Interview: China can play great role in addressing global crisis: French ex-PM

With "its capacity for dialogue and influence", China has played a great role in addressing international crisis and has a strong say in how to promote peace in the world, former French Premier Jean-Pierre Raffarin said.

"As a permanent member of the Security Council, China plays a central role in the United Nations (UN). Thanks to its multiparty view, China shows that it's able to talk to all the factions," Raffarin told Xinhua in a written interview.

The French politician said China's power consisted in its "capacity to talk to all countries," he said, adding that "peaceful Chinese are always seeking for good compromise" on global challenges.

"The two-billion U.S. dollar solidarity fund for the most fragile countries shows that China wants to be directly involved in the fight against poverty. In the case of Africa, China has also shown its ability to support and fund appropriate equipment for partner states," the former French Premier noted.

Chinese President Xi Jinping announced last Saturday at the UN that China would provide two billion U.S. dollars to support South-South cooperation, and called for an equitable development for all countries.

As to the upcoming international conference on climate change, Raffarin praised China for its "very useful" preparatory works to reach a binding deal on global warming by December 2015.

"By participating in the operations of the UN in the field, China's involvement shows that the great nations cannot remain indifferent to the world's imbalances," he stressed.

"Multilateralism today needs China's support to continue its organizing efforts. Bilateral efforts alone can not tackle difficult issues such as terrorism and climate change," the former French prime minister noted.

"Peace comes from our common vision of the future. That is the basis of the Sino-French friendship," he added to Xinhua. Endit