Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stated on Friday that Europe should not avoid co-operation with China for fear of competition: the two sides should work together to improve the reliability and stability of economic and trade relations, Reuters reported.
China’s position is clear. We will adhere to our support of Europe’s strategic autonomy.
European officials have repeatedly promised to reduce economic dependence on China in critical sectors.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna visited Beijing and met earlier with Premier Li Qiang, discussing rebalancing France’s economic relations with the world’s second-largest economy.
Colonna stated that France was committed to dialogue with China, in the wake of a Paris-backed European Union investigation into Chinese-made electric cars being called “protectionist” by Beijing.
Her trip aims to encourage exchanges between citizens of both countries, such as students and tourists.
We are really committed to dialogue with China.
Wang argued that competition should not hinder co-operation.
“Of course, there will be competition in cooperation, but we should not be afraid of cooperation because of competition. The biggest risk we need to get rid of is the uncertainty brought by broad politicization.”
Wang expressed hopes to deepen exchanges with France in the civil nuclear and aerospace fields, as well as explore new areas such as education and scientific research. The Chinese premier also took an optimistic stance on broader bilateral ties in a meeting with Colonna earlier.
Under the strategic leadership of President Xi Jinping and [French] President [Emmanuel] Macron, the relationship between China and France has been developing better and better in all aspects since this year.
Colonna’s trip comes ahead of a visit by European Commission and Council presidents Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel to Beijing in early December for a private summit with President Xi Jinping, following a sharp deterioration in China-EU relations during the pandemic.
Macron, who met Xi Jinping in China earlier this year, argued that the EU should stop being naive and demand a level playing field with countries such as China, while pushing behind the scenes for the European Commission to launch the probe.
China is France’s third-largest trading partner, but French and other European firms are concerned about China’s huge trade imbalance with the EU, its opaque cross-border data transfer laws and cheap Chinese electric cars flooding the European market.
France is also concerned about China’s attempts to force French cosmetics companies to share production secrets with Chinese parties. This European country is the largest source of cosmetics and wine imports to China, with French luxury giants, such as LMVH, becoming particularly reliant on Chinese consumers.
Xi Jinping stated that China welcomed investment by French firms in a phone call with Macron on Monday, who called for fair treatment of foreign companies in China.
