On April 1, 2011, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao met with German Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle in Ziguangge, Zhongnanhai. Both sides exchanged views in a candid, in-depth manner on China-Germany relations and major international and regional issues.

Wen said that under the new situation, China-Germany relationship has richer connotations and broad prospects with its influence further enhanced. Both sides should seize the opportunity to actively implement the consensus already reached. The first round of inter-governmental consultation, slated for July, will be co-chaired by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and his German counterpart Angela Merkel. Senior Chinese and German officials in charge of diplomacy, economy, finance, science, technology, culture, education and social development will all take part in the consultation. This is a new and comprehensive dialogue mechanism between the two governments. Wen said the mechanism is designed to lay out an all-round blueprint for the development of bilateral ties and institution of specific measures. "I believe the consultation will be fruitful and will push the Chinese-German strategic partnership to a new level," Wen told Westerwelle.

Westerwelle hailed in-depth bilateral exchanges and cooperation in such fields as politics, economy, culture and youth in recent years. Germany and China have also coordinated well on international and regional affairs, Westerwelle said. Germany is glad to be the first European country to establish inter-governmental consultation mechanism with China and will work closely with China to make the first round of consultation a success and push bilateral ties for new progress, Westerwelle said.