German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder arrived in Beijing on Monday afternoon to begin a three-day visit at the invitation of Premier Wen Jiabao.

On his sixth state visit since 1999, Schroeder is also scheduled to meet President?Hu Jintao and Wu Bangguo, and attend a number of functions promoting Sino-German projects in Beijing and Changchun, capital of northeastern Jilin Province.

"The chancellor's schedule is packed, which is sure to show sound Sino-German ties and spur bilateral cooperation in trade and economy," according to a diplomatic source.

"We expect the German chancellor to address trade and investment hurdles, promote a good political relationship and increase Germans' awareness of China so as to bring them closer still to the 'laobaixing'," said Jorg Wuttke, chief representative of BASF (China) Company Limited.

'Laobaixing' is a Chinese term that translates as 'old hundred surnames' and means the ordinary people on the street.

Sino-German trade volume maintained two-digit growth over the past five years and hit US$43.64 billion this year through October, as against US$41.88 billion in 2003, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC).

Since 2003, China has even overtaken Japan as Germany's largest Asian trading partner.

"The economic structures of China and Germany are complementary, which forge a huge potential for bilateral cooperation. China will take more substantial measures to inspire cooperation between the enterprises of both nations," said an MOC official.

"Germany and China share a basis for long-term trade relations," said Elmar Stachels, chief executive of Bayer Group for China, "German companies are investing more in China and Chinese firms are exploring markets in Germany, so trade and economic ties between the two nations could be further enhanced."

According to the MOC, Germany has become China's biggest European investor in the past three years, involving a total of 3,994 joint-venture projects with a total investment of US$9.79 billion, and their focuses are placed on major projects with big output and high-technology.

Meanwhile, Haier and a host of other Chinese investors have also made investments in Europe. There are more than 600 Chinese-funded firms investing in Germany with a combined investment of approximately 200 million US dollars, the MOC says.

"During Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to Germany last May, leaders of both nations pledged to double bilateral trade volume in 2010 and those in business circles are fully confident in attaining this goal," said the MOC official.

(Xinhua News Agency December 6, 2004)