BEIJING: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will pay an official visit to China from February 25 to 26 at the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Qiang, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson announced on Monday.
Merz will be accompanied by a 30-person delegation during his trip to China, where strategic action is required there for Germany, according to German news outlet taz.de.
Merz is set to become the latest European leader to visit China this year following British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and Taoiseach of Ireland Michael Martin. In December 2025, French President Emmanuel Macron made a trip to China, soon after Spain’s King Felipe. With Merz’s arrival, the European Franco-German-British troika, the traditional driving force of Europe, will have all made high-level visits to China within a short span of time.
Explaining this phenomenon, Wolfram Elsner, a professor of economics at University of Bremen, Germany, told the Global Times that pushed by deteriorating geopolitical and geo-economic conditions within the collective West, leaders including France’s Macron and UK’s Starmer all had their motives and plans to strive for some win-win deal. And Merz would be the last one to follow suit, said the professor.
“Friedrich Merz is not exactly known for his patience, but last Tuesday evening the Chancellor takes plenty of time to listen. He has invited a small, confidential group to dinner at the Chancellery. The topic is his inaugural visit to China,” read Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine in an article on February 19, illustrating the busy preparations for Merz’s upcoming China visit.
DW News wrote in Chinese in a report on local time Saturday that this would be the German Chancellor’s first official visit to China since taking office, and this “belated trip carries great significance still.”
The belatedness of Merz’s China trip can be attributed to two reasons, according to the DW report. First, after assuming office as Chancellor in May last year, he visited several countries, including India. Second, many other Western leaders – such as French President Macron, British Prime Minister Starmer, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney – had already visited China ahead of him. They all share the same goal with Merz: gaining new room for maneuver in economic policy with China’s help, after the US had previously narrowed that leeway through tariffs and trade pressures, read the report. The visit to China would be of great significance for Merz to upgrade his personal understanding of China, Cui Hongjian, a professor at the Academy of Regional and Global Governance at Beijing Foreign Studies University, told the Global Times on Monday. –The Daily Mail-Global Times news exchange item
