China’s state planner this week signed letters of intent in Berlin on cooperation with European corporate heavyweights in areas ranging from aviation and chemicals to automobiles, as the world’s second-largest economy seek to lobby for stronger ties with Europe.

European companies including Airbus, BASF , Siemens, Mercedez-Benz, BMW and Volkswagen were among those that signed agreements with China, according to statements from China’s National Development and Reform Commission on Wednesday (Jun 21).

The Chinese state planner said it will work with the relevant companies to advance cooperation in areas including sustainable aviation fuel, low-carbon product production, and new-energy vehicles.

The signing came as a Chinese delegation led by Premier Li Qiang was in Berlin for intergovernmental talks with Germany, their first face-to-face summit since the Covid-19 pandemic.

The talks had came under fire as critics say the symbolism is not appropriate anymore given rising tensions between the West and China, and as the European Union is seeking to reduce its dependence on the Asian powerhouse.

On Tuesday, the European Union executive presented an economic security plan seeking consensus among the bloc’s 27 states for stronger controls on exports and outflows of technologies that could be put to military use by rivals like China.

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Li, who was on his first overseas visit since becoming premier in March, had warned against any economic decoupling from Beijing.

“We should not artificially exaggerate ‘dependence’, or even simply equate interdependence with insecurity,” he told Germany’s top CEOs in a meeting on Monday.

“Lack of cooperation is the biggest risk, and lack of development is the biggest insecurity,” he said. REUTERS