BEIJING, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- Germany has been China's largest trading partner and a top source of foreign investment from Europe since the establishment of diplomatic ties over five decades ago, forging a close economic partnership built on win-win cooperation and mutual benefit, according to China's Vice Minister of Commerce Ling Ji.

A drone photo shows a view of Qingdao Port in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, Oct. 29, 2025. (Photo: Xinhua)

Ling, also China's deputy representative for international trade negotiations, made the remarks while chairing a roundtable for German enterprises on Thursday. The event was attended by representatives of over 60 German enterprises and business associations, the commerce ministry said on its website on Friday.

Chinese government representatives responded actively to the concerns of German companies over government procurement, intellectual property protection and business environment optimization at the roundtable.

During the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), China will remain steadfast in expanding its high-level opening up and advancing its high-quality development -- moves that are set to create significant opportunities for China-Germany economic and trade cooperation, Ling said.

With vast potential for cooperation on innovation, green development and the digital economy, China hopes German companies will increase their exports of high-quality products and technologies to China, and scale up their investment in China, he said.

Seeing China as both a global innovation hub and a training ground for companies to sharpen their competitiveness, the German firms said they are ready to deepen their roots in the market, integrate further into global value and innovation chains, and contribute to China's high-quality development.