President Visits China

Köhler was almost euphoric as he recounted his "very good talks" with China's leadership in Beijing.

Köhler managed to circumvent the minefield in which the issue of human rights had threatened to overshadow his visit, so that at the end, he was back in his element - advocating expanded
cooperation with the world's most populous country in the field of environmental and resource protection.

And, he reported, in this aspect he had found "open doors" in Beijing.

Köhler showed how impressed he was with China's new generation of leaders: "They are aware of the problems and challenges of this society and its giant population number of 1.3 billion such as I have experienced from no other leadership," said the man who had often visited China in the past in other functions.

"They are facing the problems and want to solve them," he added.

Leaving out details

The Chinese brought up the subject of human rights themselves, Köhler said. They admitted to "mistakes and problems" that they are working on. But they did not speak about any specific cases. Köhler said that responsibility for talking about specifics rests with the German government.

"It was right for me to present the principles, but detailed human rights issues and cases are something that the German government has to talk about (with China)," he said.

Köhler was following a precedent set by former chancellors Helmut Kohl and Gerhard Schröder, an editorial in the Friday edition of the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. He spoke in abstractions and "philosophized about human rights, but lacked the words to talk about the Chinese problems."

"It was important for me to bring forward the fundamentals," Köhler said.

The tensions in the run up to his meeting amog other things because of the resolution of the German Parliament that criticized the "re-education through labor camps" in China, were not further talked about. The resolution was rejected as "intervention" by Beijing.

Tapping Köhler's expertise

The German president holds mostly ceremonial and diplomatic duties. He used to head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

State and Party Leader Hu Jintao was eager to tap into Köhler's experience in dealing with issues facing China, such as adequate employment for hundreds of millions of rural residents, or how to overcome the gap between the poor western regions and the wealthier coastal population.

They had talked at length, Köhler said, about the rapid ageing of China's population and the effects of this on the pensions and insurance sectors. China's leaders were "almost desperate" in asking how such problems might be resolved, he said.

"It was noticeable how he (Hu) wanted to discuss with me in depth those problems he is itching to deal with," Köhler said.

Climate change a central theme

China pushed for the German government to provide more investement and technology to help develop a key bilateral relationship between the two nations, Köhler told reporters after meeting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Beijing on Friday.

China also hopes to see "more action" from Germany in areas such as regular bilateral dialogues, and technology transfer related to environmental protection and energy efficiency, Köhler said.

Koehler said he was impressed with the openness of Chinese leaders on environmental protection and their apparent willingness to take more action on climate change.

"It's the first time that the Chinese understand it (climate change) as an important issue in itself," Koehler said at the conclusion of his talks in the Zhongnanhai compound used by leaders of China's ruling Communist Party.

China seemed committed to achieving its targets for reducing carbon emissions and improving energy efficiency, but it lacked capacity and expertise, he said.

Köhler said he was optimistic that China would play a "constructive role" in global efforts against climate change.

"China is aware that it is part of the problem," he said. "They want to be part of the solution."

On Saturday, Köhler will deliver a speech in Shanghai to mark the 100th anniversary of Tongji University. He departs for Germany later Saturday.