Xi holds talks with Macron, pledging for enhanced China-France ties

Stressing the importance of maintaining and enhancing political mutual trust, Xi called on both sides to put their words of respecting each other's sovereignty, territorial integrity, core interests and major concerns into actions.

The two countries should facilitate exchanges between their legislative bodies, political parties and armed forces, and support the central and local departments in strengthening exchanges, Xi said, calling for strengthened cooperation on cybersecurity and counter-terrorism.

The Chinese president called for further cooperation on large-scale projects, saying that China is ready to deepen the entire industrial chain cooperation with France in the nuclear energy field, encourage China's enterprises to explore new cooperation with France not only within the two countries, but also in third-party markets, and strengthen joint research and development on nuclear base and high-tech technologies.

Xi said he hoped the new cooperation in aviation, aerospace and other fields could be well implemented.

"We should expand the opening up of the two-way markets. China is willing to expand two-way trade and investment with France, improve trade and investment liberalization, and jointly uphold market rules and the principle of fair competition," Xi said.

He said he hoped that France will put into action its words of not adopting discriminatory policies against China.

"China is willing to import more high-quality and safe French agri-food products and carry out all-round agricultural cooperation in accordance with market demand," Xi said, noting that more efforts should be made to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the intellectual property rights field and support the early conclusion of an ambitious and balanced China-European Union (EU) investment agreement.

Regarding the alignment of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with the EU's Euro-Asian connectivity strategy, Xi called for speedy implementation of the agreed demonstration projects, and the promotion of more enterprises to participate in third-party market, and the green development of the Belt and Road.

Xi said China and France should intensify cooperation on innovation and achieve sustainable development. Efforts should be made to deepen science and technology cooperation, strengthen cooperation in fields including environmental protection and biodiversity conservation, and expand pragmatic cooperation in new energy vehicles, Internet-connected cars and artificial intelligence.

"More French enterprises are welcome to take part in the construction of Wuhan Ecological Demonstration City," Xi said.

As for promoting exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, Xi wished the 2021 China-France Year of Culture and Tourism a success, noting that the two sides should strengthen cooperation in museum and cultural heritage protection.

Xi said China is ready to strengthen cooperation with France in multilateral mechanisms such as the United Nations (UN) and the Group of 20.

The two countries should jointly safeguard the international system with the UN at the core, the international order based on international law, as well as the multilateral trading regime with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules as the cornerstone, Xi said.

They should push forward reform of the WTO toward the right direction through consultation, and give special consideration to developing countries' rights and interests, Xi said.

"We will adhere to the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, encourage more countries to cooperate in combating climate change with full and thorough implementation of the Paris Agreement," the Chinese president said.