Chinese President Xi Jinping and Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker met in Beijing on Friday. Xi stated that China is not the source of Europe’s problems but can act as a partner to help the continent tackle its challenges.
Xi said the focus should be on cooperative opportunities while economic and trade disagreements ought to be resolved through dialogue and consultation to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes and shared development. He identified possible areas for expanded bilateral cooperation, including new energy vehicles (NEVs), artificial intelligence, the digital economy and green development.
The Chinese president also called for further strengthening of political trust, maintaining momentum in high-level meetings, and deepening bilateral communication. He added that people-to-people and cultural ties should be expanded and travel between the countries facilitated to bolster the relationship.
Christian Stocker affirmed Austria’s commitment to developing its friendly strategic partnership with China and reiterated Austria’s adherence to the One China principle. The chancellor urged deeper cooperation in trade, investment, science and technology, and innovation.
Stocker said Austria supports developing relations between the European Union and China and expressed hope that economic and trade disputes can be settled through sincere dialogue and consultations. He also noted Austria’s intention to cooperate with China to strengthen multilateral international cooperation and to address global challenges such as climate change.
During the same day, Christian Stocker held talks with Chinese Premier Li Qiang. Li advocated expanding bilateral trade, increasing Chinese imports of Austrian products, and deepening cooperation in areas such as artificial intelligence, new energy sources and advanced industrial technologies. He also called for support for Chinese companies investing in Austria and for fair business conditions for those firms.
In sum, the meetings emphasized dialogue as the means to manage disagreements and prioritized enhanced economic, technological and green cooperation, alongside political trust and sustained high-level contacts.
