Merkel oversaw the signing of 19 agreements, mainly on trade, during her one day in Beijing Monday and half-day tour of Shanghai Tuesday, although there were no high-profile deals that often accompany leaders' visits.

In her first visit to China since succeeding Gerhard Schroeder last November, Merkel also insisted on raising sensitive issues with China's leaders such as human rights, religious freedoms and the Iran nuclear crisis.

"It (human rights) is an important part of our bilateral dialogue," Merkel told reporters.

Emphasizing her concern about religious freedoms, Merkel met the 90-year-old Catholic bishop of Shanghai, Aloysius Jin Luxian, who had spent years in prison in the 1950s and 1960s.

Analysts said the visit gave clues to the kind of relationship the two countries would have with Merkel leading Germany, compared with the very China-friendly Schroeder.

"Everyone knows Merkel is closer to the US than Schroeder was," said Shi Yinhong, an international relations professor at People's University in Beijing.

But he said that while Merkel raised some sensitive issues, she also ensured the main focus remained on trade.

"The main issue in China-Germany relations is trade, so the visit was mainly to promote trade cooperation," he said.

"Instead of spending too much time talking about differences, the two sides focused on areas they can work together on, such as trade."

Germany is China's largest trade partner in Europe and the 63.2 billion dollars (49.4 billion euros) in trade volume between the two sides last year comprised one-third of total China-EU trade.

Wong Yiu-chung, associate political science professor at Hong Kong's Lingnan University, agreed that, while Merkel's emphasis on rights was stronger than Schroeder's, the overall structure of bilateral relations had not changed.

"I think Germany will adopt a dual approach. Merkel cares more about human rights issues than Schroeder. She will definitely pay more attention to China's religious rights but she will mostly focus on trade," Wong said.

The highest-profile trade agreement was a deal to cooperate on the building of hundreds of trains which German officials said could be worth as much as 300 million euros (387 million dollars) for Germany's Siemens.

On the issue of rampant piracy in China, which German companies say are hurting their profits, Wen restated his nation's pledge to work harder to fix the problem but there was no major progress on that front.

The only accord signed on this issue was one that bans Chinese garment manufacturers who use counterfeit fabrics from taking part in German trade exhibitions and fashion shows.

No deal was reached on the four-billion-dollar project to extend the German-built high-speed magnetic levitation (MAGLEV) train line from China's eastern metropolis of Shanghai to the neighboring city of Hangzhou.

Germany could not agree to the level of technology transfer China demanded, German officials said.

While not a headline-grabbing agenda, German officials travelling with Merkel said an important part of her trip was establishing personal relationships with President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao.

On that front, Merkel began her trip with a walk in a Beijing park with Wen.

By midday Wen was flattering Merkel during a joint press conference, saying she brought with her a friendly wind -- causing Merkel to break into laughter.

"China-Germany relations will basically stay about the same under Merkel," Shi said.

"On the surface, it might seem weaker than it was under Schroeder because Schroeder was very close to China, but in substance, it will still be strong."

Community
Email This Article
Comment On This Article

Related Links
China News from SinoDaily.com

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News