Macron meets Xi's special envoy at Paris climate summit

PARIS - French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday met with Chinese Vice-Premier Ma Kai, who was in Paris to attend the One Planet Summit as the special envoy of President Xi Jinping.

Ma conveyed greetings to Macron from the Chinese president, who wished a great success for the one-day summit focusing on mobilizing public funds to achieve climate goals.

Ma said that President Xi attaches great importance to China-France relations and their cooperation on climate change.

China is determined to honor its commitments made under the framework of the Paris Agreement, and is willing to work with relevant parties, including France, to push forward the multilateral process of combating climate change, he said.

China appreciates Macron's support for the Belt and Road Initiative, and expects to continue high-level dialogues with France on mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields such as nuclear energy, aerospace, green finance and advanced manufacturing, said Ma.

This will inject new momentum into the China-France comprehensive strategic partnership, he added.

Macron said that developing relations with China is of great importance for France.

France hopes to maintain high-level exchanges with China, be actively engaged in the Belt and Road Initiative, and work with China to contribute more to global multilateral governance processes including the fight against climate change, the president said.

In a speech at the summit, Ma stressed that China will continue to support the Paris Agreement and contribute to the global efforts to curb climate change through concrete actions.

The One Planet Summit was convened by Macron on the occasion of the second anniversary of the Paris Agreement, a landmark climate deal reached at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris.

The summit brought together leaders and high-ranking officials from some 50 countries and nearly 4,000 representatives from non-government actors including international organizations, enterprises and research institutions.