Photo: AFP/Hans Lucas/Xose Bouzas
Eurasia
06/05/2024 16:17
China regards Europe as an important dimension in its major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics and an important partner on its path toward Chinese modernization, he said at the meeting, according to Xinhua.
Expressing his delight in meeting with Macron and von der Leyen again, Xi noted that France is the first stop of his overseas visit this year, and that the trilateral meeting amplifies the Europe-wide significance of this visit.
“China always approaches its relations with the European Union from a strategic and long-term perspective, ”
Xi said.
It is hoped that China-France and China-EU relations would reinforce each other and thrive together, he added. As the world enters a new period of turbulence and transformation, China and the EU, as two major forces in the world, should continue to see each other as partners, stay committed to dialogue and cooperation, deepen strategic communication, enhance strategic mutual trust, build strategic consensus, carry out strategic coordination, work for steady and sound growth of China-EU ties, and continue making new contributions to world peace and development, Xi said.
Emmanuel Macron stressed the need for more balanced commercial ties between Europe and China, the Financial Times reports.
“The international situation very clearly means we need to have a European-Chinese dialogue more than ever,”
Macron told Xi in opening remarks at the Élysée Palace, the newspaper adds. “Europe is at a turning point of its history, which requires us to face and overcome structural difficulties,” the French President added.
Later on Monday afternoon, Xi and Macron started bilateral talks at the Palace.
According to the Financial Times, during the state visit, in which the Chinese leader is expected to dine with Macron on Monday evening at the Élysée Palace before visiting the Pyrenees on Tuesday.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday wrapped up his first trip to Europe in nearly five years by affirming to European leaders that China remains a committed partner and is ready to enhance mutually beneficial cooperation between the two sides, Xinhua reports.
After France and Serbia, Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in Hungary this evening for talks with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and President Tamás Sulyok and major agreements.