Speaking alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Merz said he could make only a "provisional assessment" of a meeting between the two leaders in South Korea earlier Thursday.

But he expressed tentative optimism that the meeting would "contribute to a peaceful resolution of the conflict over tariffs".

Trump and Xi agreed to calm the US-China trade war that has roiled global markets, with Washington cutting some tariffs and Beijing committing to keep supplies of critical rare earths flowing.

Trump described the meeting as a "great success".

German exporters have suffered under both Trump's tariff onslaught and Chinese export restrictions on key materials like rare earths and microchips.

"I can only express my hope that a viable solution will be found," Merz said.

The German economy stagnated in the third quarter, narrowly dodging a recession, official data showed Thursday, hit by weakening exports as the country struggles to recover from a long downturn.