On June 20, 2026, Consul General Qiu Xuejun received an interview by Philipp Kuffler, a Videojournalist from Regional Fernsehen Oberbayern GmbH, during his visit to Rott am Inn. 

Q: Why is it important to maintain and further develop the relationship between China and Germany?

A: The relationship between China and Germany is a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. In February of this year, Chancellor Merz paid a visit to China, during which President Xi Jinping held successful talks with him. The two sides reached extensive consensus on a wide range of issues.

Generally speaking, our relationship is characterized by reliable, innovated, and friendly cooperation. Building on this important consensus, we hope to further advance our bilateral relationship to a higher level. We believe that a strong and stable China-Germany relationship is important not only for the development and prosperity of our two countries, but also for maintaining regional peace and stability.  

Q: What do you think about today's visit to Rott am Inn?

A: I feel greatly privileged and delighted to visit Rott am Inn, a historic town that enjoys a close and special relationship with China.

This special connection can be traced back to 1975, when former Bavarian Minister-President Franz Josef Strauß, who was Chairman of the CSU at the time, paid a historic visit to China. During that visit, he met with Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai. It was a pioneering journey that helped open the door to exchanges and cooperation between China and the state of Bavaria, as well as between China and Germany.

Since then, relations between the two sides have continued to expand and deepen across a broad range of fields. Building on this solid foundation, we hope to further strengthen the comprehensive, friendly, and mutually beneficial cooperation between our two sides and achieve even more fruitful outcomes in the years to come.

Q: At the meeting, you mentioned a partnership between Rott am Inn and a comparable locality in China. Why do you think this is important?

A: Relations between countries are ultimately built on the friendship and mutual understanding between their peoples. Therefore, local cooperation at the state and town levels is always extremely important. This kind of cultural and people-to-people exchange will serve to strengthen the relations between the two sides. We believe that such partnerships and sister-city relationships will play a very important role in increasing understanding and friendship between China and Germany. We encourage the development of such relations.

In this regard, next year will mark the 40th anniversary of the sister-province relationship between Shandong Province and the state of Bavaria. We hope that this friendship will continue to flourish and that more localities from both sides will establish and strengthen similar partnerships in the future.