French firms urged to seize opportunities

President Xi Jinping said on Monday that entrepreneurs in France are welcome to participate in China's modernization efforts, and to seize opportunities arising from China's development as the country mulls significant moves to further deepen reform across various sectors.

Xi made the remarks when attending the closing ceremony of the sixth meeting of the China-France Business Council together with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Theatre Marigny in Paris.

Xi told delegates to the meeting that China is working to steadily expand institutional opening-up, ease market access and shorten the negative list for foreign investment. This will help provide a broader market and more win-win cooperation opportunities for countries including France, he said.

Since China and France established diplomatic ties 60 years ago, the two countries have developed a closely intertwined relationship between their economies, with bilateral trade increasing 800-fold to reach $78.9 billion last year.

Based on past and present experiences, Xi emphasized that there are no justifiable reasons for failures in maximizing the potential of the China-France relationship, and vowed to further enhance its productivity.

"China will continue to make full use of the 'French farm to Chinese dining table' whole-chain rapid coordination mechanism, and bring more cheese, ham, wine and other quality agricultural products from France to the dining tables of Chinese families," he said.

Xi also announced that China will extend visa exemption entry for citizens from France and another 11 countries on short-term visits to China until the end of 2025.

"Deeper friendship calls for frequent exchanges and closer cooperation. We always view France as a priority and trustworthy partner of cooperation," he said.