor's spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said at a press conference on Monday. The German chancellor will also travel to the central city of Chongqing on Sunday, before heading to Shanghai on Monday. Along the way, Scholz will hold talks with German business executives and give a speech at a university in Shanghai. He will be accompanied by a trio of cabinet ministers and a German industrial delegation. The visit to China is Scholz's second since he became chancellor, with the first in November 2022. Scholz has insisted there will be no "decoupling" from its biggest trading partner, but Germany has also been cautiously nurturing relationships with other countries in Southeast Asia. As well as trade issues, the war in Ukraine will also be on the agenda during the talks with Xi. "I think China has influence on Russia and our wish would be for China to be able to exercise the influence it has," Hebestreit said. (AFP)