China, France vow to safeguard free trade

Premier Li Keqiang welcomes French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Tuesday. FENG YONGBIN/CHINA DAILY

China and France vowed to boost globalization and safeguard free trade by condemning rising protectionism after Premier Li Keqiang met with his visiting French counterpart on Tuesday.

"We firmly support an integrated Europe that is unified, prosperous and stable, which will help boost China's ties with France and the European Union as well as multilateralism and globalization," the premier said while meeting with French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve.

Both leaders agreed to send the international community a strong signal to jointly cope with risks and challenges, fight protectionism in any form and boost multilateralism and economic opening-up, Li told a news conference after the meeting.

"Globalization is beneficial to building a world in peace and exerting each country's comparative advantages in global resource allocations," Li said.

As a participant and beneficiary of globalization, China contributed about 30 percent to global economic growth last year and will continue to combat protectionism and safeguard an open global trade system and multilateral framework, he added.

The two leaders also advocated improving the global economic management system and solving problems that arise in the process of globalization.

Cazeneuve started his three-day visit to China on Tuesday, two months after taking office. He will also visit Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, to see environmental projects jointly carried out by both countries.

Protectionism needs to be addressed with pragmatic approaches based on mutual benefits, said Cazeneuve. "As long as we are willing to talk, an equal and mutually beneficial trade framework can be reached," he said.

After the meeting, the two leaders witnessed the signing of a number of agreements to promote cooperation in various fields.

China National Nuclear Corp and Areva, a French multinational company, signed an agreement to boost cooperation on energy.

Both countries also vowed to further promote cooperation in nuclear power and third-party markets.

For example, the French company Electricite de France will work with a Chinese company to build the $23 billion Hinkley Point nuclear power plant in southwest England.

France has been one of the two most important partners for China within the EU, and the United Kingdom is more ferociously competing with France for Chinese investment after its decision to exit the EU, said Zhao Junjie, a researcher on European studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Chen Fengying, a senior researcher on the world economy at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said Cazeneuve's visit comes at a sensitive time after US President Donald Trump's policies to reverse globalization have threatened trade liberalization and multilateralism.

The stances of China and France also showed that all trade friction and disputes should be resolved with bilateral or multilateral negotiations, Chen said.