Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, who oversees the country's economic affairs, expressed a desire to maintain dialogue with France after Paris urged the European Union (EU) to take trade measures against Beijing. France also showed a positive response.

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Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, who expressed a desire for dialogue during a meeting with Emmanuel Bonne, diplomatic advisor to the French president. / State-run China Central Television (CCTV)

According to a report on the 14th by China's state-run Xinhua News Agency, Vice Premier He made the remarks the previous afternoon during a meeting with Emmanuel Bonne, diplomatic advisor to the French president, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, where they exchanged views on practical economic and trade cooperation between the two nations and China-EU economic and trade relations.

Vice Premier He particularly emphasized that "there is immense room for economic and trade cooperation between China and France to expand," expressing the stance that "China hopes to work with France to faithfully implement the consensus reached by the leaders of both nations, strengthen practical cooperation across various economic sectors, and realize mutual benefits and win-win outcomes."

Regarding relations with the EU, he then asserted, "China and the EU are important economic and trade partners to each other," adding, "China is willing to maintain continuous dialogue with the EU in the economic and trade fields to inject greater stability and positive energy into the development of China-EU economic and trade ties."

In response, Bonne replied, "France attaches great importance to economic cooperation with China," and stated, "We hope to work together with China to ensure that EU-China trade and investment negotiations continue to yield positive results, and we wish to maintain the stable development of EU-China economic and trade relations," the news agency reported.

China and the EU, which are experiencing trade friction across multiple industrial sectors, previously reached an agreement to cap export volumes of Chinese-made hybrid vehicles to Europe during the 2nd China-EU Trade and Investment Consultations co-hosted in Beijing on the 8th and 9th by Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic.

Prior to this, on the 5th local time, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged stronger measures to counter trade disputes arising from unfair trade practices through a joint letter sent to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. While the letter did not single out a specific country, it is reported to reflect concerns over the EU's trade deficit with China and its reliance on raw materials.

In this regard, EU leaders are scheduled to discuss trade response measures during a summit in Brussels on the 15th and 16th. China is naturally expected to closely watch the outcome.

                                                                                                            Hong Soon-do