German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has urged China to use its influence on Russia to stop the war in Ukraine, during talks with President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
Mr Scholz said both countries had agreed Russia's nuclear threats were "irresponsible and highly dangerous".
The Chinese president has refused to condemn Vladimir Putin's invasion.
But he said the global community should back bids to end the crisis peacefully and oppose the use or threatened use of nuclear arms, Chinese reports said.
Reporting on the two leaders' conclusions, China's foreign ministry did not quote President Xi as using the words "irresponsible" or "highly dangerous".
The trip has sparked concern in Germany and elsewhere in Europe, after the Chinese leader recently cemented his grip on power.
Mr Scholz's visit to China is both short, at just 11 hours, and controversial.
He's the first Western leader to travel to Beijing since the global pandemic and the first to meet President Xi since he tightened his grip on power at the Communist Party National Congress last month.
The timing is seen as highly questionable by many in Europe - including members of Mr Scholz's own government, who worry that his presence will serve to burnish the domestic reputation of an increasingly authoritarian Mr Xi.
But the German chancellor, like his predecessor Angela Merkel, argues that global problems can only be solved through co-operation with China. Meeting face to face, he said, facilitated discussion, even of issues over which both countries strongly disagree.
So what has he achieved?
There was a mutual acknowledgment that times were tough; President Xi expressed his desire to work together in "times of change and turmoil".
There was an agreement to keep talking - about the war in Ukraine, global food and energy security, climate change and the global pandemic.
Mr Scholz repeated Germany's position on Taiwan - any change of the status quo must be peaceful and with mutual agreement - and on human rights - they must be protected, especially with regard to minorities in Xinjiang.
The visit will be closely scrutinised in Europe's capitals.
Mr Scholz came to power promising a values-led foreign policy and a change in Germany's approach to China; a pledge he reiterated prior to his visit. "If China is changing then our approach to China must change," he said.
But many in Germany and in Europe simply don't trust him on that; in part because of a recent - and controversial - proposal to sell a stake in the port of Hamburg to a Chinese company.
Six of his ministers opposed the deal and the security services urged caution but Mr Scholz reportedly forced through an agreement, albeit one that reduced the size and influence of the stake. The suspicion in Berlin was that he wanted a "gift" to take to China.
And Mr Scholz chose to travel with a delegation of executives from German companies like BASF, Volkswagen and Bayer.
"The signal that's being sent is that we want to extend and intensify our economic co-operation," said one Green politician, whose party has long sought a tougher stance on China.
