Chinese President Xi Jinping called on China and France to unite to defend multilateralism, safeguard world peace and pioneer inter-civilizational exchanges during his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron Saturday on the sideline of the G20 summit in the Japanese city of Osaka.

Noting that the world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century, Xi urged the two countries, as major powers in the world, to foster more pragmatic cooperation and contribute to world peace, stability and development.

Belt and Road cooperation, according to Xi, has entered a new stage featuring high-quality development. Xi expected the two sides to expand cooperative projects in nuclear energy and space industries, and jointly explore third-party market cooperation so as to bring benefits to the two peoples.

Xi called for close coordination in regional and international issues, hoping the two countries to jointly push forward the political settlements to concerned issues.

China is preparing the second China International Import Expo (CIIE), Xi said, inviting France to participate in the event. He also praised the China-France Culture and Tourism Year expected to be held in 2021, calling it a good opportunity to enhance people-to-people exchanges.

On his part, Macron hailed bilateral ties, saying that France and China have achieved progress in political, economic and other areas.

Macron reiterated France's commitment to multilateralism, adding that France is willing to play a leading role in addressing climate change, biodiversity and other global challenges together with China.

(Cover: Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) shakes hands with French President Emmanuel Macron at their meeting during the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, June 29, 2019. /Xinhua Photo)