德國慢於英國和法國遲至1972年才和中國建交，德中雙方無地緣戰略關係。梅克爾總理主政下，由於德國有強大的製造業，而中國在改革開放下市場廣闊的誘因，令德國著眼於增進雙方的經貿往來，進而也有文化的接觸。其次，德國是歐盟國家中，對中國的海外直接投資和科技關鍵的供應國，迄今已經發展成德國是中國的最大貿易夥伴國，德國也被中國作為經濟和政治上通向歐洲的渠道。不過，德國對中國的投資，主要抱怨的是智慧財產權保護不足、法律不確定性、服務業限制、貪污以及缺乏透明性等。無可否認，梅克爾總理對中國展示空前的價值觀外交，值得稱道，不過梅克爾還是著重德國的經濟利益，有時還會不太考慮歐洲的共同戰略利益。

Economic factor is the main force to drive the relations between Germany and China. On one hand, China needs German technology to maintain its modernization, especially machinery products and cars etc. On the other hand, China’s products export to Germany or merge with German enterprises. All of this is meaningful to China. Germany is the largest economy in Europe and is the largest trade partner of China. After the diplomatic relations were established in 1972, German – China relations have developed with frequent high-level political exchange as well as economic and cultural changes, except the period of Tiananmen Square Event of 1989. The paper is to explore their trade interaction and cultural activities, especially in the era of Merkel (2005-12).