Chinese, German leaders meet in Berlin for economic cooperation forum

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is set to meeet Germany's chancellor Thursday on the latest leg of a European tour overshadowed by gathering global financial gloom that is weighing even on China's buoyant economy. Wen is to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel at her Berlin office and then attend a forum on economic and technological cooperation. Merkel has pressed for reforms in the regulation of the global economy, and Wen has called for more international regulation to help serve as an "early warning" system to avoid future shocks. Wen's stop in Germany comes after he told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday that the global financial meltdown has had a "big impact" on his country.