China has vowed to maintain “continuity and stability” in its Europe policy ahead of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit this week.
In a phone call with French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing was willing to promote its comprehensive strategic partnership with the EU and deepen cooperation with France.
“We should jointly plan and design bilateral high-level exchanges and cooperation in various fields to open up new prospects for China-France relations,” Wang said.
Wang told his French counterpart that President Xi Jinping’s third term as the Communist Party’s leader would enable China to “sail through the winds and waves” to continue on its path.
Wang and Colonna also exchanged views on Ukraine and the situation on the Korean peninsula, while Wang reaffirmed China’s independent and peaceful foreign policy.
In a tweet, Colonna said she had a “constructive conversation” with Wang and that France would strengthen exchanges with China.
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The call came ahead of Scholz’s visit to China on Friday. He will be the first Group of Seven leader to visit China since Beijing’s leadership reshuffle at the 20th party congress last month.
Scholz is expected to spend a day in Beijing, where he will meet Xi. A business delegation including representatives from car manufacturer Volkswagen and vaccine giant BioNTech will travel with Scholz.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Tuesday that Xi and Scholz would hold in-depth discussions about China’s relations with Europe and Germany.
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The Post reported in July that Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron were among several European leaders invited to visit China in November. Macron has not yet confirmed whether he will visit this month. Earlier French reports said Scholz declined Macron’s request to travel together in a show of EU unity.
China has hosted the leaders of Vietnam, Pakistan and Tanzania since the party congress closed on October 22. Scholz will be the first Western European leader to set foot in China since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, and many expect Beijing will use the visit as an opportunity to improve ties with the West.
In recent years, China and the EU have clashed over issues including Taiwan and human rights in Xinjiang and Hong Kong. EU leaders have also expressed growing concerns about excessive economic dependence on China, which continues to expand its investments in European infrastructure.
Last month, Macron told other EU leaders that Europe had made “strategic errors” in infrastructure-related sales to China after Germany approved state-owned China Ocean Shipping Company’s bid to become a shareholder in a firm that operates terminals at the Hamburg port.
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