Chinese Premier Li Qiang is scheduled to visit Germany and France from Sunday to Friday as his first overseas visits since taking office.

In France, he will attend the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact initiated by French President Emmanuel Macron and have in-depth communication with the French side on strengthening exchanges and cooperation in various fields as China and France will celebrate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties next year.

China-France economic and trade cooperation

France was China's fourth largest trading partner in the EU in 2022, with total trade of 72,740 million euros ($76,653 million at the 2022 average exchange rate), accounting for 8.5 percent of the China-EU trade volume. 

In terms of exports of goods to China by the EU, France (23,705 million euros) was the second largest exporter.

Cultural exchange

France is the first Western power to carry out youth exchanges with China and also the first to set up a foreign cultural center in China.

China remained one of the main countries of origin for international students in France during the 2020/21 academic year, when 27,950 students from China studied in France, the third highest total, behind students from Morocco and Algeria.

Next year, China and France will co-organize the China-France Year of Culture and Tourism, and support the organization in France and China of high-quality events, in particular between the Forbidden City and the Palace of Versailles and as well as between the Shanghai West Bund Museum and the Pompidou Center. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, China was France's largest source of tourists from Asia, and France was the most popular EU country for Chinese tourists. More than 2 million Chinese tourists visited France in 2019.

Currently, China and France have formed 111 pairs of sister cities and provinces.

Data editor: Zhao Hong

Graphics designer: Mukesh Mohanan

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Chart of the Day: China and Germany see deepened economic and trade cooperation