China – Meeting between the Minister and her counterpart (19 Dec 2022)

Mme Catherine Colonna, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, had a meeting by video conference today with Mr Wang Yi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China.

Building on the French President’s talks with President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Indonesia, the two ministers discussed the prospects for developing the comprehensive strategic partnership. With China having started to lift the restrictions adopted to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, the two ministers expressed the wish for a resumption of people-to-people exchanges between France and China, in particular in the cultural, academic and tourism fields.

The Minister called on her counterpart to continue rebalancing the Euro-Chinese relationship towards greater economic and trade reciprocity, and she encouraged China to open its market more to European investors.

The Minister congratulated China for its COP15 presidency on biodiversity and for the agreement reached, which should enable 30% of land and 30% of ocean and sea to be made into protected areas by 2030. The Minister called on China to show a high level of ambition for ocean protection and fighting climate change.

The two ministers reiterated their commitment to respect for the United Nations Charter. The Minister emphasized the role China could play in leading Russia to stop its war of aggression in Ukraine.

Regarding North Korea’s breaches of its obligations under the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions, the Minister called for the diplomatic efforts under way to continue, in order to achieve a Council statement commensurate with what is at stake.