1st Ld-Writethru: China, France to deep economic, financial cooperation

BEIJING, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- China and France Friday held the fifth High-Level Economic and Financial Dialogue in Beijing with fruitful cooperation outcomes.

The dialogue, co-chaired by Chinese Vice Premier Ma Kai and French Economic Minister Bruno Le Maire, saw 71 outcomes in mutually beneficial cooperation, covering areas including investment, automobiles, aerospace, nuclear energy, high-end manufacturing, green finance, the Belt and Road Initiative and third-party markets.

The two sides agreed to align the "Made in China 2025" strategy with France's "Industry of the Future" strategy, so as to strengthen innovative high-end manufacturing cooperation.

They also agree to strengthen cooperation under the framework of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and commit to building the AIIB into a 21st century multilateral development bank, together with other members, according to a joint fact sheet released by China's Ministry of Finance.

This is the first high-level intergovernmental economic and financial dialogue between the two countries after the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the two heads of state's meeting in Hamburg, Germany on the sidelines of the G20 summit, Ma said.

He called on the two sides to implement the consensus of the two leaders, strengthen communication and macroeconomic policy coordination, align development strategies, promote cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, and work jointly to improve global economic governance.

China's opening up will not end, but only open much wider, Ma said.

Le Maire pledged to support the Belt and Road Initiative and beef up cooperation with China.

This dialogue charted the framework for the two countries' economic cooperation, according to Le Maire.

The theme of the dialogue was "providing new impetus for the close and enduring Sino-French economic and financial strategic partnership."

The annual High-level Economic and Financial Dialogue mechanism between China and France was established in 2013. Enditem