Closer ties with France, EU urged

Stronger trust, strengthened cooperation and deeper European integration are vital for enhanced China-France relations to foster stability and opportunity in an evolving global landscape, observers noted as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi wrapped up a visit to France on Friday.

In Paris, Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, held separate meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron and French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, reaffirming that China and France should act as forces for stability, openness and unity at a time of rising global challenges.

Wang stressed that the two countries should deepen cooperation in trade, science and education, safeguard free trade, and work together to keep global supply chains secure.

Wang and Barrot also co-chaired the seventh meeting of the China-France high-level dialogue mechanism on people-to-people exchanges. The dialogue, covering cultural, educational and academic ties, outlined steps to boost youth, academic and institutional exchanges in the coming years.

"Rebalancing the relations of France and the EU with China necessarily requires a strengthening of European integration, particularly in terms of research, industrialization and defense," said Marie-Sybille de Vienne, emeritus professor at the National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations in Paris.

She said France's permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council and its tradition of independent diplomacy give China-France relations unique significance.

Ding Chun, director of the Center for European Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, said the dialogue comes at a timely moment for boosting cultural and people-to-people ties.

"The two countries have built strong mutual trust through head-of-state diplomacy, which supports multilevel exchanges. Global people-to-people exchanges had faced a certain deficit in recent years, and the co-chairing of the high-level dialogue in Paris will help to fill this gap," he said.

As China and France begin a new 60-year cycle of diplomatic relations this year, both sides are expected to expand exchanges in culture, education and innovation, while upholding free trade and balanced growth, Ding added.

Wang's stay in France was the last stop of a wider European tour that also took him to Belgium and Germany as this year marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and the European Union.

Wang's European visit underscored China's willingness to deepen ties with major EU partners and to keep communication channels open at a time when trust and stability are needed more than ever, Ding said.

Bart Dessein, professor and coordinator of the ReConnect China project at the Egmont Royal Institute for International Relations in Belgium, said the China-EU High-Level Strategic Dialogue and Wang's European visit come at a crucial moment for global stability and economic realignment.

"Political vision and strategic trust are the catalysts we need to unlock a new generation of cooperation," Dessein said. "When trust is built, it paves the way for tangible cooperation. It enables entrepreneurs to innovate, SMEs to scale, and investors to engage with confidence."