Why else would the Chinese meet with a runner-up party? The article clearly says AfD is hoping for stronger connections with China. This is just another case of fascists working with fascists.

They're already having each others' back, the nazi bitch with CCP connections is straight up defending China:

[AfD co-leader] Weidel herself knows the People's Republic of China very well. She spent six years living there on a German Academic Exchange Service scholarship and completed her doctorate on the Chinese pension system

She has also ridiculed German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock's criticism of the human rights situation in China.

"God help us: Baerbock is on a new mission in #China. She wants to emphasize the 'shared European conviction.' This already fails because it is not only #France which does not share this conviction..."

Pushing for stronger ties:

The AfD has positioned itself in opposition to the German government's critical policy toward China [....] "attempt to implement green-woke ideology and US geopolitical interests under the guise of a strategy for German foreign policy"

For AfD, human rights criticism 'totally irrelevant'

Geopolitically, said Schroeder, the AfD sees the traditional Western ties with the United States, which it regards as hegemonic, as having past their use-by date.

AfD 'understands, accepts Chinese way of governing'

Frankly, the only difference between the fascist AfD and the fascist CCP is the AfD claims to support democracy and rule of law.