Despite differences, China's Xi and Germany's Merz seek to deepen ties

There are many things that China and Germany do not see eye-to-eye on — notably Russia's war in Ukraine — but the leaders of the world's second and third largest economies nonetheless pledged Wednesday to work to deepen ties in an era of global turbulence. Xi told Merz that China supports a political solution to the conflict in Ukraine, but emphasized that it would have to “address the legitimate concerns of all sides,” and have “equal participation of all parties,” China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported. Merz is the latest in a parade of world leaders to visit Beijing as China seeks support from other nations to push back against Trump’s use of tariffs to demand concessions from trading partners, and his challenges to the United Nations and the global order that has governed international and economic relations in the post-World War II era.