On the afternoon of May 23, 2025, President Xi Jinping had a phone call with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the latter's request.

Xi Jinping once again extended congratulations to Friedrich Merz on assuming office as Chancellor of Germany. Xi Jinping pointed out that as the world undergoes accelerated changes unseen in a century and the international landscape becomes more complex and turbulent, the strategic and overarching significance of China-Germany and China-EU relations has become even more prominent. A sound and stable China-Germany relationship serves the interests of both countries and meets the expectations of all sectors in China and Europe. China is ready to work with Germany to open a new chapter in their all-round strategic partnership, steer China-EU relations toward new progress and make new contributions to the stable growth of the world economy.

Xi Jinping stressed that China and Germany have developed their bilateral relations based on the spirit of mutual respect, seeking common ground while shelving differences, and win-win cooperation. This fine tradition should be carefully preserved, carried forward, and promoted by both sides. First, the two sides should consolidate political mutual trust. China views Germany as a partner, welcomes Germany's development and prosperity, and is ready to maintain close high-level exchanges with Germany, respect each other's core interests and consolidate the political foundation of bilateral relations. Second, the two sides should enhance the resilience of bilateral relations. Both sides should not only continue to expand the existing cooperation in traditional fields such as automobiles, mechanical manufacturing and chemical industry, but also seek more collaboration in cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence and quantum technology, and strengthen exchanges and cooperation in areas including climate change and green development, contributing the wisdom and solutions of China and Germany to global sustainable development. Third, both sides should add momentum to their cooperation. China is willing to share with Germany development opportunities brought by its high-standard opening up. Xi Jinping expressed the hope that Germany will offer more policy support and facilitation for two-way investment and cooperation between the two countries and provide a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese enterprises.

Xi Jinping pointed out that facts have fully proven that partnership is the proper positioning of China-Germany and China-EU relations, and a stable and predictable policy environment is essential to ensure bilateral cooperation. As major countries, both sides share a common mission of shouldering responsibility. Noting that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the EU, Xi Jinping said that the two sides should jointly review the successful experience in the development of China-EU relations and send a positive signal of upholding multilateralism and free trade, as well as deepening open and mutually beneficial cooperation.

Friedrich Merz said that China is one of the world's most important countries, and Germany-China relations have seen sound development, with deepened cooperation yielding fruitful results. Bilateral cooperation is particularly significant in the current international landscape as China and Germany are the world's two major economies. The new German government adheres to the one-China policy, and is willing to push for greater progress in the strategic partnership between the two countries in a constructive and pragmatic manner. Germany expects to enhance exchanges and cooperation with China in various areas, uphold openness and mutual benefit, boost fair trade, safeguard world peace and jointly tackle climate change and other global challenges. A sound and steady development of EU-China relations is in the interest of both sides, and Germany is willing to play an active role in this regard.

Both sides also had an exchange of views on the Ukraine crisis.