(27 June 2025, Consulate General of　the People’s Republic of China in Munich)

Distinguished Dr. Florian Herrmann, Head of the Bavarian State Chancellery and Minister of State,
Distinguished Mr. Max Josef Strauß and Dr. Franz Georg Strauß,
Dear friends and representatives from all walks of life of Bavaria,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Good afternoon, everyone!

From January 12 to 24, 1975, Mr. Franz Josef Strauß, former minister-president of Bavaria and the then chairman of the CSU, visited China at the invitation of the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs, becoming the first German high-level statesman to be received by Chairman Mao Zedong. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Mr. Strauß' pioneering visit to China. To commemorate this historic event in the development of China-Germany and China-Bavaria relations, we are jointly holding a seminar here today to commemorate history and inherit the tradition of friendship. Last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping had a phone talk with newly inaugurated German Chancellor Mertz at the latter’s request, providing strategic guidance for the development of bilateral relations between our two countries in the new era. Today's seminar is a measure taken by the two sides on sub-national  level to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of our two countries. We look forward to taking this platform to fully engage in dialogue and exchanges, consolidate friendship and intensify cooperation, so as to help to empower the healthy, stable and sustainable development of China-Germany and China-Bavaria relations.

As a statesman with vision, Mr. Strauß viewed inter-state relations with a pragmatic attitude and stood for dialogue and exchange. In 1975, the international community was in the midst of the Cold War period of confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union, and international relations faced turbulence and uncertainty. China and Germany had vast differences in respect of history, culture, social system and developing level, and different views could be heard from all walks of life in the Federal Republic of Germany on whether and how to engage with China. Even the so-called “Yellow Peril” notion and its kind were circulating. Mr. Strauß, with his foresight and insight, saw the potential of China as a major pole in the future world, and decided to visit China despite different opinions. During his stay in China, he was received by Chinese state leaders Chairman Mao Zedong, Premier Zhou Enlai, Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping and Foreign Minister Qiao Guanhua, and had in-depth and friendly exchanges with the Chinese side on international situation and situation in Europe and other parts of the world. This visit not only laid the political foundation for the friendship between China and Bavaria, but also consolidated the developing momentum of bilateral relations since the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Germany in 1972, and added impetus to the transformation of the international landscape from bipolar to multipolar.

President Xi Jingping points out that the vitality of nation-to-nation relations lies in sub-national areas. Since Mr. Strauß' visit to China in 1975, China and Bavaria have maintained close exchanges. With mutual benefit and win-win cooperation as the core, development and cooperation as the background and cultural and people-to-people exchanges as the link, cooperation between China and Bavaria has achieved fruitful results, providing a model and strong support for promoting China-Germany relations. At present, Bavaria has established sisterhood with three economically strong provinces in China, namely Shandong, Guangdong and Sichuan, making it one of the German federal states with the most sister provinces in China. China has been Bavaria's largest international trading partner for 9 consecutive years, and the two sides have been keeping close cooperation in various fields such as science, education, culture, tourism, poverty reduction, sustainable development and biological conservation. A number of Chinese national leaders have visited Bavaria. In March 2024, Minister-President Dr. Markus Söder visited China at the head of a Bavarian delegation. In recent years, frequent high-level interactions between China and Bavaria have further demonstrated the solid political foundation of friendly relations between the two sides. Today, under the leadership of Minister-President Söder, the CDU led Bavarian government and people of all circles in Bavaria take the heritage of friendly relations with China left over by Mr. Strauß, and continue to uphold a pragmatic and friendly policy towards China. The Chinese side stands ready to work together with all our Bavarian friends to further promote our friendly cooperation to a new high.

Looking back to the past, the most important revelation is that differences in system, ideology and developing level do not constitute  reasons for exclusion or rejection of cooperation. The differences between China and Bavaria, as well as differences between China and Germany, have not been and should not become obstacles to the development of bilateral relations and people-to-people friendship.   Just as President Xin Jinping says, China and Germany do not have clashing fundamental interests between them and pose no security threat to each other. Cooperation between China and Germany benefits not only the two sides but also the world at large. As long as the two sides uphold mutual respect, seek common ground while reserving differences and pursue win-win cooperation, China-Germany relations will continue to enjoy solid and sustained progress.

This year marks the 11th anniversary of the establishment of all-round strategic partnership between China and Germany. In a world  with economic globalization and anti-globalization intertwined, and multilateralism and unilateralism fiercely contested, with inspiration of past experiences, China and Germany should firmly adhere to their partnership, continuously deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, work together for sustainable development, take respective responsibilities as major powers, gather more strength to open a new chapter of all-round strategic partnership between the two countries, and contribute more stable and predictable positive energy to the international order and global governance.

All the friends present here are witnesses, participants and contributors to the friendship between China and Bavaria. From 1975 to 2025, China has risen from an economy with the GDP less than 270 billion RMBs to the world's second-largest economy and the most important engine for global economic growth. China's development is inseparable from the leadership of the CPC and the reform and opening up, benefits from multilateralism and economic globalization, as well as from the contributions by all of you here to promoting mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Bavaria, China and Germany and China and Europe. On behalf of the Chinese Consulate General in Munich, I would like to express our sincere gratitude to all of you.

Since the new era, President Xi Jinping has put forward the important concept of promoting the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind, proposing the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative. President Xi Jinping points out, “There is only one Earth in the universe and we mankind have only one homeland.” “…countries are not riding separately in some 190 small boats, but are rather all in a giant ship on which our shared destiny hinges. Small boats may not survive a storm, but a giant ship is strong enough to brave a storm.” “In face of a momentous crisis, no country can stay unscathed, or solve problems single-handedly. Solidarity and cooperation is the right way forward.”

With the increasingly severe challenges of peace deficit, development deficit, security deficit and governance deficit faced by humanity today, the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind provides a Chinese solution for the international community to address common challenges and points out the correct orientation for the future development of the world. China has always adhered to an independent foreign policy of peace, firmly upholding the international system with the United Nations at its core, the international order based on international law and the norms of international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. China has always been a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development and a maintainer of the international order.

Looking forward to the future, we are willing to continue to work hand in hand with all our Bavarian friends, inherit the heritage of friendship, abandon the Cold War mentalities, overcome the noise of "risk reduction", "decoupling" and "China threat theory", etc., and continuously develop the mutually beneficial and win-win relationship between China and Bavaria, better benefiting the peoples of China and Germany and the world. The Chinese Consulate General in Munich is ready to, as always, play a bridging role and promote further exchanges and cooperation between China and Bavaria to a new high.

Finally, I would like to share with you a sentence that Mr. Strauß said to the Chinese side in conclusion to his visit to China, which is "seeing is believing". As knowledgeable as he was, Mr. Strauß was never satisfied with 'second-hand information' and always insisted on making his own independent judgment through direct contact with policymakers, professionals, various institutions, and especially ordinary people through on-site visits at home and abroad. There is an ancient saying in China that goes like “Listen to both sides and you will be enlightened, head only one side and you will be benighted”. Chairman Mao Zedong also said, “No investigation, no right to speak.” Today, China is welcoming visitors from all over the world with confidence and inclusiveness, and has introduced 30-day visa free policies for 43 countries including Germany, as well as policies such as the Young Envoys Scholarship program implemented by China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE). I hope that all friends could make good use of these policies and tell others about these policies, so that more German people could personally go to China and find a real, comprehensive and multifaceted China. I believe that after visiting China, everyone will draw the same conclusions as Mr. Strauß once did.

Thank you all!