BEIJING: President Xi Jinping’s six-day trip to Europe has opened new chapters of relationships with China’s key partners, and the visit heralds a new era of ties with Europe through enhanced solidarity, mutual trust and confidence, according to senior diplomats and analysts.
Xi’s recently concluded tour of France, Serbia and Hungary, which included over 30 diplomatic engagements with leaders of the three countries between May 5 and 10, was a resounding success, with implications and significance far beyond the bilateral level, they said.
In France, the president’s visit set the stage for reaffirming a longstanding partnership.
Beijing and Paris signed 18 bilateral cooperation documents in areas such as green development, aviation, agrifood, commerce and people-to-people exchanges.
In an interview with reporters after the visit concluded, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that Xi and French President Emmanuel Macron had reached a host of key consensuses on developing bilateral relations, while agreeing to consolidate the strategic stability of bilateral ties and tap the broad potential of mutually beneficial cooperation. Interactions between the two heads of state at Tourmalet — a pass in the Pyrenees mountains that is dear to President Macron because he enjoyed visiting his grandmother there when he was a child — marked a major highlight of Xi’s France trip.
Wang said the extended talks in the Pyrenees added another memorable chapter to the exchanges between the leaders of China and France.
The Chinese president’s trip to Serbian capital Belgrade and Hungarian capital Budapest cemented the elevation of ties with two of China’s key European partners. This was underpinned by a host of bilateral agreements to build up economic, trade and people-to-people exchanges.
In Belgrade, Xi and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic signed a joint statement on building a China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era, while China unveiled six major steps to support the move, including a free trade agreement and the opening of more direct flights. A landmark moment of the trip was the gathering of around 20,000 people in front of the Palace of Serbia to greet the Chinese president, with the crowds waving the flags of the two nations and cheering for China. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
