China, France see new opportunities to deepen partnership

The upcoming visit of French President Francois Hollande to China will further cement the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and France, providing new opportunities for the two sides to achieve common development under new circumstances, Chinese Ambassador to France Kong Quan said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

President Hollande will be the first leader of a Western power to visit Beijing after China's new leadership took office and it is a "voyage of understanding and discovery," said Kong.

The Chinese ambassador believed that leaders from China and France will certainly use all the occasions of their face-to-face meetings to establish contacts, enhance mutual understanding and seek consensus, with an aim to boost bilateral relationship, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation between the two countries.

The ambassador recalled that France became the first Western power to establish diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China in 1964. Since then, France has kept solid relations with China for nearly 50 years and leaders of the two countries have maintained friendly exchanges and communications, said Kong.

He said after taking office last May, Hollande received the Chinese ambassador to France, the first foreign envoy he met, and expressed his eager wishes to pay an official visit to China, with an aim to continually push up the traditional friendship of the two countries to a new level.

Kong revealed that during Hollande's visit on April 25 and 26, the French president will meet with his Chinese counterpart for several times. In addition to talks on political issues, the two leaders will also attend the China-France economic and trade forum and deliver speeches, to encourage entrepreneurs from both sides to be pioneering and innovative and further expand mutually-beneficial cooperation.

Moreover, the two countries will sign a series of documents on bilateral cooperation that cover not only the traditional areas ranging from nuclear energy, aviation to medical care and health, but also some fresh fields that both sides wish to explore together, such as finance, agriculture, food processing, environmental protection, as well as small- and medium-sized enterprises, according to Kong.

Although the two countries' mutually-beneficial cooperation has made fruitful achievement in various areas, the Chinese ambassador said there is yet more to be expected.

China, as the largest developing country, is making an effort to improve the people's well-being through the promotion of industrialization, informatization, urbanization and agricultural modernization, and the sustained and sound development of Chinese economy could be an opportunity for France, Kong said.

On the part of France, the developed country is seeking to overcome the impact of financial crisis and the European debt crisis and restore economic growth. The effort made by France and the European Union as a whole to emerge from the current crisis could offer chances for China as well, Kong added.

Therefore, "there exist needs, at present as well as in the long run, for both China and France to deepen their cooperation in various fields and attain mutual benefit and win-win development," the ambassador said.

As the world is changing and the global governance mechanisms call for improvement, China and France, as permanent members of the UN Security Council, both have a significant influence and a special responsibility, Kong said.

The two countries should further strengthen coordination and cooperation, in order to better safeguard world peace and stability, and to promote human being's progress and prosperity, Kong said.