German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will begin a two-day official visit to China on Wednesday, marking his first trip to the country since taking office in May last year.

Merz is also the first foreign leader received by China after the Chinese New Year festivities.

Sebastian Hille, deputy spokesman for the German federal government, said that Merz will be welcomed with military honors by Premier Li Qiang in Beijing on Wednesday. He will also attend a meeting of the Consultative Committee on German-Chinese Business.

Merz is scheduled to meet with President Xi Jinping later the same day. The talks are expected to focus on bilateral relations as well as economic and security policy issues.

On Thursday, Merz will tour the Forbidden City before visiting Mercedes-Benz Group in Beijing. After traveling to Hangzhou, the capital of East China's Zhejiang province, he will visit robotics company Unitree and Siemens Energy.

According to reports, Merz will be accompanied by a delegation of around 30 business leaders, including representatives from major automakers Volkswagen and BMW.

In an article published online on Feb 13 by the United States-based magazine Foreign Affairs, Merz wrote that "Germany is also updating its relationship with China. It would be a fallacy to believe that decoupling is the right path."

He added that Germany would "engage in dialogue with Beijing with principled realism, mindful of the fact that China is here to stay as one of the great powers shaping the new era".

Experts said the visit reflects Germany's plan to pursue pragmatic dialogue and cooperation with China in a bid to explore practical solutions to its domestic economic challenges.

Jin Ling, director of the China Institute of International Studies' Department for Global Governance and International Organizations, described the visit as a pragmatic adjustment in Merz's China policy.

"There has long been a gap between the German government and German businesses in their assessment of China," Jin said. "For companies, the scale, maturity and deep industrial integration of the Chinese market make it difficult to replace in global strategies. The government, however, places greater emphasis on geopolitical and supply chain risks."

Ultimately, the key question is how Germany, Europe's biggest economy, balances economic interests and security considerations under its economic security strategy, and whether it can avoid over-securitizing economic ties in ways that create uncertainty for businesses, she added.

China has once again become Germany's largest trading partner, according to data released on Friday by Germany's Federal Statistical Office. Bilateral trade reached 251.8 billion euros ($296.6 billion) in 2025, up 2.1 percent year-on-year, the data showed.

Jian Junbo, director of the Center for China-Europe Relations at Fudan University's Institute of International Studies, described the visit as strategically significant, marking a recalibration of bilateral ties amid a shifting global landscape.

"On many global governance issues, meaningful progress is difficult without China's participation," Jian said, adding that this provides a practical basis for deeper engagement.

As one of the most influential members of the European Union, Germany plays a pivotal role in shaping the overall direction of China-EU economic relations, he said. The stability of China-Germany ties therefore carries implications beyond the bilateral level and could contribute to broader China-EU engagement, Jian added.

He also noted that both sides share common ground in supporting multilateralism and promoting a more orderly multipolar world, particularly within the framework of the United Nations-centered international system.

zhaojia@chinadaily.com.cn