On Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel reminded Chinese President Xi Jinping why she’s China’s greatest Western partner. She also forced President Joe Biden to consider whether Germany is still a close ally.

In a phone call with the Chinese president, Merkel hit all the right notes — for Beijing’s purposes. The German Chancellery has not released its own readout of the call, but Beijing’s assessment is glowing. Shared across the array of Chinese state media outlets, it noted that “Merkel said that the [European Union] insists on autonomy in foreign relations. Today’s world is facing many problems and challenges, and Germany-China, EU-China cooperation is even more needed.” The readout added that “the German side attaches great importance to China’s 14th Five-Year Plan and expects that this will bring new and important opportunities for German-China and EU-China cooperation.”