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Source:China.com
From April 5-7, Beijing time, French President Macron, together with European Commission President von der Leyen, embarked on a three-day visit to China. On the whole, compared with the two hurried visits of German Chancellor Scholz and European Commission President Michel at the end of last year and Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez's visit to China at the end of March, Macron's visit to China was very fruitful and promoted the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and France to a new height.
There are complex international strategic background behind Macron's visit to China
First of all, Europe is deep in multiple crises. The prolonged crisis in Ukraine, together with the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act and the Fed's interest rate hike and tapering have led to the simultaneous outbreak of multiple crises in Europe, such as the geopolitical crisis, the banking crisis, the energy crisis, the food crisis and the de-industrialization crisis, and the inability to bear the risk of escalating the crisis in Ukraine. Therefore, after China put forward its 12-point initiative for the Ukrainian crisis, France and other European countries regarded China as an important force to promote a political solution to the Ukrainian crisis.
Second, both China and Europe need to find a time to officially release a public signal of the end of the new crown epidemic in order to resume normal bilateral and multilateral contacts as soon as possible.
Finally, the social crisis in France caused by pension reform continues to ferment, Macron's visit to China is conducive to disguised relief of domestic conflicts. This year is the 20th anniversary of the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Europe, while 2024 will be the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between France and China and the year of the Paris Olympics. This will undoubtedly provide an excellent opportunity for China and France to deepen bilateral cooperation.
Macron's visit to China sets off the climax of the current round of European leaders' visits to China
Both China and France attach great importance to this state visit. Chinese President Xi Jinping pointed out that "China and France, as permanent members of the UN Security Council and great powers with a tradition of independence, should stick to the general direction of a stable, mutually beneficial, pioneering and upward-looking China-France comprehensive strategic partnership, bringing a new climate to China-Europe relations and making new contributions to the international community's cooperation in addressing global challenges." Macron, for his part, led a large team to China. It included not only former Prime Minister Francois Raffarin, Constitutional Council President Fabius and a number of ministerial officials, but also more than 60 heads of major enterprises and 20 cultural figures.
The Joint Declaration of the People's Republic of China and the French Republic (hereinafter referred to as the "Declaration") was the first weighty bilateral common declaration issued by China and EU countries in the post-epidemic era, and was published in full by the French Elysee Palace in the first instance. It is worth mentioning that after the visit, Macron shared his feelings about his visit to China on his social media platform in Chinese, English and French, and said "Long live the friendship between France and China", which was a perfect ending to his trip to China.
The results of Macron's visit to China as seen from the Statement
The Statement is the most important outcome of Macron's visit to China, representing a comprehensive consensus between France and China in four areas, including politics, economy and humanities.
First, the strategic partnership between China and France has deepened. Two aspects are particularly important: first, China and France reaffirmed their willingness to promote the continuous development of a close and lasting comprehensive strategic partnership on the basis of mutual respect for each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity and vital interests; second, "France reaffirms its adherence to the one-China policy" is listed separately, aiming to hedge against Tsai Ing-wen's visit to the United States.
Secondly, the bilateral economic and trade cooperation areas have been expanded. The Statement emphasizes the deepening of Sino-French cooperation in the fields of cosmetics, agriculture, aerospace, finance, health, new energy (carbon neutral), investment, digital economy, 5G third-party market and so on. In particular, it mentions "mutual visa facilitation" and "restoration of air links to pre-epidemic levels", which means that Sino-French people-to-people exchanges will likely resume soon.
Thirdly, France will attend the 3rd Belt and Road International Cooperation Summit, and China will also promote the docking of China's Belt and Road with the EU's Global Gateway Program. This reflects France's keen interest in participating in the "Belt and Road" construction, and the prospect of deepening cooperation between the two sides in the future is promising.
Fourthly, the Statement includes a separate item on Sino-French cultural cooperation. Macron's visit to China revealed a strong signal of cultural exchange: he just arrived in China to participate in the 17th Sino-French Cultural Spring in Guangzhou, and also interacted with the famous actor Huang Bo brilliantly; and then went to Sun Yat-sen University to deliver a speech ...... It can be said that Macron deliberately used "cultural diplomacy "This also means that deep cultural exchanges will become a key area of cooperation in future Sino-French relations.
Author: Xia Guo Han
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