China’s president urges Macron to keep France on independent strategic path
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In a phone call with Macron, Xi said he had always viewed China-France relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, and wanted to continue pursuing ties based on “independence, mutual understanding, foresight, mutual benefit and win-win”.
“China and France are both great nations with a tradition of independence and autonomy,” he said.
“At present, the international situation is undergoing profound and complex changes, and the strategic significance of the healthy and stable development of China-France relations has become increasingly prominent.”
Xi praised the development of the bilateral relationship in the past five years under their leadership, saying they jointly safeguarded multilateralism, improved global governance, gave new impetus to the development of China-EU relations, and made new contributions to world peace, stability and prosperity.
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The call was a shift in focus from Xi’s congratulatory message to Macron five years ago, which focused on the Belt and Road Initiative and the Paris climate accord.
