“As permanent members of the UN Security Council and independent major countries, China and France should strengthen strategic communication and play an important role in coping with global chaos and changes.
“China is willing to, together with France, intensify high-level exchanges, deepen strategic mutual trust, and open up new prospects for China-France comprehensive strategic partnership.”
Macron signalled his plan to visit China sometime early this year when he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Group of 20 Summit in Indonesia in November, but no details of a trip have been released.
02:18
US to require negative Covid test for China arrivals from January 5
Macron was among a few European leaders, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who were invited to visit China after the 20th Communist Party congress. Macron had reportedly offered to travel with Scholz to China in November to show “unity” of the European Union, but Scholz turned down the offer.
Macron, who has positioned himself as a mediator in the war in Ukraine, is expected to seek China’s support to help end the conflict during his visit, despite clashes between China and the European Union over their positions on Ukraine.
Ties between Beijing and the bloc have been strained by a range of issues including Taiwan and human rights, and calls have recently grown within the EU to reduce economic dependence on China.
Macron, who has often defended the EU’s “strategic autonomy”, has openly criticised Germany’s Hamburg port deal, which allowed the state-owned Cosco to become a shareholder in a firm that operates terminals at the port. Macron said the EU had made “strategic errors” in infrastructure-related sales to China over the years.
China called on France and the US to stop making an issue of China after Macron and US President Joe Biden agreed to “coordinate” on “China’s challenges” over human rights and Taiwan during the French president’s December visit to Washington.
Wang said “mutual trust” would be the key between China and the EU, with 2023 marking the 20th anniversary of their comprehensive strategic partnership.
Bonne said France had resisted a “cold-war mindset and bloc politics” and was willing to play a positive role in expanding dialogue between China and Europe, according to a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry.
02:27
Kishida discusses Japan’s maritime disputes with China during overseas trip to meet G7 leaders
France is one of several European countries to have imposed restrictions on travellers from China over concerns about the country’s surge in Covid-19 cases.
The Chinese statement did not refer to the restrictions, saying only that Bonne told Wang that France “understands and supports” China’s Covid-19 measures.
