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German Chancellor Angela Merkel begins China visit Merkel visit: Trade issues top China talks agenda
(1 day later)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is beginning a three-day visit to China with trade issues high on the agenda. German Chancellor Angela Merkel will hold talks with China's leaders on the second day of her three-day visit.
The countries are important trading partners and Mrs Merkel is travelling with a large delegation of German business executives. The visit is Mrs Merkel's seventh to China since taking office in 2005. Trade issues are expected to run high on the agenda.
On Sunday she is visiting Chengdu, capital of south-western Sichuan province, where more than 150 German companies are active. Mrs Merkel is due to meet Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and will attend a meeting of the China-Germany Economic and Trade Commission.
The visit is Mrs Merkel's seventh to China since taking office in 2005. She will then meet Chinese President Xi Jinping later on Monday evening.
She will also hold talks with Premier Li Keqiang and President Xi Jinping. On Sunday, Mrs Merkel visited Chengdu, the capital of China's south-western Sichuan province where more than 150 German companies are active.
BBC Berlin correspondent Stephen Evans says the Chinese market is important for Germany while China is looking to Germany as the supplier of machinery and cars for its rising middle class. China is Germany's second-largest export market outside Europe after the US.
In the past, the chancellor has spoken out against human rights abuses in China but it is not clear if she will voice her disapproval this time, he says.
At a joint business council in Beijing, the German delegation is expected to address sticking points such as fair market access for foreign companies and respect for intellectual property rights.
In an article in Welt am Sonntag, German intelligence chief Hans-Georg Maassen warned that small and medium-sized German firms were at risk of industrial espionage from Chinese government agencies.
"They are up against very powerful adversaries. The Chinese technical intelligence agency alone has over 100,000 employees," Mr Maassen said in an excerpt of an interview to be published on Sunday.
China is Germany's second largest export market outside Europe after the US.
It sold goods worth 67bn euros (£53bn; $91bn) to China last year, while imports from China topped 73bn euros.It sold goods worth 67bn euros (£53bn; $91bn) to China last year, while imports from China topped 73bn euros.
Mrs Merkel's visit to China as chancellor may signal the growing importance of Chinese-German relations but there are problems, reports the BBC's Martin Patience from Beijing.
German companies have complained that Chinese businesses are ripping off their technology while other companies have said that they are not being paid on time.
It is also unclear if Mrs Merkel will address human rights abuses when she meets Chinese leaders this time, our correspondent adds.