The German Chancellor also noted that it is no coincidence that French President Macron, British Prime Minister Starmer, and himself are visiting China one after another within just a few weeks, ahead of US President Donald Trump, who is set to travel to China in April, according to the transcript.

　　In the address, Merz also extended Chinese New Year"s greetings and thanked the Chinese side for hosting him on this special occasion. When he concluded his address, he said that "in China, it is said: a horse does not display its strength alone, but only by pulling the wagon together with others. I find this to be a fitting image at the beginning of my journey."

　　The German Chancellor published several X posts during his first day of the inaugural official visit to China.

　　After meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Wednesday, Merz posted in both German and Chinese on X, saying that roughly 7,500 kilometers lie between Berlin and Beijing. A distance that we have been happy to bridge for many years. It is very important to me to maintain and deepen our diplomatic and economic relations. For that to succeed, we need open channels of communication, he said.

　　In the evening, he also posted a picture of a business meeting between the two sides, saying that "we want to strengthen the trade relations between Germany and China."

　　Jiang Feng, a researcher at Shanghai International Studies University and president of the Shanghai Regional Studies Association, who attended several parallel meetings of the visit on Wednesday, described the talks between Chinese and German representatives as highly pragmatic, with a warm and candid atmosphere.