New Delhi, Feb. 22 -- German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will make his first visit to China next week since taking the helm of Europe's biggest economy, as he tries to position the country to a world in which assertive great powers play an increasingly dominant role.

Merz will be received in Beijing on Wednesday by Premier Li Qiang and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, government spokesperson Sebastian Hille said Friday. He will also visit Hangzhou in southeastern China.

The theme of the trip will be "competition," Hille told reporters in Berlin, and "the right balance of cooperation" with the Asian power will be one major theme. "We want cooperation where it is necessary and in our mutual interest," he added.

Germany has tried in recent years ...