Meetings with leaders from two European nations – Germany and Italy – have resulted in trade deals and agreements on cooperation.

Premier Wen Jiabao held talks with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder at the Great Hall of the People and signed 22 agreements on Monday, including one to set up a hotline to better communicate with each other.

President Hu Jintao also met the Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi in Beijing on the same day.

The agreements with Germany range from financial cooperation to the purchase of Airbus jetliners. Trade volume between the two countries is expected to reach US$50 billion this year, said Schroeder at the press conference, adding the volume will double by 2010.

Most of the schedule for the German leader's sixth state visit to China was devoted to expanding trade ties and tapping China's booming market.

Besides Beijing, he will also tour Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province, to find economic opportunities there.

Volkswagen signed an agreement with the First Automotive Works Group (FAW) to set up a joint venture in Dalian to produce automobile engines.

"The establishment of this company will play an example role in bringing foreign capital to the old industrial base in northeast China," said FAW General Manager Zhu Yanfeng in an interview with China Daily.

An Italian business delegation accompanying Ciampi in China also clinched deals on Monday.

Although the total investment figure of the signed deals has not yet been worked out, "it will be considerable," said a member of the Italian delegation.

The deals cover a wide range of sectors such as energy, infrastructure construction, transportation and telecommunications.

Skylogic, under Eutelsat, one of the world's leading satellite operators, signed a partnership agreement with China Satellite Communications Corporation, a major telecommunications operator.

The two partners will begin cooperation in 2005 after approval by authorities in both nations.

They will provide satellite communications services for businesses, governments and media of both sides when the time is ripe.

Pirelli, an Italian tyre manufacturer, will establish a joint venture in Henan Province next year, with their Shanghai-listed partner Aeolus.

"Our investment in the joint venture will amount to nearly US$200 million in the coming three years," said Francesco Gori, president of Pirelli's tyre business.

Leading Italian automaker Fiat has also vowed to increase its presence in China by launching new models of vehicles, Luca di Montezemolo, the president of Fiat, told China Daily. The company is the largest Italian investor in China.

Italian companies have also expressed interest in taking advantage of the Beijing Olympic Games, to be held in 2008, saying they are ready to provide financial and telecommunications services for the event.

Nearly 500 Italian enterprises do business in China, and they invested US$300 million in the Chinese market in 2003, up 80 percent on a yearly basis.

In addition to China's coastal provinces, which have attracted the most investment from foreign companies, Italian enterprises are also considering investing in northeast and western China.

The Italian companies' spending spree comes as major European countries are making moves to penetrate an increasingly growing Chinese market.

(China Daily December 7, 2004)