Sunday, 07/01/2018 19:33 (GMT+7)
Elysee Palace said President Emmanuel Macron on January 7th left Paris for his official visit to China for talks aimed at boosting the global influence of both countries and forging closer ties with the European Union.
French President Emmanuel Macron (Photo: AFP/VNA)
The three-day visit will be the first by a major European leader since the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in October last year.
The two leaders, who met for the first time in July in Hamburg, are likely to discuss a number of tricky trade and investment issues, including France’s trade deficit.
President Macron plans to seek a "strategic partnership" with Beijing, notably on terrorism and climate change, an official in the President's office said.
In particular, France is hoping Beijing will join it in playing a decisive role in implementing the Paris accord to fight climate change, after the US pull-out pledged by President Donald Trump.
Security issues such as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), after Pyongyang agreed to hold talks with the Republic of Korea (RoK) next week amid a stand-off over its nuclear and missile programs, will also be discussed.
China is France’s fifth-biggest trading partner and its largest in Asia, while France is China’s fourth-biggest partner in the European Union. Their bilateral trade in 2016 totalled about USD68.7 billion.
Bilateral trade in the first nine months of 2017 was worth an estimated USD39.19 billion, an increase of 12.1% compared to the same period of 2016. Of which, France exports to China totaled about USD15.4 billion, registering an increase of 22%. France imports from China estimated at USD23.8 billion, increasing 6.5%./.
Compiled by BTA