On February 18, 2016, Foreign Minister Wang Yi held phone talks at request with the new Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault of France, exchanging views on bilateral relations and international and regional topics of common interest.

Wang Yi congratulated Jean-Marc Ayrault on taking up the post of Foreign Minister. He expressed that China-France relations have always maintained high-level development, with increasingly deepened political mutual trust and mutually beneficial cooperation. China regards France as an irreplaceable strategic cooperative partner and always puts France in the preferential position of China’s diplomacy. The two sides should strive to maintain the strong growth momentum of China-France relations, exploit potential for bilateral cooperation, deepen docking of development strategies, and foster new cooperative growth points. China is willing to strengthen strategic coordination with France in terms of international and regional affairs such as global governance and climate change.

Jean-Marc Ayrault stated that France-China relations are highly strategic, which are of great importance in today’s world. France is willing to keep deepening France-China strategic communication and expand bilateral cooperation in innovation, investment, nuclear energy, third-party market and other areas.