French PM in China: Both sides want to strengthen ties, deepen cooperation

World
Europe

02:01

We begin here in Beijing, where Chinese President Xi Jinping has met with the visiting French prime minister, Edouard Philippe. President Xi said China's partnership with France was a role model for mutual respect, win-win cooperation, and mutual learning between countries. Rory Coen has more.

Strategic, stable, and comprehensive, some of the key traits of China-France relations.

The Chinese president today called on both sides to make full use of their various mechanisms for exchanges, and to look for new areas of cooperation.

He added that they should recognize and respect the core interests and major concerns of the other.

President Xi also praised France for the part it was playing in China's international development project, the Belt & Road initiative, which French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe referred to as a "future-oriented vision for cooperation that is in the interests of all humanity".

Philippe said with the concept of multilateralism facing so many challenges today, having a stable cooperative partner, such as China, was crucial.

The French prime minister also toured in the cities of Shanghai and Shenzhen during his four-day visit to China.

In the southern tech hub, he visited a production line of leading French car manufacturer, PSA; and met French tech executives working in China, while in the country's financial capital, he toured one of the world's largest automated cargo ports.

Philippe praised China for its long-term planning, as well as its development model. He also expressed confidence in the future of China-France relations, and his willingness to facilitate cooperation between the EU and China.

The French prime minister's visit to China comes after President Emmanuel Macron paid a state visit to China in January, when a package of cooperation documents on nuclear energy, aerospace technology and environmental protection were signed. Rory Coen, CGTN