China and France agreed to deepen bilateral cooperation during the next stage in various areas such as agriculture, green manufacturing, finance and aviation. 

The consensus was reached during Chinese President Xi Jinping's phone conversation with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, on Wednesday. 

Recalling his two phone conversations with Macron and the two China-France-Germany video summits in 2021, Xi said that their joint efforts have made fruitful achievements. 

Last year, bilateral trade between China and France exceeded $80 billion, and China's import of agricultural products from France increased by 40 percent year on year, according to Xi. 

Noting that France has done a lot to enhance European Union (EU) unity and strengthen the EU's strategic autonomy since taking over the rotating presidency of the EU, Xi said China is ready to work with France to ensure the success of the China-EU summit. 

China is willing to work with France to ensure the success of the new round of high-level dialogues on strategic, economic and trade, green, digital and people-to-people affairs, and advance the investment agreement between China and the EU to enter into force, he added. 

Macron said France hopes to deepen its comprehensive strategic partnership with China as the current international situation is full of tension and turbulence. He said France is satisfied with the major achievements of cooperation with China in the fields of technology, agriculture, aviation and nuclear energy in recent years.

As the holder of the EU Council presidency in the first half of 2022, France will make every effort to advance the positive agenda between the EU and China, Macron said.

France has always supported and will continue to fully support the success of the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics, he said. 

The French president also introduced his views on the current situation in Ukraine.

Xi said related parties should stick to the general direction of political settlement, make full use of multilateral platforms including the Normandy format, and seek a comprehensive settlement of the Ukrainian issue through dialogue and consultation.