China willing to deepen innovation co-op with Germany

Representing the official partner country of CeBIT 2015, Ma met with Merkel before the opening ceremony of the world's largest high-tech trade fair on Sunday evening.

He told Merkel that last year was the year of planning for Sino-German cooperation when leaders of the two countries set the new orientation of a comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

This year is the year of implementation for bilateral cooperation, Ma said, adding that the purpose of his visit is to implement the agreements reached by leaders of the two nations.

China is willing to work with Germany to keep on strengthening mutual trust, make good use of new mechanisms of dialogue and cooperation, and beef up practical cooperation in innovation, finance and manufacturing in order to inject sustained momentum to the development of bilateral ties, Ma added.

During the meeting, Merkel said that exchanges and cooperation between Germany and China have become increasingly closer in recent years.

She expressed confidence that the launch of the Year of Germany-China Innovation Cooperation will push bilateral cooperation to a new level.

The strong presence of Chinese exhibitors at this year's CeBIT shows the strength and importance of China in information and telecommunication technologies.

Both Merkel and Ma addressed the CeBIT opening ceremony afterward. Later on Sunday evening, Ma also held talks with German Vice Chancellor and Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Sigmar Gabriel.

His visit will also take him to Berlin to preside over the first Sino-German High-Level Economic and Finance Dialogue.

CeBIT will be on show during March 16-20. More than 3,400 companies from 70 countries are to showcase thousands of innovations from the digital world.

China's presence as the partner country this year, themed "Innovation, Convergence, Cooperation," features a wide range of high-tech firms such as big names like Alibaba, Huawei, Xiaomi and ZTE.

On Monday, an IT summit between Germany and China will also be held.