China, France vow to build on relations

China and France on Monday pledged to enhance their economic and financial cooperation at global, regional and bilateral levels.

The two sides reached 54 items of agreement in the 8th China-France High-Level Economic and Financial Dialogue co-chaired online by Chinese Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua and French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and attended by senior officials from both sides.

A joint fact sheet announced after the dialogue said the two sides held an in-depth discussion on international macroeconomic policy coordination and bilateral cooperation in key areas and major projects in order to intensify bilateral economic and financial cooperation in an innovative way.

Hu, who has co-chaired the dialogue for the past few years, said that President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron reached a consensus to develop bilateral relations and strengthen cooperation in various fields during their two phone talks this year.

He said that under the guidance of the two heads of state, China and France have made headway in practical cooperation, with bilateral trade hitting a record high and two-way investment growing rapidly, as well as remarkable cooperation in agriculture and the steady progress made with cooperation in emerging areas.

"China stands ready to work with France to implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state, strengthen cooperation on international and multilateral issues in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in key areas, consolidate and expand cooperation on major projects, strive to build a good trade and investment climate to take the China-France cooperation to a new level and inject fresh momentum into the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership," Hu was quoted as saying in a statement posted on the website of China's State Council.

Le Maire, who has co-chaired the talks with Hu for the past years, expressed the view that France attaches great importance to the bilateral ties, and is willing to work with China to further deepen economic and financial cooperation.

He said that France is ready to strengthen communication and coordination with China on multilateral issues such as the response to climate change, biodiversity protection and reform of the World Trade Organization.

France hopes to deepen cooperation with China in agriculture, finance and third-party market and promote pragmatic cooperation to achieve more positive results.

Talks consensus

In a daily news briefing in Beijing on Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin noted that the dialogue on Monday built on the important consensus of the seventh talks by phone between the two heads of state since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It is extremely significant in preparing for the upcoming high-level exchanges between China and France and in pushing forward the bilateral relations in a post-pandemic world," Wang said.

The joint fact sheet includes strengthening global development partnership in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which has been set back by the pandemic, supporting the critical role of G20 as the premier forum for international economic cooperation to improve global economic governance, and committing to a strong, quota-based and adequately resourced International Monetary Fund at the center of the global financial safety net.

It also includes bilateral cooperation in intellectual property rights, supply chains, banking, civil aviation, space and customs.