On October 30, 2021 local time, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian in Rome.
Wang Yi said, this year has seen frequent high-level exchanges between China and France. The two countries' heads of state attended the leaders' summit of the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity via video link. A few days ago, they held fruitful phone talks and made overall plans for bilateral cooperation in various fields. Both sides need to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, respect for each other's core interests, accommodate each other's legitimate concerns, maintain the political foundation for the development of bilateral relations, and push for more outcomes in practical cooperation.
Wang Yi said, at present, the world is plagued with the repeated resurgence of the COVID-19, the world economy is recovering slowly, and international peace, security and development are facing grave challenges. China advocates that we should pursue solidarity and cooperation rather than division and confrontation, which also echoes the shared aspiration of the international community. As permanent members of the UN Security Council, China and France should remain vigilant against the words and deeds that create confrontation and provoke a new Cold War in the international arena, resolutely defend multilateralism, firmly oppose hegemony, unilateralism and protectionism, and demonstrate the responsibility as major countries.
Le Drian said, France attaches great importance to the consensus reached by the two heads of state. France firmly upholds the one-China policy and the principle of respecting state sovereignty. France firmly supports multilateralism, and always advocates handling divergences through dialogues instead of confrontation based on mutual respect. France is willing to enhance communication and coordination with China within multilateral frameworks such as the Security Council and the Group of 20.
Both sides agree to promote the successes of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow and the second part of COP15 to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Wang Yi said, China has submitted the new targets and new measures to implement the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions, and will firmly fulfill its commitment and take an active part in international cooperation on climate change. Le Drian said, France speaks highly of China's active and effective measures for energy conservation and emission reduction, and is willing to work with China to jointly address global challenges.
When talking about China-EU relations, Wang Yi said, China hopes that France will play its role as rotating EU presidency to maintain the overall theme of China-EU win-win cooperation and promote sustained, sound and steady development of bilateral ties. Le Drian said, France stands ready to carry out communication and coordination with China. The two sides also exchanged views on the Iranian nuclear issue and other issues of common concern, and both expected the resumption of negotiations to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action next month and looked forward to reaching an agreement as soon as possible.
