Beijing: China and France agreed on Thursday to keep bilateral ties stable and pursue mutually beneficial cooperation, and they pledged to maintain communication on the Ukraine crisis and play a positive role in achieving a political settlement.
President Xi Jinping and visiting French President Emmanuel Macron reached the agreement during their talks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
Macron’s visit is the first by a European head of state since the full resumption of China’s exchanges with the world, which were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Xi gave Macron a grand welcoming ceremony before they held official talks. Coupled with Macron’s visit, European aircraft manufacturer Airbus signed an agreement with China Aviation Supplies Holding Co on Thursday and landed orders for 160 new aircraft, including 150 A320-family aircraft and 10 A350-900 widebody aircraft.
Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury also signed an agreement with Tianjin Free Trade Zone Investment Co and Aviation Industry Corp of China to expand its A320-family final assembly capacity with a second line at its Tianjin site.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, on her first visit to China since taking office in 2019, joined Xi and Macron at a trilateral meeting later on Thursday, and vowed to increase constructive dialogue to promote the consistent and stable development of China-EU ties.
During their talks, Xi and Macron agreed that China and France, as permanent members of the UN Security Council and major countries with a tradition of independence, should keep to the overall direction of a comprehensive strategic partnership that is stable, mutually beneficial, enterprising and dynamic, inject new vitality into China-Europe relations, and make new contributions to international cooperation against global challenges.
Speaking as he jointly met the media with Macron after the talks, Xi said that the two countries agreed they will continue to support a multipolar world and greater democracy in international relations, oppose the Cold War mentality and bloc confrontation, and jointly tackle all types of global challenges.
On bilateral ties, Xi said that the two countries will maintain close communication at the head-of-state level, and hold a new round of meetings under the three high-level mechanisms on strategic, economic and financial, and people-to-people dialogues within this year. The two sides reiterated mutual respect for each other’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and core interests, he said.
After their talks, Xi and Macron jointly witnessed the signing of a series of important cooperation agreements. These included deepening cooperation in traditional areas such as aviation, aerospace and civilian nuclear energy, as well as cultivating new growth drivers in cooperation such as green development and scientific and technological innovation, including building a China-France carbon neutrality center and strengthening joint training of talents.
–The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
