How much do you think can be achieved in 10 hours? It depends largely on an individual's interests and ability to multitask.

But by any standards, the progress made by Premier Li Keqiang in the time he spent with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on his first full stay in Berlin set an impressive example.

On a yard outside a modern office building in the German capital, Merkel greeted Li with full ceremony on Friday morning.

The grand, yet brisk, welcome seemed to smooth the way for the closed-door intergovernmental consultation that followed, during which the two leaders agreed on deals worth more than $18 billion and hammered out a wide-ranging action plan with 110 specific points.

Li and Merkel then officiated at a signing ceremony, took questions from the media, and attended an economic and technical forum at which Li delivered an encouraging and amusing speech to German business leaders.

However, you would be wrong to see this as just another all-about-money trip, with the leaders shaking hands, smiling for the camera and signing deals.

There was much more personal interaction between the leaders than I had expected.

Shortly after the meetings, Li accompanied Merkel as she went shopping at a supermarket that, according to a friend in the local media, is one of her favorites. The two then toured the Royal Porcelain Factory, where they had their second meal of the day together.

The rare informality between Li and the "German Thatcher" contrasted strongly with their hard-line images as political leaders.

Their rapport impressed many. Die Welt, a leading German newspaper, published photos of the supermarket visit, while the two were affectionately dubbed Brother Qiang and Auntie Merkel by Chinese netizens.

China is not the only, nor the first, country that Germany has held an intergovernmental consultation with, but Li may well be the first foreign government leader who has accompanied Merkel on a shopping trip.

Bilateral relations are sometimes not only reinforced by deals involving astronomical sums of money, but also through personal contact between leaders.

Contact the writer at zhaoyinan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 10/13/2014 page3)