On May 27, 2013, Premier Li Keqiang of the State Council met in the hotel he stayed in Berlin with President of Social Democratic Party (SPD) of Germany Sigmar Gabriel and chancellor candidate Peer Steinbrueck.

Li Keqiang first conveyed the cordial greetings from Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Chinese President. He congratulated on the 150th anniversary of the founding of the SPD. Li Keqiang said that the SPD has in the past contributed to promoting China-Germany relations and pushed for the development of the relations between the two parties and the two countries. The Chinese side is willing to strengthen Party-to-Party exchanges, to enhance the understanding and friendship between the two peoples, especially the youth, to jointly push forward the relations between the two parties and the two countries and to create a brighter future for the China-Germany relations.

Gabriel and Steinbrueck thanked the CPC for sending the letter of congratulation on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the SPD and asked Li Keqiang to convey their greetings to President Xi Jinping. They expressed that the German side is deeply honoured for Premier Li Keqiang choose Germany as one of the destinations of his first trip abroad. The SPD is always committed to pushing forward Germany-China relations and is willing to strengthen exchanges with the CPC, to expand political, economic and local communication and cooperation and to deliver more accomplishments for bilateral relations.

Gabriel and Steinbrueck noted that the European Union (EU)'s anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation on imports of Chinese solar panels will at the same time hurt the interests of German and European businesses and affect local employment and social stability as well. The SPD firmly opposed it for It goes against EU-China relations and global free trade. Hope EU and China will strive to reach consensus as soon as possible through dialogues and negotiations with positive attitudes. Li Keqiang expressed appreciation for this.