BERLIN, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's upcoming visit to Germany will further strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries, according to the Chinese ambassador to Germany.

    In an exclusive interview with Xinhua recently, Ma Canrong, the Chinese ambassador, said Sino-German ties had remained healthy and stable for decades, and in the past nine months, Germany, under the leadership of Chancellor Angela Merkel, had maintained positive relations with China.

    "The Chinese premier is visiting Germany only four months after Merkel's visit to China in May," said Ma. "Such a frequent exchange of visits shows that the two countries highly value bilateral relations."

    Wen will arrive in Germany on Wednesday for a two-day visit as part of his four-nation tour, which also includes visits to Finland, Britain and Tajikistan.

    China and Germany have been highly engaged in cooperation in trade, the war against terror, environmental protection, as well as in efforts to solve problems, such as the Iran nuclear issue, through diplomatic solutions.

    As Germany was trying to play a bigger role in the international arena, it was not surprising that the country would seek to strengthen ties with China, the biggest developing country in the world and one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, said Ma.

    The cooperation is even more apparent in the economic field thanks to China's soaring economic growth.

    China is Germany's biggest trade partner in Asia and Germany is China's biggest trade partner in Europe. The bilateral trade volume had been growing 20 percent each year and was expected to exceed 70 billion U.S. dollars by the end of this year, Ma said.