The event drew more than 100 Chinese and German companies to the economy ministry and was expected to lead to the signing of millions of dollars in business contracts between participants.

"The forum provides a platform on which companies can work together successfully and on a level playing field," Schroeder said.

"It shows the extraordinarily positive development in economic relations between China and Germany in recent years."

Schroeder said he and Wen expected bilateral trade to double to some 90 billion dollars by 2010 and that Germany expected business ties to expand on the basis of "fair trade" and "respect for intellectual property rights".

Wen pledged in a speech to do more to fight the piracy of goods covered by intellectual property laws, a problem Western trade partners have frequently taken up with China.

"The Chinese government will take measures to protect intellectual property," he said.

The two leaders adopted a joint declaration Monday bolstering already strong economic and political links. Germany is China's biggest trade partner in Europe and does more business with China than with any other country in Asia.

On the political front, Schroeder renewed his support for the lifting of a European Union embargo on arms sales imposed on China after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre of pro-democracy demonstrators.

Wen, for his part, backed Germany's efforts to win a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

"At the political and economic level, Germany is a country that has plenty of influence. China wants Germany to play an important role within the framework of the United Nations," he said.

Their declaration, entitled "Partnership in Global Responsibility," also commits Germany and China to working together on the environment and against terrorism and gives central importance to dialogue on human rights.

"Germany and China underline the central importance of the rule of law and dialogue on human rights in their bilateral relations," it said.

As the two leaders met Monday, about 60 members of the Falun Gong spiritual group, which is outlawed in China, demonstrated peacefully in front of the chancellery in Berlin. A few dozen returned Tuesday to the Economy Ministry.

The Falun Gong, banned as an "evil cult" by China since 1999, once claimed millions of followers on the mainland but has faced a tough crackdown by the government, which considers it one of the most serious threats to its rule.

On Tuesday, the German government's point woman on human rights, Claudia Roth, said economic interests would not eclipse expectations for China to respect the rights of its citizens.

"We want substantive ties with China," she told the daily Berliner Zeitung.

"That means the maintenance of human rights and the rule of law. You can be sure that we make a point of this at every opportunity."

She cited in particular Germany's concerns about "the 60,000 death sentences carried out in the last four years" which she described as "very troubling".

Among the contracts signed in the presence of the two leaders was one for a billion-dollar Infineon microchip factory in Shanghai and a joint venture between German-US auto giant DaimlerChrysler and the Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Company.

Wen is on an 11-day European tour accompanied by an 80-strong economic delegation and several government ministers. He will leave Berlin early Wednesday bound for Brussels, where he is to hold talks with EU and Belgian leaders.

SPACE.WIRE