MAYOR Yang Xiong received a German delegation led by Winfried Kretschmann, minister-president of the state of Baden-Wurttemberg, last Friday and said the two countries enjoy good relationship and their leaders meet frequently.

He said German companies have played a big role in Shanghai’s economic development and their cooperation with Chinese partners is fruitful. As Shanghai is shifting to an innovation-driven economy and turning itself into a global innovation center, there will be more opportunities for cooperation between Chinese and German companies, universities and research institutes.

The mayor said Shanghai wants to expand exchanges and cooperation in new areas and involve small and medium-sized companies in both countries. He believed the delegation will help boost Sino-German cooperation in economy, trade, culture and arts.