HANOVER, Germany, March 15 -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday that Germany views China as partner in the development of complex technologies and that both countries could cooperate in the area of digital economy.

Merkel made the remarks in her address at the opening ceremony of the annual IT fair on Sunday in the Germany city of Hanover.

CeBIT, the world's leading trade fair for information and communication technology, will be held this year during March 16-20, with a primary focus on digital economy. More than 3,400 companies from 70 countries and regions are expected to showcase thousands of innovations from the digital world.

"The competition in the area of digitalization is large and globally, and there is a lot of strong competitors from China," Merkel said.

She said German economy views China not only as the most important trading partner outside Europe, but also a partner in the development of complex technologies.

China is the official partner country of CeBIT 2015. Merkel welcomed Chinese companies coming to CeBIT 2015, saying they embody innovation and China's role as partner country of the fair is an essential component of China-Germany innovation cooperation.

Speaking of bilateral cooperation between China and Germany, Merkel said German and Chinese companies each have their own strengths, which provides cooperation opportunities for both sides in the field of digital economy.

Over 600 exhibitors from China, featuring a wide range of high-tech firms, including big names like Alibaba, Huawei, Xiaomi and ZTE, are taking part in this year's event, with a theme of "Innovation, Convergence, Cooperation".

Besides the big names, a wide range of small and medium sized enterprises will also present their latest products and solutions on smart cities, cloud computing, big data and other areas of digital economy.