Premier Li Qiang is visiting Germany and France. After Germany, he will travel to France to attend a climate finance summit hosted by President Emmanuel Macron.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier stressed the importance of the relationship between China and the United States for "global security and cooperation," his spokesman, Cerstin Gammelin, wrote on Twitter after the German leader held talks with Mr. Li.

Li Qiang said China is willing to work with Germany to contribute to "global stability and prosperity," according to Xinhua.

Mr Li's European tour comes as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is visiting Beijing, where optimism has been building as President Xi Jinping assesses that "some progress" has been made.

Also on Monday, Foreign Minister Qin Gang called his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock and urged cooperation, rather than confrontation, between Beijing and Berlin.

The US and the European Union have grown increasingly concerned about China in recent months, and Mr Li has chosen Germany as his first stop abroad, hoping to bring the German export giant back to his country.

Mai Anh (according to AFP, Xinhua, CNA)