Xi, Macron hail potential for cooperation

President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron reached key consensuses on ensuring the strategic stability of bilateral relations, tapping into the potential for win-win cooperation and building up people-to-people exchanges during their talks at the Elysee Palace on Monday.

The two leaders held a joint meeting with journalists after their talks in Paris, with both Xi and Macron highlighting the broad potential for mutually beneficial cooperation.

Xi described the talks as "productive", saying that the two nations will be committed to promoting the upward balance of bilateral trade, expanding cooperation in agriculture and finance, and advancing joint research and innovation in aerospace and civil nuclear energy.

The two nations will strengthen alignment in development strategies and explore cooperation in emerging areas, such as green energy, intelligent manufacturing, biomedicine, artificial intelligence and third-party markets, he added.

Beijing and Paris have also reaffirmed mutual respect for each other's core interests, and will make good use of the multi-level and multidimensional communication channels between the two countries to timely communicate and coordinate policy positions, Xi said.

Before the talks, Macron held a grand welcoming ceremony for the Chinese president at Les Invalides, the French military museum, as the two leaders inspected a military band and the guard of honor.

The landmark meeting in Paris came more than a year after Xi hosted Macron in Beijing and Guangzhou, Guangdong province, in a number of engagements that saw the two leaders strengthen their personal bonds and reaffirmed both nations' shared commitment to global peace and stability.

Xi told reporters on Monday that China, after having already fully liberalized access to its manufacturing sector, will accelerate the opening-up of its service sectors, such as telecommunications and healthcare.

"China and France encourage the expansion of bilateral investment and are committed to providing a favorable business environment for enterprises from the other side," the Chinese president said.

The two nations signed 18 interdepartmental cooperation agreements, covering fields including aviation, agriculture, people-to-people exchanges, green development and cooperation over small and medium-sized enterprises.

With both sides celebrating the China-France Year of Culture and Tourism this year, the two nations will use the opportunity to advance cooperation in education, sports, film and television, and youth, as well as at subnational levels.

Xi pledged support to France in successfully hosting the Paris Olympics, while extending a welcoming message to more French friends visiting China. He also vowed official support to the opening of direct flights from Shanghai to Marseille.

China will endeavor to increase the number of French students studying in China to more than 10,000, and double the scale of European youth exchanges with China during the next three years, Xi added.

To forge even greater consensus over global cooperation, the two nations will scale up cooperation over climate change, biodiversity protection and strengthen dialogue over the global governance of artificial intelligence and reform in the global financial system, said the Chinese president.

He stressed China's readiness to join France in appealing for a global cease-fire during the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

"China's national landscape and the lives of its people have undergone profound changes, but one thing has never changed: our peaceful and kind nature, broad and inclusive spirit, and pursuit of fairness and justice," he said.

During their talks, Xi also underlined the necessity for China and France to uphold independence and autonomy and jointly fend off a new Cold War or bloc confrontation.

The two sides should jointly uphold mutual benefits, oppose decoupling and building barriers, while sticking to farsightedness and promoting equal and orderly multipolarization of the world, Xi told his host.

While offering a toast at a welcoming banquet held by Macron at the Elysee Palace on Monday evening, Xi pointed out that the China-France relationship is special in that both nations have a strong sense of responsibility.

"History has proved time and again that, China and France can work together for the betterment of the world," he said.

Xi arrived in Paris on Sunday at the start of a six-day trip to Europe — his first overseas tour this year — that will also include visits to Serbia and Hungary.