Beijing, Ramadan 08, 1437, June 13, 2016, SPA -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel was welcomed by Chinese President Xi Jinping late Monday in Beijing after holding Sino-German government consultations that focussed on trade worries over a glut of Chinese steel exports, dpa reported. Xi welcomed Merkel for talks and a state dinner at the end of the second leg of her three-day visit to China, which will conclude on Tuesday with a trip to a BMW auto plant in the north-eastern city of Shenyang. Her Sino-German government consultations with Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang - the fourth during Merkel's tenure - focused on an ongoing trade conflict over Europe's refusal to classify China as a market economy. "We remember our pledge," Merkel said at a press conference Monday, referring to protocols where China would be considered for classification as a market economy 15 years after its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001. --SPA 16:56 LOCAL TIME 13:56 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w