China and Germany have signed trade deals worth $15bn (£9bn) following meetings between the two country's leaders in the German capital Berlin.

中国与德国领导人在德国首都柏林会面期间签署了价值150亿美元的贸易协议。

China has been looking to foster stronger ties with its key trading partners
Chinese Premier¹ Wen Jiabao and German Chancellor² Angela Merkel also targeted an increase of bilateral³（双边的） trade to 200bn euros ($284bn; £178bn) over the next five years.

Germany is by far China's biggest trading partner in the European Union.

China and Germany are the two biggest exporters in the world.

Premier Wen said the focus of the meeting was to "boost the growth potential of bilateral trade... and to once again double our bilateral trade volume in five years".

The deals include an agreement between Airbus and China Aviation Supplies for delivery of 88 A320 planes with a list price of $7.5bn.

'Helping⁴ hand'

Premier Wen's Europe trip comes at a time when many countries in the region are facing sovereign debt（外债，国债） problems.

As countries like Greece struggle to pay back debt and restructure their finances, China has offered some reprieve⁵（暂缓） to the region's economies.

"China has expressed support for Europe at various times," he said.

"In other words, when Europe is in difficulty we will extend a helping hand from afar," he added.

However, the Chinese premier did not give details of the amount of debt it may purchase or which countries' debt it may look at.

"We will, according to need, definitely purchase certain amounts of sovereign debt," Premier Wen said.

China has vast amounts of cash available, with its foreign exchange reserves at a record high of more than $3trn.

"The exchange reserves put China in a strong position to help Europe," said Duncan Innes-Ker, of the Economist⁶ Intelligence Unit.