BERLIN: Germany’s president on Monday underlined the “special importance” of relations between the United States and China and urged improved communications between them, as he hosted Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang for talks in Berlin.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier stressed the importance of ties between the two economic giants for “global security and cooperation,” wrote his spokeswoman Cerstin Gammelin on Twitter.

“He called for the strengthening of communication channels between both countries,” she added, after months of US-China tensions.

Xi tells Blinken: World needs stable China-US relations

At the meeting with Steinmeier, the German president also urged Beijing to use its “political weight and influence on Russia to bring about a just peace” in Ukraine, said Gammelin.

Li is on his first trip abroad since being named China’s premier in March. Chancellor Olaf Scholz will host him for dinner later Monday, while talks are planned between the two countries’ cabinets on Tuesday.

His visit came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was on a high-stakes trip to Beijing.

President Xi Jinping said China and the United States “made progress and reached agreement on some specific issues” during Blinken’s trip.