During his fruitful France tour, Chinese Premier Li Qiang held in-depth exchanges with various leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, President of the European Council (EU) Charles Michel and French Senate President Gerard Larcher, on strengthening China-France and China-EU cooperation.
Highlighting the common strategic and holistic perspectives shared by China and France, Li called for further strengthening cooperation and communication to achieve mutual benefits and win-win results.
“China’s development brings opportunities rather than risks to the world, sending stability rather than shocks to the global industrial chain and supply chain,” Li told Michel.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang speaks at the closing ceremony of the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris, France, June 23, 2023.
Promote the sustainable development of mankind
As the highlight of Li’s visit, the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact aimed to explore the status and prospects of climate action and international financial system reform, and was attended by representatives from over 100 countries.
The closing ceremony of the summit attracted over 60 heads of state, government and international organizations, with the focus on tackling debt burdens on vulnerable countries and climate change.
Li delivered a speech at the ceremony, pledging China’s efforts to take practical steps to support its fellow developing countries.
“In a world full of disputes and uncertainties, China and Europe should seek common ground while reserving differences,” Li noted, calling for expanding convergence while narrowing divergence, coping with the uncertainty of the international situation with the stability of China-Europe relations, and jointly promoting the sustainable development of mankind.
Liu Mingli, a research fellow at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told CGTN that advanced economies hold historical responsibilities for climate change, and such summits can remind them of their responsibilities to provide aid to developing countries.
China is actively promoting a green and low-carbon energy transition while participating in a responsible manner in promoting the global energy transition and addressing climate change, Li said when delivering remarks on energy transition.
Besides, Li also called on the international community to advance the reform of global financial governance and create a stable financing environment for developing countries, as well as advance economic globalization and free trade to inject fresh growth impetus into developing countries.
Taking pragmatic cooperation to a new level
During his meeting with Macron, Li said China, France and Europe have their own strengths and need to further strengthen cooperation, urging them to tap the potential of cooperation in such emerging areas as environmental protection, digital economy, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing.
China and the EU should enhance mutual trust and address concerns through successful cooperation, which is conducive to the building of a multi-polar world, the Chinese premier noted in talks with Michel.
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.
China’s infrastructure, huge cluster, strong labor pool and its demanding sophisticated urban consumers are very appealing, said Joerg Wuttke, former president of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China, adding there is a huge potential to deepen the economic cooperation between China and the EU.
Noting that Li met with representatives of Chinese and French business communities during the visit, Liu told CGTN that it is vital for bilateral economic ties as it helps business leaders understand China’s policy.
Delivering a speech at a dinner with business representatives, Li called on the two sides to jointly maintain the security and stability of global industrial and supply chains, strengthen cooperation on innovation, and foster a sound business environment.
He encouraged entrepreneurs from both countries to strengthen confidence, seize opportunities and make joint efforts to achieve greater development and promote steady and long-term China-France and China-Europe cooperation.
Mentioning that next year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and France, the China-France Year of Culture and Tourism, and the Paris Olympic Year, Li told Larcher that the two sides should take this opportunity to strengthen people-to-people exchanges in an all-round way and enhance mutual understanding and friendship.
