German Chancellor Angela Merkel landed in Beijing with a delegation of 20 business leaders on Thursday for a visit expected to focus on strengthening economic cooperation and China's role in international crises, according to dpa. Merkel was welcomed in Beijing by Premier Li Keqiang and is due to meet President Xi Jinping later in the day. The conflict in Syria, which has helped trigger the largest population movement toward Europe since World War II, is also expected to be on the agenda during Merkel's two-day visit. As Germany searches for ways to stem the influx of migrants, Merkel may press China to use its strong economic relationship with Russia to help improve the situation in war-torn Syria. Russian President Vladimir Putin's support of President Bashar al-Assad's regime has been criticized by the West. Merkel's business delegation includes new Volkswagen chief Matthias Mueller, who is expected to speak about the carmaker's emissions scandal. On Friday, she is to fly with Li to Hefei in the eastern province of Anhui, where she will meet a local family, visit a village school and participate in a meeting of Chinese and German business leaders. It is the first time Li has invited a foreign leader to visit his home province. Her visit comes a week after Xi Jinping visited Britain and declared that the Anglo-Chinese relationship will reach a "new height." China and Germany have long established full diplomatic relations and deep economic ties, with the German Chamber of Commerce in China reporting bilateral trade between the two countries hitting a record high in 2014.
