Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has just completed his five-nation, week-long tour of Europe, from Italy to Norway, then the Netherlands, France and lastly Germany. 

The tour aimed to shore up the relationship between China and the aforementioned countries, coinciding with a particularly challenging time across the world. 

Wang's final talks in Berlin focused on a new trade and investment deal with the European Union and aimed to bridge understanding between Beijing and European nations.

Wang's German counterpart, Heiko Maas suggested there is more uniting the two countries than dividing them.

"A decoupling of the relationship between the European Union and China is not in our interest, it is in nobody's interest, both politically and economically," said Maas. 

"There are many reasons for better cooperation, which is one of the motives for continuing to work towards a comprehensive EU-China agreement during our [European] Council presidency."

The Chinese foreign minister also highlighted that a far-reaching agreement between the EU and China on trade and investment could be completed on schedule by the end of 2020. 

"We have three main areas of agreement, which are to continue: multilateralism; strengthen unity and cooperation; and focus on the mainstream of China-EU relations to contain any disputes."

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, trade between the EU and China was growing steadily and Germany and China alone traded more than $250 billion annually in goods and services. 

This could be greatly enhanced and fortified by a new framework. 

Now, as Wang returns to Beijing, it will remain essential that all sides continue the détente and demonstrate that the close collaboration shown during the COVID-19 pandemic can be matched in other areas into the future.