German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has told Chinese President Xi Jinping it is important for economic activity to be on a “a level playing field”, when the pair met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Brazil on Tuesday.

Xi also met French President Emmanuel Macron, Chinese state media announced later on Tuesday.

According to Reuters, Scholz told Xi it is important for China and Germany to talk about difficult topics such as trade and the Ukraine war.

“It is important that we ensure that a level playing field accompanies the economic activities of companies on all sides, that is central to the conditions for future work,” Scholz said.

Xi said China was ready to work with Germany to consolidate an all-round strategic partnership, according to Xinhua.

“China regards Germany as an important partner in promoting China-style modernisation and will continue to provide broad market opportunities for German companies,” Xi said, according to the state news agency. “China believes that Europe is an important pole in a multipolar world, and is committed to cooperating with Europe to jointly meet challenges.”

The Chinese president said he also hoped Germany could play an important role in China-EU negotiations regarding the bloc’s punitive tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.

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