At the conclusion of the latest virtual dialogue between Chinese and French officials earlier in the week, both sides had agreed to deepen the economic and financial cooperation between the two nations.
This included deeper cooperative efforts in the further development of various industries such as agriculture, manufacturing, and financial services along with the launch of a joint effort to combat the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The agreements between the two nations, reached at the 7th China-France High-Level Economic and Financial Dialogue, were made to jointly alleviate the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic and to accelerate each other's economic recovery. The virtual conference, which was held on Tuesday, was co-chaired by French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua.
At the event, both countries had reached 42 points of consensus on various key topics. This included an agreed-upon multilateral cooperation to curb the further spread of the disease along with further collaboration in major projects on both sides.
In a statement released on Thursday, the News Office of the Ministry of Finance stated that major projects will be undertaken by both sides including those in the aerospace and manufacturing industries. At the same time, both China and France had agreed to keep trade channels open for the continued importation and exportation of essential medical and pandemic-prevention materials as well as front-line medical personnel.
In terms of economic cooperation, China's finance ministry elaborated that the country will be pushing forward with its further opening-up efforts to welcome more French investors such as banks, tech companies, and other major industry players. French financial institutions will be given more access to China's financial market infrastructure, including its Cross-border Inter-bank Payment System. In Turn, France had agreed to support companies in the integration of China's payment systems such as China UnionPay's UnionPay Cards.
France had also agreed to do the same and open up its trade and investment sectors to Chinese enterprises. The country also committed to ensuring that the treatment of Chinese enterprises will remain fair and transparent. The two countries had agreed to help each other build an infrastructure to promote the usage of both the Euro and the Chinese Yuan in future bilateral trade and investment transactions.
Further cooperation is expected in other more advanced fields in the coming years. This will include fields such as nuclear energy, aviation, space science, and their relevant applications. China had also agreed to receive more agricultural products from France.
