Chinese, French FMs meet on bilateral ties, cooperation on int'l affairs

PARIS - State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian here on Monday, agreeing to promote bilateral ties and strengthen cooperation on international affairs.

Wang said that President Xi Jinping paid a successful state visit to France in March this year, strongly promoting China-France ties. The two countries have been deepening political mutual trust, making new achievements in pragmatic cooperation in various fields as well as communicating and coordinating more effectively on international affairs.

China highly values and welcomes French President Emmanuel Macron's coming state visit and his presence in the second China International Import Expo, Wang said, adding that China is willing to sincerely cooperate and fully prepare with France, to ensure the visit is successful and fruitful.

Wang said he believed the new meeting of the two heads of state will provide new strategic guidance for China-France relations and inject new impetus into cooperation.

As permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, China and France shoulder exceptional and major responsibility for global peace, stability and prosperity, Wang said, noting that the two countries should uphold multilateralism, promote open economy, strengthen coordination and collaboration on global and regional affairs, to spread positive energy to the global society.

Le Drian said France will take Macron's state visit as a chance to map out the exchanges and cooperation with China in a new stage. Under the new situation, France and China should strengthen communication and coordination on major global and regional issues, as well as jointly practice multilateralism, he added.

France welcomes Chinese enterprises to invest and is willing to provide a fair, equitable and non-discriminatory business environment for companies from China and other countries, the minister said.

Wang and Le Drian also had an in-depth exchange of views on international and regional issues of common concern.