Chinese Premier Li Qiang urges France to support ‘spirit of free trade’ in Europe
- Li makes the appeal to French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna amid European Union into investigation into electric vehicle subsidies
- Colonna’s visit to China coincides with an announcement that French citizens could travel to China without a visa over the next 12 months
China has urged France to encourage the European Union to uphold free trade.
“China is willing to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation with France, and join forces to cope on global challenges such as climate change,” Chinese Premier Li Qiang told visiting French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna at a meeting in Beijing on Friday.
“We hope France will actively encourage the European side to uphold the spirit of free trade.”
Li praised the “sturdy and stable development” of the relationship between the two countries, saying it had given the world “certainty and a positive impetus”.
Colonna said France was willing to boost exchanges and cooperation with China in various areas, help combat global challenges such as climate change, and play a significant role in world peace and development, according to the Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
Later on Friday, Colonna met her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi at Peking University, where they outlined plans to mark next year’s 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries, and the Franco-Chinese Year of Cultural Tourism.
Also on Friday, Wang said Europe should not let competition stand in the way of working with China.
“Of course there will be competition in cooperation, but we should not be afraid of cooperation because of competition. The biggest risk we need to get rid of is the uncertainty brought by broad politicisation,” he said.
“We will listen to the voices of European businesses, [to] earnestly solve problems of foreign investors in China.”
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Earlier this year Macron visited Beijing and the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, kicking off a series of exchanges between the two countries.
In turn, Li visited Paris for a conference on a new global financing pact, with further talks between the two sides taking place in July and October.
“With China we are working to find answers to global challenges,” Colonna she posted on X, formerly Twitter, citing climate change, biodiversity and debt.
She added that the two countries hoped to “deepen and rebalance” their economic relationship.
Colonna also met Education Minister Huai Jinpeng to discuss “strengthening our universities’ relations, to facilitate an increase in the number of French students [in China]”.
Additional reporting by Reuters
