Merkel's visit focused squarely on economy

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's ongoing visit to China is focused on how the two countries can deepen economic relations and help boost a flagging global economy. The visit takes place two weeks after the G7 summit in Japan and just over two months before the G20 summit in China, where global economic issues are expected to dominate the agenda. Merkel will be accompanied by a large business delegation, and apart from talks in Beijing, she will also visit a Chinese-German joint venture in Shenyang, Northeast China's Liaoning province.

On the bilateral front, Merkel will bring several ministers for the regular China-Germany intergovernmental consultations. Top of the agenda is likely to be trade and investment, market access, innovation and cyber security. German companies such as Siemens have been vocal in criticizing China for failure to open markets and protect intellectual property rights. The European Chamber of Commerce also criticized Chinese restrictions in a report last week highlighting a drop in European Union investment in China due to "an increasingly hostile business environment".

Although German investment in China has stalled, an increasing number of Chinese companies are seeking a foothold in Germany. Chinese investment in Germany rose more than 35 percent last year. These investments were often in high-tech areas as China seeks to benefit from German expertise and technology. This has raised some questions about whether Chinese enterprises should be allowed to take over companies with the latest technology. For example, the Midea Group is currently trying to buy Kuka, a German manufacturer of industrial robots and a flagship company for "Industrie 4.0" - the fourth industrial revolution.