Trade boost planned as Merkel meets Chinese premier (1st Lead)

Berlin - Germany and China set out plans Thursday to boost trade, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel hosting a breakfast in Berlin for visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. Beginning a day of talks, they discussed the world economic slump and financial crisis, aides said. In a sign of the improved relations between the world's two biggest exporters, they said their two countries should develop closer economic ties. The one-day stop in Germany is the second stage of a European tour that took the Chinese leader to Switzerland for the World Economic Forum in Davos, and will see him travel to European Union headquarters in Brussels as well as to Spain and Britain. Supporters of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, said they would demonstrate in the afternoon outside Merkel's office, calling on her to press Wen to continue talks with the Dalai Lama's envoys. China and Germany were due to sign a declaration outlining their joint efforts in the field of trade and technology. The document is expected to stress the importance of China as a partner of Germany, government sources said. Agreements on climate change and economic cooperation are also due to be signed, including one on the transfer of German magnetic levitation train technology to China. The two leaders are due to hold a joint press conference around lunchtime before taking part in a session of the German-Chinese Forum for Economic and Technological Cooperation. The premier is also due to meet German Foreign Minister Frank- Walter Steinmeier, Economics Minister Michael Glos and Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel. Relations between Germany and China have improved since a spat in 2007 when Merkel met the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet, at her office in Berlin. The chancellor held talks with the Chinese premier when she visited China in October last year to take part in the biannual Asia- Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Beijing. Government sources said Merkel would use the Berlin talks to raise controversial issues such as China's treatment of anti-government dissidents and infringements of intellectual property rights. On foreign policy issues, the talks are expected to cover Iran's controversial nuclear programme, the situation in North Korea and the conflicts in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan. From Berlin, Wen travels to Brussels for talks with the European Commission that were cancelled by Beijing in November, following a meeting between French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who then held the rotating EU presidency, and the Dalai Lama.