CRI听力:China, Germany Pledge to Expand Practical Cooperation

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel have overseen the signing of a number of business deals as part of her time here in Beijing.

CRI's Luo Wen has the details.

Following talks between Li Keqiang and Angela Merkel, the two have announced that China will allow Germans to invest up to 80 billion yuan, or some 13 billion US dollars, in China's stock exchanges through the Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor scheme.

The move is meant to help bolster the struggling stock markets and further internationalize the Renminbi.

Premier Li Keqiang says the two sides have also agreed to enter into senior-level financial talks.

"We have agreed to launch a top level financial dialogue mechanism as soon as possible. China has already appointed the Bank of China as the RMB clearance bank in Frankfurt. We will allot 80 billion yuan in RMB Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors quota to Germany. It will help to boost the set up of off-shore RMB market in Frankfurt. "

For her part, Angela Merkel says she wants to expand cooperation on a larger scale.

"The two governments have already established a profound cooperation framework. Now we can bring our cooperation to a wider field. Previously, our focuses were on trade and technology, and now we have included agriculture, food safety, environmental protection etc. China will be a partner country to join next year's CeBIT expo, it will kick off our cooperation in information and telecommunication. Apart from that, we will have a wider cooperation in other new areas including health care and urbanization."

As part of their meeting, the two have also overseen the signing of a number of business deals.

Among them, three Chinese aviation firms have signed deals with Airbus to purchase 123 helicopters.

German auto giant Volkswagen has also announced it is going to build two new plants in the coastal cities of Qingdao and Tianjin, in a deal worth some 2-billion euros.

The two sides have also agreed to work together on building an "ecopark" in Qingdao that will showcase energy-efficient buildings.

Qingdao used to be a German concession port in the early 20th century.

For CRI, I'm Luo Wen.