China Needs to Do More on Market Access, Merkel Tells Li

BERLIN—German Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed in a video conference with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang that Beijing needs to take action to open up its market and treat foreign companies fairly, her spokesman said on June 11.

German firms want better market access in China and more legal certainty for investment. They also complain that the government in Beijing distorts competition with high subsidies.

“She highlighted the need for further steps on market access, reciprocity, and equal treatment of foreign companies,” government spokesman Steffen Seibert said of Merkels discussion with Li.

“Concluding an ambitious investment agreement between the EU and China is an important element in this process,” Seibert added.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrive for a presentation of self-driving cars at the defunct historic Tempelhof Airport in Berlin, Germany, on July 10, 2018. (Fabrizio Bensch/AFP/Getty Images)

Negotiations on an investment agreement have been underway for six years and should be concluded in 2020.

Merkel told Li that Germany, which takes over the EUs six-month rotating presidency in July, wants rules-based and free multilateral trade plus a strengthened World Trade Organisation, Seibert said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) listens to Chinese Premier Li Keqiang during a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on June 13, 2016. (Wang Zhao/Pool Photo/AP)

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