German leader Olaf Scholz made his first visit to China 18 months ago. ‌Now he's heading back along with some of the biggest names in German business, with VW, Siemens and Bayer bosses understood to be among those taking the trip this time.

Scholz visited China in November 2022, accompanied by representatives from 12 major German companies. Xi and Scholz also held a video meeting a year later.

This time, the delegation will be visiting Chongqing and Shanghai before heading to Beijing.

The economic links between the two countries are huge. Preliminary results from the federal statistics office show that China was Germany's biggest trading partner for an eighth consecutive year in 2023.

Huang Yiyang, the Chinese Consul General in Frankfurt, told CGTN that both sides will be looking to strengthen those mutually beneficial links.‌

"More than one third of that bilateral trade, between China and EU and one third of investment between China and the EU belongs to China and Germany. So you can see how important it is," he said. "And also Germany – over the past four decades, so many important brands such as Mercedes, Volkswagen, Bosch, etc, all have become familiar household brands. So you can see how important it is and how deep the influence of this bondage between China and Germany."

Electric vehicles are a major topic in the EU right now with some member states seeking tariffs on Chinese car makers. The CEO of Mercedes is among those senior figures who has spoken out directly against tariffs on Chinese vehicles.‌