Prospects for China-Germany relations appear brighter than ever after the two countries reached consensus on a wide-range of issues and signed 19 agreements during German Chancellor Angela Merkel's two-day visit to China which ended Tuesday afternoon.

On that afternoon the Chancellor rode the world's only commercially operating magnetic levitation rail line to the Pudong International Airport in Shanghai where she boarded her flight back to Germany.

During her meeting with Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng, Merkel reiterated her government's commitment to boosting economic and trade cooperation with China.

Analysts believe Merkel's remarks are a strong indicator that China-Germany relations will be a high priority during her term.

Merkel came to office as the leader of a coalition government that was formed after last November's election. Her predecessor, Gerhard Schroeder, visited China six times in his seven years in office.

Merkel's visit received positive praise in China, which is Germany's largest trading partner in the EU and major supporter of enlarging Germany's role at the United Nations.

Merkel started her first trip to China as Chancellor -- she had visited here once before as a government minister -- on a relaxed note as she chatted with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao during a walk in a park on Monday morning.

Later Merkel and Wen, agreed to start their first round of strategic dialogue this year, as a way of improving political consultations.

"The enhancement of China-Germany ties is an established policy of the Chinese government and serves the common interests of the two countries," Wen told Merkel.

The two leaders discussed issues such as political dialogue, economic cooperation, cultural exchanges, energy cooperation, human rights and the Iranian nuclear issue, reaching broad consensus, source with Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

The talks were followed by a signing ceremony of 19 documents on bilateral cooperation, mainly covering such fields as railway technology, financial cooperation, high technology, telecommunications, energy, culture and sports.

However, the wide-expected bilateral collaboration on maglev railways failed to yield a new contract due to the "need for a feasibility study".

Wen told a news conference after the signing ceremony that his government remains "positive" about continuing to cooperate with Germany on maglev railway development.

"Considering the huge investment, thorough research should be done in order to make a scientific decision," Wen said. "But I can be quite clear that China has a positive attitude toward cooperation with Germany."

Responding to Wen's view, Merkel said that the maglev railway has market advantages as it can travel at 400 kilometers an hour.

"(The railway) will successfully attract passengers who are willing to spend money on it", Merkel said during her ride on the train.

In her meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao on Monday, Merkel said Germany and China share broad common interests and could establish cooperation in many fields.

Merkel also expressed the hope that the two nations could cement cooperation in fields like energy security and energy efficiency and strengthen communication and collaboration on various international issues in multilateral organizations especially in the UN.

"I think Chancellor Merkel's visit will help the two sides better understand each other and further strengthen bilateral coordination and cooperation on many international issues", said former Chinese ambassador to Germany, Lu Qiutian, in an interview with Xinhua.

"Bilateral relations will continue to grow although there are still issues relating to intellectual property protection and human rights that need further consultations", Lu said.

Merkel arrived here on Sunday night at the invitation of Premier Wen.

She advanced a scheduled visit to China from July to the late May "to show how important Germany-China ties are", a news official with the German embassy to China told Xinhua.

(Xinhua News Agency May 24, 2006)

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