ROME — China is willing to work with France and Italy and meet each other halfway, enhance strategic communication, and consolidate strategic mutual trust and cooperation, so as to inject new impetus to bilateral ties and positive energy into the international community, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said.
Wang made the remarks during a press briefing on the night of Jan 25, right before concluding his visits to France and Italy.
The top Chinese diplomat termed as “very successful” the 18th consultation of the coordinators for the China-France Strategic Dialogue and the 9th joint meeting of the China-Italy Government Committee.
Against the backdrop of ongoing profound adjustment of relations and increased frictions among major powers, Wang said France and Italy, both major members of the European Union and countries with global influence, expressed their stance that they cherish the comprehensive strategic partnerships with China.
Wang believed that the China-France and China-Italy comprehensive strategic partnerships had been further enhanced.
Wang also told reporters that both France and Italy have clearly welcomed Chinese investment to their countries, promising not to adopt any restrictions on specific enterprises and discriminations against any enterprises.
He praised these statements as “not only timely but also necessary”, adding that Chinese companies will increasingly turn their eyes to countries that are worth their trust.
Wang said he also had deep exchange of views with French and Italian officials on how to deal with various global challenges.
The tripartite partners, Wang said, have confirmed that they would firmly uphold the rule-based multilateralism and maintain the contemporary international system with the UN as the core.
He said all three countries completely disagreed with unilateralism and egoism, which actually represents the general perspective of the international community. It will be proved that any unilateralism and egoism are unpopular and doomed to be unsustainable, Wang added.
