He's the first western leader to have gone to china in over three years.

At their meeting, China's President XI told Mr schulz the need for cooperation between their countries had never been greater.

But the german leader's been under pressure to raise human rights during his visit.

Tom brady has the latest receiving the red carpet treatment in Beijing.

Chancellor Olaf Schultz is in china for a whistle stop tour traveling with several german business leaders.

The Chancellor commands no exception when it comes to china's strict covid rules.

He cannot stay overnight so we'll be in and out again on the very same day.

Regardless, china is welcoming the visit from a major european leader.

We hope that Chancellor Schulz first visit to china is a success.

China and Germany are all around strategic partners.

Chancellor Schulz met with the chinese leader at the Great hall of the People.

President G said the two countries should work together for the sake of world peace.

Their partnership was first established 50 years ago when the then Chancellor Willy Brandt established diplomatic channels with Beijing that same year, Richard Nixon met with Chairman Mao becoming the first US president to ever visit mainland china.

Their meeting was a turning point for china and the west and Germany has been a major beneficiary.

China has been Germany's biggest trading partner for the past six years.

China saved the german economy a couple of times when we faced a crisis like the financial crisis.

Everyone was in trouble.

But daimler sold more s classmates cities than ever before in its history.

Olaf schulz will hope his visit can deepen those economic ties.

But critics say he's making exactly the same mistakes of over reliance on china as Berlin previously made with Russia.

The United States which is pursuing a policy of decoupling from china has urged Germany to be cautious.

Pragmatic cooperation between china and Germany is a matter for the two sovereign countries.

The United States should not attack it without reason and has no right to meddle and interfere China and its 1.4 billion citizens wield immense economic power.

To Shultz's calculation it's worth keeping president g close.

Even if that draws criticism from Germany's traditional allies tom broader BBC news.

Let's go to Beijing and talk to our correspondent Stephen McDonell and steve the it's controversial back home in Germany but but how important is this visit to china?

How much is being made of it there?

Well, not a lot yet because it hasn't been carried live on television and what have you.

But by the time it filters through to the evening news and that sort of stuff.

Sure there will be a lot of prominence given to this visit.

I mean it's quite symbolic to have the german chancellor as the first leader of a major western country to visit here since the coronavirus pandemic started.

You know, when that plane landed there is the german chancellor with this high level business delegation.

They couldn't get off the plane until these workers in Hazmat suits could go in there and check everybody for the coronavirus.

Then there's a sort of bit of a red carpet arrival scene at the airport and they all go off to this big sort of government guesthouse while the testing can be analyzed and alright, they've been given the all clear all of Schultz goes then off to the Great Hall of the people to meet Xi Jinping.

Now of course he has been criticized at home and in other Western countries for coming to Beijing so soon after Xi Jinping cemented his firm grip on power here at the Communist Party Congress.

But he argues, look, these face to face talks are important that it is about promoting business here.

The german economy needs its cooperation with china and the german Chancellor has said he won't shirk the responsibility of mentioning human rights abuses and the like.

And at that meeting at the Great Hall of the People, according to reports from those who were there.

He did also say that the Russian invasion of Ukraine had caused to caused great global instability.

Now of course, china has been criticized for its sort of well quasi support for that invasion.

Certainly Beijing has not criticized it and it has set up a very different position for Beijing and the rest of these sort of Western countries who are firmly opposing that Russian invasion.

But on the economic front, it is interesting, we heard in that report earlier about the support the chinese government has been able to offer.

Not only china, but all these other countries throughout the global financial crisis.

Well, china is now facing its own huge economic challenges, not the least of which has been the massive disruption caused by the government's own zero covid policy.

And the question remains in the future, will china be able to offer the same level of economic support to these countries if this kind of continued chaos remains at home because of that zero covid policy compared to past decades.

How much our relations between Germany and china likely to change in in the forthcoming years.

We've seen how Germany has come under a lot of criticism for its over reliance on Russia, for example.

Yes, but I mean, of course, the Germany would say, look, uh, you know, if we just had talks with our friends who wouldn't talk to anybody, if we only had meetings of governments of the same persuasion, we wouldn't be having many government meetings, if we only sold cars to countries where we agreed with that government wouldn't wouldn't be selling many cars.

And of course that the german auto industry has a massive market here.

Not only are they running their own factories inside china, but selling all these cars to this huge market here.

So ultimately, you know, it's hard to ignore that market and for them to not have such talks steve thanks very much Stephen McDonell in Beijing.