China and Germany must work together to strengthen good relations between Beijing and the European Union without any interference from third parties, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in phone talks with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

He said China hopes that Germany can provide a fair, transparent and nondiscriminatory working environment for Chinese businesses in Germany, the EU's largest market.

Leading a healthy and stable development of China-EU relations is an area that China and Germany should work on together, Xi said, according to CCTV.

China supports the EU's strategic autonomy and hopes that the European side will adhere to the basic positioning of China and Europe as strategic partners.