Germany, China stress support for euro

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/06/28/germany-china-stress-support-euro.html

German and Chinese leaders on Tuesday pledged a big increase in trade between their countries, the biggest economies of Europe and Asia, while China's premier underlined his support for the eurozone amid its debt crisis.

After a meeting with Premier Wen Jiabao dominated by economic issues, German Chancellor Angela Merkel also pressed for "transparent" handling of the case of recently released Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, a prominent government critic.

Merkel welcomed Wen and many Chinese ministers to Berlin, a reception that she said opened a "new chapter" in relations - underlining Germany's hopes of deepening political and economic ties with fast-rising China.

Germany and China want to increase their annual bilateral trade volume to euro200 billion ($284 billion) by 2015, she said. Wen voiced hopes that the countries could even double their trade volume over five years.