German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced on Friday that he will pay an official visit to China in early November, becoming the first leader of an EU country since November 2019, AFP and Agerpres reported.

“We have been planning this trip for a long time,” said Olaf Scholz at the end of the EU summit in Brussels, referring to the “inaugural visit before the Sino-German intergovernmental consultations.”

His spokesman clarified that this visit is planned for “beginning of November”. According to German media, it will take place around November 3-4.

The last visit to China by an EU head of state or government was made by French President Emmanuel Macron in November 2019.

Germany’s number one economic partner and a vital market for its powerful automotive sector, China has long ruled Berlin. But Olaf Scholz’s government has stepped up its tone over the past year.

Relations between the EU and China were on the agenda of discussions on the 27th on Friday, which are trying to define a common position on the Asian giant amid rising tensions between Beijing and Washington.

Berlin is also preparing a “new strategy” for the beginning of 2023 to reduce its dependence on China.

Chancellor Scholz was criticized, including within the coalition regarding China

In the German government, the Green foreign and economic ministers are campaigning for a tougher relationship with Beijing, especially on human rights.

“We must not depend on a country that does not share our values,” risking making us “vulnerable to blackmail from a political point of view,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Burbock recently urged, urging us not to make the same “mistakes” as against Russia.

Olaf Scholz has a more cautious approach. “We must not break away from certain countries, we must continue to do business with some of them – I say this directly: and with China,” he told German industrialists last week.

The chancellor is also the target of criticism, including within the coalition, for a project involving China in the operation of a terminal at the port of Hamburg, where he was mayor.

According to the media, Scholz intends to authorize the transfer against the opinion of six federal ministries – economy, interior, defense, finance, transport and foreign affairs.

“Nothing has been decided. Many questions still need to be clarified,” he replied to journalists’ questions on Friday in Brussels. He emphasized that it is not about the sale of the port, but about participation in the terminal, “as it already is in other ports of Western Europe.”