Table tennis serves as a bridge between Germany and China, said Wolfgang Dorner, CEO of the German Table Tennis Association (DTTB), who expressed high hopes for collaboration in youth development and media partnerships.
Dorner will join the delegation accompanying German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on his official visit to China from Feb 25 to 26.
During an interview with China Media Group (CMG) ahead of the visit, Dorner shared insights into the popularity of table tennis in Germany, expressed optimism about potential cooperation with China in competitive training and youth development.
"[Of] more than 80 million people in Germany, 16 million are interested in the sport, 3 million are playing it recreationally, and then there are 500,000 people playing in 10,000 clubs in Germany. We are very much open to establish new ways of cooperating between our two nations and establish youth camps would be one great idea to start with," he said.
A table tennis enthusiast for more than 40 years, Dorner has been affiliated with the TTC Langen 1950 in Hesse and played at the regional level.
He recalled that the German national team first traveled to China for training in 1983, paving the way for ongoing exchanges in training and competitions.
Today, many Chinese players and coaches are actively involved in German clubs at various levels, with the most prominent being Olympic champion Fan Zhendong, who joined 1. FC Saarbrücken in June 2025. The club's head coach, Wang Zhi, also comes from China.
Dorner said these personnel exchanges have brought positive momentum to the development of table tennis in Germany.
He also views German-Chinese table tennis cooperation as a model of sportsmanship that balances respect and competition, serving as an important bridge for people-to-people exchanges.
"Table tennis is great for building bridges. And by collaborating between our two countries, extending our cooperation, we can improve our friendship and ambitions," Dorner said.
During Dorner's stay in China, he said he will engage in discussions with CMG on potential media partnerships.
He praised CMG's world-leading expertise in event broadcasting and sports production, expressing hope for deeper collaboration in areas such as match coverage, documentary production, event organization, and personnel exchanges.
"We are very open to join forces on media corporations because there is so much attention to table tennis in China. And I think the German table tennis market is one of the most interesting markets outside of China for China. So I think that's a perfect match to get deeper into. If we can tell stories about Chinese players playing in Germany, German players practicing in China -- there are so many great stories we can tell to both our people -- it will be to the mutual benefit of all of us," he said.
Table tennis serves as bridge between Germany, China: head of DTTB
