SHANGHAI, Nov 2: German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Friday ended a three-day trip to China that focused heavily on business with political issues, even the anti-terror coalition, relegated to the background.

The German leader spent much of the last day touring German business interests in China’s glitzy commercial metropolis Shanghai.

This included a trip to the site of a 3.1-billion-dollar project being built by pharmaceutical conglomerate Bayer, the largest single investment in the company’s 139-year history.

“Our cooperation is so good because there is considerable mutual understanding,” Schroeder said, pointing out the Bayer project would make Germany the largest European investor in China.

“Another reason is Germany’s willingness to apply cutting-edge technology in China,” he said.

Schroeder and his large entourage of businesspeople, politicians and media toured Shanghai accompanied by Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji who has been the German leader’s escort for the trip.

They visited the construction site for a planned high-tech magnetic suspension rail to link Shanghai’s Lujiazui financial district and Pudong Shanghai International Airport.

And they jointly unveiled the first section of the eventual 30 kilometres of rail line that will transport passengers at a speed of up to 430 kilometres per hour.

The 900-million-dollar project, to be completed by late 2003, is being built by the Transrapid International (TRI) consortium, made up of German engineering giants ThyssenKrupp and Siemens.

The two companies have made no secret of their hopes that the project will help promote their technologies for a 1,250-kilometre link between Beijing and Shanghai.

In all, according to sources at the German embassy in Beijing, around 10 billion dollars of Sino-German contracts were sealed during Schroeder’s stay in China.

These included 29 business deals signed during a high-tech forum in Beijing on Thursday.

The huge investment from Bayer was “a clear sign of confidence in China and faith in the growth prospects of Chinese industry,” said company chief Manfred Schneider.

While trade dominated much of the agenda, issues such as the global anti-terrorism campaign and China’s future place in the world were also addressed during the German leader’s trip.

“I am convinced that China — the world’s most populous country, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, and a rising economic power — must and will take more responsibility internationally and regionally,” Schroeder told Beijing students on Thursday.

The German leader also met with Chinese President Jiang Zemin, who called for closer international cooperation in the light of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US.

“September 11 showed that the world is not a very peaceful place,” Jiang said, quoted by the official Xinhua news agency.

“Strengthening international cooperation is highly necessary and extremely urgent.”

With the emphasis so much on trade and cooperation, the chancellor seemed sometimes at pains to steer clear of areas which might upset his hosts.

In his speech to the Beijing students, he did, however, touch on the rule of law and the duty of the state to “maintain and protect the rights of the individual”.

Schroeder’s trip also took him to the northeastern city of Dalian, where he spent Thursday evening as Zhu’s guest.—AFP