Chinese President Xi Jinping has not been able to find time to receive German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who is planning his first visit to China after taking office, Die Welt revealed.
The newspaper specified that Merz's visit to China was supposed to take place next week.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadeful was supposed to arrive in Beijing before that.
But on October 24, it became known that the minister had postponed his visit. The Foreign Ministry explained that China had not confirmed the meeting with him.
The tension in relations between Berlin and Beijing arose against the backdrop of China's tightening of restrictions on the export of rare earth metals.
In addition, Germany sent a note to the Chinese side over the ban on the supply of microchips to Europe.
This decision by Beijing caused serious disruptions in the work of German industry, which needs components for the automotive industry and electronics production.