Chen is heading a delegation of more than 200 Chinese companies on a tour of Germany, Spain, Britain and Switzerland to buy European goods and technology, in a trip hailed by Beijing as proof of its non-protectionist stance.

Thirty-six contracts were signed in total, benefiting in particular Germany's troubled automobile firms Audi, BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen.

Finnish-German telecom equipment maker Nokia Siemens Networks said it had also won two network deals worth a total of around 880 million euros (1.1 billion dollars) in China.

Chen said Germany was "the most important economic partner" in Europe, which was why the delegation began its four-country tour in Berlin.

Both he and German Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg stressed the need to avoid protectionism as a response to the global economic crisis.

Ahead of the trip, Gao Hucheng, a vice commerce minister, said: "The Chinese government's organisation of the trade and investment mission to Europe comes as the world economy is facing recession due to the international financial crisis."

"It shows China's determination to open up its market and push for the revival of the world economy by strengthening cooperation with other countries in the world," Gao said in a statement.

Juergen Heraeus, spokesman on Chinese affairs for the Asia-Pacific Committee of German Business, told AFP earlier that the delegation planned to spend around 11 billion euros in total during its European shopping spree.

The European Union is China's largest trading partner, its most important source for technology imports and its largest export destination, while China is the EU's second-largest trading partner.

The huge Chinese investment will offer a boost to Germany's ailing economy, especially as the sectors gaining the most -- automobiles and machine tools -- have been among the hardest hit by the global slump.

Data published earlier Wednesday showed Germany's economy -- Europe's largest -- shrank 2.1 percent in the last three months of last year, with the slide driven mainly by a 7.3-percent slump in exports.

earlier related report
Chinese firms in Berlin to spend billions: trade body
A delegation of over 200 Chinese companies kicked off a European shopping spree by negotiating contracts worth billions of euros (dollars) with German firms in Berlin, a trade body said Wednesday.

The group, accompanied by Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming, is set to splurge around 11 billion euros (14 billion dollars) on products and technology during its trip to Germany, Switzerland, Spain and Britain.

Germany hopes to snap up "a good proportion" of that sum, Juergen Heraeus, spokesman on Chinese affairs for the Asia-Pacific Committee of German Business told AFP.

An unconfirmed report in business daily Handelsblatt said the Chinese firms were prepared to splash out more than six billion euros during the German leg of their tour.

The German companies touting for business include engineering giant Siemens, automakers Volkswagen and BMW, steel group ThyssenKrupp and Commerzbank.

On the Chinese side, representatives from major firms such as Air China and China Petrochemical International made the trip, which officials have hailed as proof of Beijing's non-protectionist stance.

"The Chinese government's organisation of the trade and investment mission to Europe comes as the world economy is facing recession due to the international financial crisis," Gao Hucheng, a vice commerce minister said Tuesday.

"It shows China's determination to open up its market and push for the revival of the world economy by strengthening cooperation with other countries in the world," Gao said in a statement.

The European Union is China's largest trading partner, its most important source for technology imports and its largest export destination, while China is the EU's second-largest trading partner.

The huge Chinese investment will come as a major boost to Germany's ailing economy, especially as the sectors expected to profit the most -- automobiles and machine tools -- have been amongst the hardest hit by the global slump.

Data published earlier Wednesday showed Germany's economy -- Europe's largest -- shrank 2.1 percent in the last three months of last year, with the slide driven mainly by a 7.3 percent slump in exports.

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