Two economies, China and France on 24 November 2023 held a high-level bilateral dialogue led by their top diplomats in Beijing.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his French counterpart Catherine Colonna co-hosted China-France High-Level Dialogue Mechanism on people-to-people exchanges.
Colonna, who is on a two-day official trip to China for high-level bilateral dialogue since Thursday, 23 November 2023, also met Chinese Premier Li Qiang.
Major updates of high-level bilateral dialogue
According to the official statements the two sides have talks on working to find answers to global challenges, climate change, and biodiversity. Beijing and Paris also look to deepen and rebalance their economic relationship between both the nations.
Economic data shows the annual trade between France and China is around $81 billion.
The Beijing trip by Colonna, who is also Paris’ EU affairs minister, comes as the European bloc has initiated an anti-subsidy probe into imports of electric vehicles from China.
The two sides in the high-level bilateral dialogue also discussed preparations for the 60th anniversary of their diplomatic relations in 2024. Wang and Colonna also attended the inauguration of China-France carbon neutrality center in Beijing.
France is among five nations granted 15-day visa-free entry to China, beginning December 2023 to run for one year. Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain are other EU members granted 15-day visa-free entry to China. Malaysia is the only nation outside Europe which will also enjoy the visa-waiver for two-week trip to China.
China is currently having increase in influenza-like illness known as pneumonia outbreak and WHO have asked more information about the outbreak.
China has been critical of U.S. efforts to seek the help of its allies, including in Europe, in its competition with China over trade, technology and security. It has accused the U.S. of building groupings to contain China’s development and rise.
Wang warned against the politicizing of issues and protectionism. The European Union has been taking a tougher line on China, launching a trade investigation into subsidies given to Chinese electric vehicle makers.
“We believe that as long as China and Europe work together, there will be no confrontation between camps, no division of the world, and no new Cold War,” Wang said. Through these statements Wang stresses on working together for unity and peace.
The Chinese government in high-level bilateral dialogue has refrained from criticizing Russia’s invasion or the Hamas attack in Israel, taking a different stance than many in Europe and the United States. It has accused the West of prolonging the European conflict by supplying arms to Ukraine and called for an end to the fighting in both wars.
Conclusion
The high-level bilateral dialogue between China and France will strengthen relationship between both the nations. It would be interesting to see what comes in between China and France.
