Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday said that the diplomatic ties between China and France were underpinned by the two countries’ commitment to the “principles of independence, mutual understanding, strategic vision and win-win cooperation.”

President Xi, who is on a state visit to France, made the remarks during the closing ceremony of the sixth meeting of the China-France Business Council in Paris.

In 1964, France became the first major Western country to establish diplomatic relations with China when the world was still gripped by the Cold War. Since then, their relationship has steadily strengthened – first to a comprehensive partnership in 1997 and then a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2004.

Xi’s remarks highlighting commitment to independence resonate with those of French President Emmanuel Macron, who has on many occasions stressed the importance of an independent foreign policy. Last April, Macron stressed his vision and expectations of European strategic autonomy on his return flight to France after wrapping up a visit to China.

The independent foreign policy seems especially important in today’s world which is facing regional conflicts, growing security deficit and development deficit.

Former French Prime Minister Laurent Fabius also said that China and France are both committed to independence as well as multilateralism and peace. “We do not want a bloc policy, with the risks of conflicts that this entails,” he said.

Symbiotic economic ties

President Xi told the gathering that the Chinese and French economies are closely intertwined and highly symbiotic due to the past 60 years of growth.

The bilateral trade has expanded by nearly 800 times since the establishment of diplomatic relations, reaching $78.9 billion, Xi said, adding that cumulative two-way investment has exceeded $26 billion and more than 2,000 French companies have woven themselves into the fabric of the Chinese market.

China is the largest trading partner of France outside the European Union (EU), and France is a major EU trading partner of China, Xi added.

Praising the Airbus A320 Family assembly facilities in Tianjin and other flagship projects stand as vivid examples of mutually beneficial cooperation between China and France, Xi called on both countries to build on past achievements and jointly usher in a new era of bilateral cooperation.

China-France friendship is in the best interest of the Chinese and French peoples as well as the whole world, Xi told more than 200 attendees at the ceremony.

Cui Hongjian, director of the Center for the European Union and Regional Development Studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said the fruits of bilateral cooperation fully reflect that the two sides are not only highly complementary in the industrial field, but are also forming a strong alliance in other aspects.

The two countries will expand cooperation in agri-food, finance and other sections and advance joint R&D and innovation in areas including aviation, aerospace and civil nuclear energy, Xi said at the joint meeting with the press with French President Emmanuel Macron earlier in the day.

Nowadays France is advancing re-industrialization based on green innovation, while China is accelerating the development of new quality productive forces. Under this context, Xi said both countries have agreed to connect their development strategies more closely and expand cooperation in emerging areas, such as green energy, smart manufacturing, bio-medicine and artificial intelligence.

To put the ideas into practice, China and France have signed nearly 20 cooperation agreements covering such areas as aviation, agriculture, people-to-people exchange and green development.

Wider opening up

Noting both China and France face global changes unseen in a century, President Xi said the two countries need to practice true multilateralism, keep the global economy open and promote a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization.

In doing so, Xi once again stressed China’s insistence on opening up. Xi said at the ceremony that China is considering and taking major steps to further deepen reform across the board, steadily expand institutional opening up, further expand market access, and shorten the negative list for foreign investment.

In March, the General Office of the State Council issued an action plan with 24 measures, including expanding access of foreign financial institutions to the banking and insurance sectors and expanding the Catalogue of Encouraged Industries for Foreign Investment and the list of key foreign-funded projects.

Xi also said that China will further open up the services sector, including telecommunications and medical services, and open its market wider to create more opportunities for companies from France, Europe and beyond.

Besides expanding market access, China has also taken measures to enhance people-to-people exchanges. Last November, China announced a 15-day visa-free policy for short-term stays of citizens from six countries including France in China, and Xi said during his state visit that China will extend the short-stay visa-exemption policy for citizens of 12 countries, including France, to the end of 2025.

Source(s): CGTN

Chinese President Xi Jinping re-emphasized China’s principled position on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the Ukraine crisis when he met the press with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Monday in Paris.

He stressed that China supports the two-state solution to achieve lasting peace in the Middle East, and supports a peace conference to bring back Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table for the Ukraine crisis.

Noting that the prolonged tragedy of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is a test for human conscience, Xi said the international community must act. He called on all parties to work for an immediate, comprehensive and sustainable ceasefire in Gaza.

He stressed that China supports the full membership of Palestine in the United Nations, supports restoring to Palestine its legitimate national rights and restarting the two-state solution, so as to achieve lasting peace in the Middle East.

On the Ukraine crisis, Xi said China is not a party to or a participant of the ongoing conflict. But instead of being an onlooker, China has been playing an important role for peace, Xi added. He said the special representative of the Chinese government on Eurasian affairs has started his third round of shuttle diplomacy to promote the political settlement of the crisis.

Xi stressed that China opposes attempts to use the Ukraine crisis to scapegoat or smear a third country or to stoke a “new Cold War.”

“History has proven time and again that, at the end of the day, conflicts can only be resolved through negotiation,” Xi said. He called on all parties to resume engagement and dialogue to build mutual trust, saying China supports holding, at a proper time, an international peace conference that is recognized by both Russia and Ukraine and ensures the equal participation of all parties and fair discussions on all peace plans.

China supports a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture in Europe, Xi said.

Source(s): CGTN

Prospects for a Gaza ceasefire appeared uncertain on Sunday as a Hamas delegation left Cairo.

A Palestinian source, who preferred not to mention his name, said the Hamas delegation, who departed Cairo on Sunday for consultations with the movement’s leadership in Doha, Qatar, will return with a “final response” to the Egyptian proposal two days later.

According to the source, during the two-day talks in Cairo, the Hamas delegation met with Egyptian security officials and addressed “all issues” that could hinder reaching an agreement on the Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange with Israel, confirming that “significant” consensus has been achieved between the delegation and the Egyptian mediators.

The Egyptian proposal consists of three stages, aimed at exchanging Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, taking necessary measures to reach a ceasefire, and restoring sustainable calm.

The first stage would span 40 days and bring out a temporary halt of military operations between the two sides, an exchange of hostages and prisoners, and the return of internally displaced civilians to their areas of residence in Gaza. It also includes facilitating the entry of sufficient humanitarian aid, relief materials and fuel into Gaza, as well as the equipment needed to remove rubble, establish camps for the displaced, and rehabilitate and operate hospitals, health centers and bakeries in the strip.

Also on Sunday, Hamas Political Bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh said in a statement that his movement is keen to reach a comprehensive agreement that ends the current conflict in Gaza and ensures a prisoner exchange with Israel. Meanwhile, he accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “inventing constant justifications to continue the aggression, expand the scope of the conflict, and sabotage mediation efforts.”

Israel has not officially commented on the proposal. The main point of contention between the two sides remains the duration of the truce, with Hamas demanding that Israel halt the conflict, while Israel insists on continuing until it deems Hamas defeated.

Despite intensive mediation efforts and international calls for a ceasefire, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Sunday that Israel assesses the likelihood of reaching an agreement with Hamas as low, adding the order to launch an onslaught on Rafah, the enclave’s southernmost city, will be given “very soon.”

About 1.2 million people have been sheltering in Rafah, according to estimates by the United Nations, escaping Israeli bombardments in other areas as well as the famine-stricken northern Gaza.

World Food Program Executive Director Cindy McCain said in an NBC News interview broadcast on Sunday that based on the “horror” on the ground: “There is famine, full-blown famine, in the north, and it’s moving its way south.”

Also on Sunday, Israeli authorities raided a Jerusalem hotel room used by Al Jazeera as its office, an Israeli official and an Al Jazeera source told Reuters.

Netanyahu’s cabinet has agreed to shut down the network’s local operations for as long as the conflict in Gaza continues, saying it threatened national security.

Al Jazeera said the move was a “criminal action” and the accusation that the network threatened Israeli security was a “dangerous and ridiculous lie” that put its journalists at risk. It reserved the right to “pursue every legal step.”

Source(s): CGTN