Premier Wen Jiabao and visiting German Chancellor Merkel jointly met with Members of the China-Germany Dialogue Forum in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on 16 July. The two leaders spoke highly of the positive role the Forum played in facilitating the development of China-German relations. Premier Wen said, just as sincerity underlined between people, mutual confidence was the key to state-to-state relations. He hoped that the Forum would continue to contribute to deepened mutual understanding between the two peoples and greater mutual trust and cooperation between the two countries.