China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has urged Germany to avoid making temporary disagreements appear public after Berlin postponed a planned visit by German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul.

According to Beijing, Wang told Wadephul in a phone call that Germany should refrain from “unfounded accusations that contradict the facts.” He said both countries should build a “more stable and sustainable political framework” to keep relations on the right track.

“China and Germany should create a more stable and sustainable political framework to ensure that bilateral relations always stay on the right track,” Wang said.

Wadephul and Wang had also agreed that the visit should be rescheduled “soon,” the German Foreign Office spokesperson added. China had also reaffirmed its invitation to Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) and extended an additional invitation to President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

The phone call had initially been described in cordial terms. A German Foreign Office spokesperson had previously said that Wadephul and Wang had agreed in their phone call that “stable German-Chinese relations are of great interest to both countries.”

At the end of October, the Foreign Office had postponed Wadephul’s planned trip to China shortly before departure. The reason given was that the Chinese hosts had not confirmed any appointments for Wadephul other than the meeting with Wang. The Foreign Office expressed regret over this and pointed to a number of topics on which the German government would have liked to engage in dialogue with China — such as trade disputes, rare earth metals and relations with Russia.

Guten Tag from DW’s newsroom in a cloudy Bonn and Danke Schön for joining us for the latest Germany news.

In diplomatic news, China has urged Germany to avoid making disagreements public after Berlin postponed Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul’s planned visit.

Beijing said Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Wadephul that Germany should refrain from “unfounded accusations.” 

Berlin had delayed the trip after Beijing confirmed no meetings beyond the one with Wang, citing the need for broader talks.

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