At the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron, a Chinese high-level official state visit to France was made, and on the afternoon of May 5, a Chinese plane arrived in Paris. It is worth noting that among the French dignitaries in charge of receiving the airport, including Attar, the youngest prime minister in French history, who is regarded as the "successor of Macron".
Chinese special plane
Being appointed prime minister of France at the age of 34, Attar has a certain political influence. As early as 2018, he became the youngest cabinet member in French history, and then was entrusted by Macron with important responsibilities, successively serving as government spokesman and education minister, accumulating rich political experience for himself.
In January 2024, he was officially appointed Prime Minister of France. Regarding this appointment, public opinion generally believes that this is Macron's layout for the next general election, and Atar, as Macron's "loyal student", is expected to inherit the mantle of his predecessor in the 2027 general election and open the "post-Macron era".
When the Chinese high-level arrived in France for a visit, Macron arranged for his cronies to pick him up, which also shows the importance that the current French government attaches to China and a positive signal that China-France relations are expected to maintain long-term stable development in the future.
French Prime Minister Attar personally received the plane
This can be seen from many details of the visit: when France greeted the high-level Chinese delegation, it hoisted the Chinese and French national flags at the airport in advance, and a long red carpet was rolled out at the scene, and French Prime Minister Attar was waiting at the ramp of the Chinese plane.
When the Chinese side walked down the gangway, Attar immediately greeted him, said "hello" in Chinese, and welcomed the Chinese side to visit France, and introduced that he had been to China when he was a parliamentarian and had studied Chinese for a year. In such a warm and harmonious atmosphere, China and France have crossed tens of millions of miles and built a bridge of communication.
France was the first Western country to open direct shipping routes with China, sign an intergovernmental agreement on scientific and technological cooperation, and carry out civil nuclear energy cooperation, and was also one of the first countries to invest in China and establish joint ventures in China.
Sino-French relations
French President Emmanuel Macron has visited China many times during his term of office, and China has also visited France many times, and the friendship between the two countries has become closer and closer in high-level diplomacy.
During the visit, the Chinese high-level senior secretary mentioned three "60 years": 60 years ago, China and France established diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level, over the past 60 years, China-France relations have always been at the forefront of China's relations with Western countries, injecting positive energy into the world, and this year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, which the Chinese people will celebrate together.
These "60 years" have made this Sino-French contact full of deeper meaning, and the reason why the relationship between the two countries has been able to go through decades of ups and downs and remain strong is rooted in the strong endogenous driving force of cooperation between the two sides.
China and France have close economic and trade cooperation
According to public data, since the establishment of diplomatic relations 60 years ago, the bilateral trade volume between China and France has increased by more than 800 times, and in 2023 alone, the bilateral trade volume between the two countries will reach 78.9 billion US dollars. Correspondingly, bilateral investment and cooperation in emerging areas between the two countries are constantly developing.
From January to February 2024, France's real investment in China increased by 585.8%, making it China's third largest trading partner in the European Union, and China has also become the largest Asian country in terms of investment in France for three consecutive years. This set of data is very intuitive, which fully shows that the cooperation between France and China is mutually beneficial and win-win.
Just recently, French President Emmanuel Macron once again emphasized the importance of cooperation with China when calling on the EU to pursue strategic autonomy, saying that European countries need to maintain cooperation with China in solving security and climate issues.
French President Emmanuel Macron
In the current complex international situation, France, as the "leader" of Europe and one of the five permanent members of the Security Council with China, needs to work together to maintain communication, jointly deal with many international issues, and inject stability into the world.
This is not only in line with the common interests of China and France, but also conducive to the overall stability of the international situation, and more in line with the concept of Europe's strategic autonomy called for by Macron. French Ambassador to China Blaude Douglas once said that "a strong and sovereign Europe is beneficial to China", which is understood from another angle: a strong Europe is also beneficial to France, and Sino-French cooperation will bring new development opportunities to Europe.