Germany's envoy sees many common interests

Germany will continue to work with China within the G20 to tackle issues such as climate change, German Ambassador to China Michael Clauss told China Daily ahead of the G20 Summit in Hamburg.

"We have cooperated very closely in preparing the Chinese and the German G20 presidencies. We need to keep working on issues like free trade, global steel overcapacities and climate change, even if reaching a consensus will be much more challenging than last year," Clauss said. "As large trading nations, Germany and China profit from globalization, therefore advancing it by tackling issues of global governance is a shared interest."

Clauss said there are many overlapping interests between China and Germany, such as protecting global and rules-based free trade with the World Trade Organization at its core, supporting a strong United Nations, and combating climate change through the Paris accords.

He said the two countries should help the G20 Summit send a strong signal against anti-globalization trends, despite more difficult circumstances this year.

On climate change, the ambassador said the common priority "is to prevent the Paris agreement from unraveling".

With this year marking the 45th anniversary of the establishment of China-Germany diplomatic ties, the ambassador sees economic and political relations at a historic high and people-to-people exchanges intensifying.

In May, Vice-Premier Liu Yandong and German Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel initiated the bilateral People-to-People Dialogue. Both countries have begun projects that will bring young people together, especially but not only, through a common passion for soccer.

"So I think the best is yet to come," Clauss said.

China Daily

(China Daily 07/05/2017 page3)