China, France officials agree to maintain strategic communication, promote pragmatic cooperation

Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi and diplomatic advisor to French president Jacques Audibert agreed on Thursday that their countries' should maintain strategic communication and coordination while accommodating each other's core interests and major concerns.

Praising the new round of Sino-French strategic dialogue held here as frank and fruitful, Yang and Audibert, who co-chair the meeting, noted that the mechanism, launched 15 years ago, has played a key role in stabilizing, coordinating as well as promoting ties of the two countries.

At the ongoing strategic dialogue, Yang and Audibert also agreed to properly handle sensitive issues and enhance political mutual trust so as to boost the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

The Sino-French relationship is of strategic, global and times nature and plays an important role in improving China's links with Western countries, Yang said, stressing that the two sides should maintain close communication to ensure the success of high-level exchanges between China and France in 2016.

Meanwhile, Yang urged the two countries to turn the advantages that the bilateral ties enjoy in strategy, politics and public opinions into driving forces for pragmatic cooperation.

In this context, he said, both countries should deepen nuclear energy cooperation, lift the scale and level of cooperation in the aviation and aerospace industries and start at an early date cooperation in third markets.

Yang also said the two countries should further cooperation in areas that have sustainable development and expand trade and mutual investment.

Besides, Yang called on the two countries to enhance coordination on international affairs, to ensure that this year's G20 summit in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, will yield important and positive results, and to promote effective implementation of the Paris climate change agreement clinched in December 2015.

For his part, Audibert highlighted the strong dynamism of bilateral relations, adding that France hopes to maintain high-level exchange visits with China, and deepen communication and cooperation with China in politics, economy and trade as well as people-to-people exchanges.

Expressing confidence in the Chinese economy, Audibert hoped that France would seize the new opportunities brought by China's 13th Five-Year Plan to bilateral economic and trade cooperation, and enhance cooperation in civil nuclear energy, food security, medicine and health, sustainable urbanization, tourism, sports and exploration of third markets.

France fully supports China's effort in organizing the G20 Summit, and is ready to provide assistance and support for the 2022 Winter Olympics in China, Audibert said. Endit