“Possibly we will see an important shift in the China-U.S.-E.U. triangular relations, with China and the E.U. moving closer while the U.S. and E.U. drift apart,” said Wang Dong, assistant professor at the School of International Studies at Peking University. “Premier Li and Chancellor Merkel will likely reaffirm their commitments to upholding the Paris agreements.”

Baohui Zhang, professor of international relations at Lingnan University in Hong Kong, sensed major changes afoot, too. “Li should be seen from a different perspective now by his hosts,” he said. “I think Europe in general and Germany specifically are collectively experiencing a paradigm shift in their perceptions of U.S.-Europe relations.”

In Berlin, that view is shared by some analysts. Before the United States election, sharp tensions were visible between Europe and China, particularly over Chinese investment in strategic or military companies, said Björn Conrad, a leading researcher at the Mercator Institute, a Berlin think tank on China. Now, “there is a shift going on.”

“Obviously, if you feel you are losing a very important partner, you have to be on the lookout for alternatives,” Mr. Conrad said.

But that view is not universal, and others see a more calibrated calculation.

“For Berlin, the relationship with China is not a tool to achieve more influence globally,” said Volker Stanzel, a former German ambassador to both China and Japan. “Improvement of that relationship seems sensible in order to pursue Germany’s economic interests in China better,” he said, particularly at a time when China is wavering in its commitment to allow more leeway to foreign companies operating in China.

Ms. Merkel, who has visited 10 Chinese provinces in 11 years in power, insisted in Beijing last summer on reciprocity for foreign companies.

In February, Germany, France and Italy presented the European Commission with a request to set up screening of incoming foreign investment.