Mutual trust stressed in China, France ties

China and France have pledged to strengthen strategic mutual trust, deepen cooperation and enhance multilateral coordination, as Emmanuel Bonne, diplomatic adviser to the French president, concluded his two-day visit to China on Thursday.

Vice-President Han Zheng met Bonne in Beijing on Thursday, while Foreign Minister Wang Yi co-chaired on Wednesday the 27th China-France Strategic Dialogue with Bonne in Hangzhou, a historic cultural city and tech hub of eastern China's Zhejiang province. The dialogue took place three months after Wang visited France for the meeting of the China-France high-level dialogue mechanism on people-to-people exchanges.

Wang, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that China and France should build "a more strategically stable and forward-looking" relationship, adding that Beijing is willing to "enhance high-level exchanges, deepen strategic mutual trust and advance all-round cooperation" with Paris.

He noted that China's next five-year plan for national economic and social development, to be deliberated at the upcoming fourth plenary session of the 20th Communist Party of China Central Committee, will bring new opportunities for cooperation between China and France.

He called for continued cooperation in traditional sectors while exploring new growth areas, such as artificial intelligence, the green and digital economy, new energy, biomedicine and financial services, as well as tapping into the potential of local-level cooperation.

Despite "shocks to the global economic order", bilateral trade and two-way investment have continued to rise, which, Wang noted, demonstrates the "strong resilience and vast potential" of pragmatic cooperation between the two countries.

France is China's third-largest trading partner and source of investment within the European Union, while China remains France's largest trading partner in Asia. In 2024, bilateral trade reached $79.58 billion, up 0.8 percent year-on-year, and two-way investment exceeded $26 billion in total.

Noting the international system is facing "unprecedented challenges", Wang expressed China's readiness to strengthen multilateral coordination and mutual support with France under the UN framework, uphold genuine multilateralism, safeguard the free trade system, and promote a more just and equitable global governance system.

Bonne reaffirmed that France firmly upholds the one-China policy and welcomes Chinese enterprises to invest in the country, while pledging to provide a "safe and predictable" business environment. France, he added, opposes trade wars and bloc confrontation, and stands ready to work closely with China to address global challenges.

On China-EU relations, Wang said that China and the bloc have "no geopolitical conflicts or fundamental clashes of interest". He expressed hope that France will encourage the EU to uphold true strategic autonomy and cultivate an objective perception of China.

The strategic dialogue was the latest in a series of intensified interactions between Wang and senior European officials. Wang concluded his visits to Italy and Switzerland last week and also hosted Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares Bueno in Hangzhou on Wednesday.

Cui Hongjian, director of Beijing Foreign Studies University's Center for European Union and Regional Development Studies, said China and France have maintained close exchanges at all levels, achieving steady progress across various fields.

"As a core EU member, France's strengthened strategic dialogue and mutual trust with China will help set a positive example and elevate overall China-EU relations," he added. He stressed that the EU should avoid imposing artificial restrictions on engagement with Beijing and should work with China to counter deglobalization and unilateral bullying amid rising geopolitical tensions.

Jian Junbo, deputy director of the Center for China-Europe Relations at Shanghai-based Fudan University, said, "The more turbulent the international situation, the more prominent the strategic value of China-France relations becomes."

He noted that, as two permanent members of the UN Security Council and major independent powers, China and France must coordinate closely to prevent the escalation and spillover of regional hotspots while jointly safeguarding global and regional peace and stability.

zhaojia@chinadaily.com.cn