French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has arrived in China for an official visit during June 22-25. Only one month earlier, the former President of France, François Hollande, was in Beijing. In January of this year, French President Emmanuel Macron made an official state visit to China. 

These frequent trips indicate that China-France ties are on very good terms.

The two countries established diplomatic relations on Jan. 27, 1964. The joint communiqué, which has only 45 Chinese characters, released by China and France to announce this diplomatic breakthrough, shocked the world at that time.

The American magazine, Time, made the following comment:

"As a nation, France has seemed to be dying all through the 20th century […] Yet last week the impossible had apparently come true, and France was once more a mover and shaker in world affairs [...] To cap his nation's re-emergence as a world power, De Gaulle recognized the communist regime in Beijing as the government of China, brushing aside protests from Washington that the move would seriously damage US policy in Asia."

China never forgets that France has played a positive role in bridging Italy and China, resulting in the establishment of the diplomatic ties between the countries on Nov. 6, 1970.

In 2003, China and the European Union (EU) upgraded their comprehensive partnership to comprehensive strategic partnership, and France made important contributions towards this end.

France even called for an end to the EU’s arms embargo against China. Due to the hard pressure from the United States, however, the EU still maintains this sanction against China.

Bilateral relations are a two-way street. China also supports France on many occasions. For instance, when France assumed the rotating Presidency of the G20, starting from November 2010, China organized a high-level international symposium in Nanjing on March 31, 2011, at the request of then French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference was held in November and December 2015 in Paris. Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the event and made an important speech there, supporting the French efforts to reach a deal.

The warm relations between the two countries are expected to proceed smoothly and rapidly. One of the main engines pushing forward the bilateral ties is economic cooperation built upon their comparative advantages.

China has a huge market and is also capable of making foreign investment.

France is renowned for its attractive investment environment, exemplified by its high level of sophisticated technology, close connections with other European countries, friendly policies towards foreign investment, well-developed infrastructures, high quality of human resources, and so on. 

France supports China’s Belt & Road Initiative. During his trip to China in early 2018, President Macron said that the Chinese initiative is truly important and France would like to participate actively.

President Xi Jinping told the guest that Chairman Mao Zedong and General Charles de Gaulle made a historic decision with remarkable political foresight to forge diplomatic ties in 1964, and in the new era, China would work closely with France to enhance cooperation under the framework of this initiative.

Needless to say, to further promote the bilateral ties between China and France, political trust is always needed.

However, according to international news reports, French Minister of Armed Forces Florence Parly and British Secretary of State for Defense Gavin Williamson have made the announcement, while speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore in early June, that the two countries will challenge China by sailing through the contested waters in the South China Sea.

If the sailing really happens, China’s relations with both France and the UK would witness a setback.