Premier Wen Jiabao and German Chancellor Angela Merkel had an "in-depth, friendly and sincere" discussion on China-Europe ties as well as bilateral relations on Oct 5, the eve of the 13th China-European Union (EU) summit to be held in Brussels.

The unscheduled meeting between the two leaders was organized after Wen arrived in Brussels on Oct 4 to attend the ASEM and China-EU summit.

At Merkel's invitation, Wen flew on Oct 5 evening from Belgium to Germany's Tegel Airport, from where he was flown in a helicopter to Meseberg Palace, about 70 km north of Berlin, the German capital.

China and Germany will strengthen coordination in macroeconomic policies and work together to oppose trade and investment protectionism, according to a joint communiqu issued after the meeting.

China and Europe should strengthen political trust, deepen strategic coordination and are willing to push China-European economic relations forward through consultation, the document said.

The two sides agreed that lessons should be learned from the international financial crisis and that they will strive to promote a stable economic recovery and sustainable growth.

Germany will continue urging the EU to realize China's market economy status and China agreed to hold talks with the EU on the matter, it said.

Speaking of the climate change summit to be held in Cancun, Mexico, later this year, the two sides reaffirmed the principle of common but differentiated responsibility and spoke highly of measures both governments have taken against climate change.

The two sides shared the view that further efforts are needed to achieve substantial results or progress at the upcoming Cancun conference.

Gu Junli, an expert from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said this meeting, though unexpected, holds importance.

Germany plays a very important role in Sino-EU relations, said Gu.

"Although there are more and more members within the EU and the issues related to the EU can no longer be decided by only one or two countries, Germany, as one of the founding members of the EU and its biggest economies, still has a strong influence," Gu said.

According to Gu, from Wen's visit to Germany in 2009 to Merkel's China visit this July, Sino-German ties are experiencing a period of rapid development.

Gu said the two countries have extensive consensus and common interests in many fields, such as their opposition to trade and investment protectionism, improvement in the international financial supervision system as well as climate and environmental issues.

(China Daily October 7, 2010)