China must do everything it can to convince Russia to end its invasion of Ukraine and strengthen global food security, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in a telephone conversation.
China has been urged by the international community to distance itself from the Kremlin, both economically and diplomatically, but trade between the two superpowers continues as usual while Russia has ramped up the intensity of missile attacks in Ukraine, targeting civilian infrastructure.
In a statement issued following the high-level phone call, France’s Colonna “reiterated that China had an important role to play in convincing Russia to put an end to its [invasion] and comply with international law”.
She also urged her Chinese counterpart to “continue the efforts undertaken to combat the consequences of Russian aggression, particularly on global food security”.
In July, Russia unilaterally terminated an international agreement signed a year earlier governing the opening of a humanitarian maritime corridor in the Black Sea, allowing for Ukrainian grain exports. According to official statistics, 65% of the grain was shipped to the developing world, raising fears of a global-scale famine.
Despite its relative neutrality in the conflict, China took part in international negotiations in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in early August over a potential 10-point peace plan originally presented by Ukraine.
While it refuses to support international economic sanctions against the Russian regime and maintains “normal economic cooperation […] with Russia”, Beijing said it was prepared to take part in future peace negotiations.
Deeper economic ties
In their telephone exchange, Colonna and Yi also “welcomed the revival of bilateral trade” between their two countries following President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to China in April and Yi’s participation in the Paris Summit for a new financial pact in June.
French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire, who visited China at the end of July for a high-level Franco-Chinese economic and financial dialogue (DEFNH), called for “deeper multilateral cooperation”, particularly on matters pertaining to the green industry, stating that both countries are “committed to multilateralism and better global economic governance”.
“We would like China to consider major new industrial investments in France”, he said at the time.
Meanwhile, Beijing views France as a key ally within the EU, which could help “stabilise the tone” in EU-China diplomatic relations, Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng said at the DEFNH.
Both Colonna and Yi ultimately “stressed the importance of continuing [the] positive momentum” of Franco-Chinese economic and diplomatic exchanges, which has been developing in recent months.
France’s Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs also confirmed that a new ‘high-level dialogue on human exchanges’, which looks to reinforce bilateral academic, cultural and scientific ties, would be organised before the end of this calendar year.
(Theo Bourgery-Gonse | EURACTIV.fr)
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