BEIJING: President Xi Jinping’s upcoming state visits to France, Serbia and Hungary are expected to open new chapters of solidarity and cooperation between China and the three European countries, while injecting fresh impetus into the nation’s ties with the European Union, said officials and analysts.
Xi, making his first trip to Europe in five years, will visit the three countries between May 5 and 10 at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok and Prime Minister Viktor Orban, according to China’s Foreign Ministry.
Lin Jian, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said on Monday that the upcoming trip will serve to bolster bilateral relations, promote the overall development of China-EU ties, and strengthen global peace and development.
Xi’s visit to France will come as both nations celebrate the 60th anniversary of bilateral ties this year, and one year after the Chinese president hosted President Macron in Beijing and Guangzhou, Guangdong province.
During the upcoming visit, Xi will hold talks with Macron to exchange views on bilateral ties and China-EU relations, and the two heads of states will meet outside of Paris for further in-depth interactions, according to Lin.
“China-France relations have long been at the forefront of relations between China and the West,” Lin said, adding that the upcoming trip will hold significant importance for the continuation and advancement of the relationship.
Beijing aims to work with Paris in further consolidating political mutual trust, strengthening unity and cooperation, elevating the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership to new heights, and injecting new vitality into the healthy and stable development of China-Europe relations, he said.
France is China’s third-largest trading partner and third-largest source of actual investment within the EU, while China is France’s largest trading partner in Asia and the seventh-largest globally, according to the ministry.
Ding Chun, director of Fudan University’s Center for European Studies, said that stronger coordination and collaboration between China and France, a major country that has long upheld strategic autonomy, will hold implications far beyond the bilateral ties.
“The enhancing of ties between Beijing and Paris will serve as a model for efforts to build up China’s ties with other major countries and the EU,” he said.
He added that there is broad room for China and France to tap into the potential for economic and trade cooperation, with both sides expected to continue building up people-to-people exchanges through events such as the China-France Year of Culture and Tourism this year.
The heightened coordination between China and France, which are both permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, on global hot spot issues will be of great significance to global peace and stability, Ding added. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
