Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Saturday that he had told the foreign ministers of Germany and France that his country was not responsible for the problems facing Europe and called for more cooperation.
China’s Foreign Ministry reported that Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his German counterpart Johan Badifol and his French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrault on Friday on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in southern Germany.
“The two countries are partners, not adversaries, interdependence poses no danger, convergence of interests poses no threat, and open cooperation will not undermine security,” Wang Yi’s office said.
“China’s development is an opportunity for Europe, and the challenges Europe faces do not come from China,” he said.
Mr. Wang sought to promote China as a reliable partner of the European Union as Brussels seeks to reduce its dependence on both China and the United States.
The European Union is concerned about its widening trade deficit with China, which is flooding European markets with surplus production and trade restrictions with the United States, and by China’s growing ties with Russia, which is at war in Ukraine.
Wang Yi said he hopes “Europe will pursue a rational and realistic China policy.”
Mr. Wang met separately with Mr. Badible and Yvette Cooper of the United Kingdom. He praised economic and trade cooperation as “the cornerstone of Sino-German relations” and said Beijing and London should “explore possibilities for strengthening cooperation.” The minister also discussed the Ukraine and Iran files with Cooper, his office said in a statement.
