Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (L) delivers a speech entitled "Solidarity, Cooperation, Openness and Inclusiveness, Jointly Safeguarding the Progressive Trend of Peace and Development of Mankind" at the French Institute of International Relations in Paris, France, Aug. 30, 2020. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)
China and the EU should:
-- resolutely safeguard peaceful development and oppose global division
-- strongly uphold multilateralism and jointly oppose unilateral bullying
-- continue to promote mutually beneficial cooperation and jointly oppose seclusion and decoupling
-- jointly respond to global challenges and oppose the "beggar-thy-neighbor" strategy.
PARIS, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi has urged China and the European Union (EU) to jointly uphold the trend of peace and development, while calling for solidarity, cooperation, openness and inclusiveness.
In his speech at the French Institute of International Relations here on Sunday, Wang said that China's development has not only benefited the Chinese people, but also the whole world.
Commitment to peace and harmony, he added, is deeply rooted in the mindset of the Chinese and has also been the cultural inspiration behind China's active pursuit of a community with a shared future for mankind.
Over the past more than 70 years since the People's Republic of China was founded, especially the past over 40 years since the country's reform and opening up, the Chinese people have made remarkable achievements along the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
China has accomplished leapfrog development with its comprehensive national strength growing continuously, and the Chinese people have become the true masters of their country with their livelihoods improving incessantly, Wang said.
Wang said that China has always been a constructor of world peace, constantly injecting positive energy into the evolution of the international situation, a defender of the international order, constantly adding stability to the global governance system, and a promoter of globalization, making important contributions to building an open world.
The development path chosen by the Chinese people, Wang said, meets their aspirations and the trend of peaceful development, which is beneficial not only to China but also to the world.
China will stick to it unswervingly, he added.
Facing an ever-changing international environment, China has decided to give full play to the advantages of its super-large market and the potential of its domestic demand, so as to build a new development pattern marked by the domestic cycle as the main body and the mutual reinforcing of both the domestic and international cycles, said Wang.
China will further expand domestic demand and open up wider, share more of China's development dividends with the world so as to drive the world's common recovery with China's recovery and drive the world's common development with China's development, he said.
China will continue to adhere to the path of peaceful development, Wang said.
Adhering to the new model of state-to-state relations featuring dialogue and partnership, not confrontation or alliance, China will build more extensive global partnerships, he said.
On open development, Wang said that China will build an open economy of a higher level with all-range, multi-level, diversified patterns of open cooperation.
Also, on cooperative development, Wang said that China will pursue greater security, better development and meet common challenges through cooperation.
On win-win development, Wang noted that China has always adhered to the global governance concept based on the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits.
China, he added, will work with other countries to make the pie of cooperation bigger and turn the vision of common development into reality.
On inclusive development, Wang said China does not seek to export its system or model of development, and has no interest in ideological confrontation with any country.
With concrete actions, China will continue to safeguard the diversity of civilizations in the world and promote exchanges and mutual learning between development models, he added.
With the world facing changes unseen in a century and also a raging pandemic, humanity needs to once again make a crucial choice, a choice between progress and regression, between solidarity and division, and between openness and seclusion, he said.
China and the EU, he said, should take a responsible attitude toward the future of mankind, take the fundamental interests of the people of both sides into consideration, jointly resist the adverse tides of hatred and confrontation instigation and stand firm on the right side of history, so as to provide more stability for the complex and fluid world.
Visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (L) touches elbows with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian in Paris, France, Aug. 29, 2020. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)
Firstly, China and the EU should resolutely safeguard peaceful development and oppose global division, he said.
He stressed that China opposes firmly any attempt to start a new "Cold War" and will never allow any force to deprive the Chinese people and the people of the world of the right to seek development and a good life.
Wang said that China hopes to send a strong message together with Europe: a message for solidarity and against division, for progress and against regression, for peace and development and against conflict and confrontation.
Secondly, China and the EU, he added, should strongly uphold multilateralism and jointly oppose unilateral bullying.
Wang pledged that China will uphold firmly multilateralism, and advocate and implement global governance based on extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, no matter how the international situation changes.
China regards the EU as an important force in the process of multi-polarization and stands ready to work with the EU to safeguard the effectiveness and authority of the multilateral system, and a fair and just international order, Wang said.
Thirdly, China and the EU should continue to promote mutually beneficial cooperation and jointly oppose seclusion and decoupling, said the Chinese foreign minister.
China and the world today have long been intertwined, and that trying to decouple with China means to decouple with development opportunities and the most dynamic market, he said.
As two major economies of the world, China and the EU should stick to free trade and jointly protect the stability of the global industrial and supply chains, so as to play a key role in promoting global development and prosperity in the post-pandemic era, Wang said.
Fourthly, China and the EU should jointly respond to global challenges and oppose the "beggar-thy-neighbor" strategy, Wang added.
China and the EU should set an example for promoting global governance, work together to enhance the coordinating role of the United Nations in international affairs, oppose the practice of putting one's own country first at the expense of others, and join hands to build a community with a shared future for mankind, he said.
Noting that this year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of China-EU diplomatic ties, Wang said that over the past 45 years, an important message from the development of China-EU relations is that there is no conflict of fundamental interests between the two sides, cooperation is far greater than competition, and consensus is far greater than difference.
During the past 45 years, the growth of China-EU relations has shown that it is entirely possible for the two sides to enhance mutual trust through equal dialogue, to achieve win-win results through mutually beneficial cooperation, to properly handle differences through constructive communication, and to jointly meet global challenges through enhanced coordination.
Wang said that China always attaches importance to the status and role of the EU and supports Europe in playing a bigger role in international affairs.
He noted that China and the EU should further strengthen solidarity and cooperation, press the "reset button" for dialogue and cooperation in various fields, give full play to the "twin engines," inject a strong impetus into international solidarity and cooperation, and strive to build a partnership from the following four areas.
First, China and the EU, he said, need to build a partnership against COVID-19.
Chairman of Italian Red Cross Francesco Rocca (6th R, back) poses for photos with members of Chinese aid team at Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy, March 12, 2020. A charter flight carrying a nine-member Chinese aid team, along with tonnes of medical supplies, arrived at Rome's Fiumicino Airport on March 12 in part of China's efforts to help Italy contain the novel coronavirus outbreak. (Xinhua/Cheng Tingting)
China and the EU should strengthen cooperation in the research, development and production of vaccines, drugs and testing reagents, and jointly support the active role of the World Health Organization, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization and other international agencies, he said.
China, Wang added, stands ready to speed up the construction of a "fast track" for personnel exchanges and a "green track" for the exchange of goods to boost the EU's economic recovery.
Second, China and the EU should strengthen their investment partnership, he said.
China and the EU, Wang said, should follow the principle of flexibility and pragmatism and meet each other halfway to reach a comprehensive, balanced and high-level investment agreement within this year.
He added that it is necessary for the two sides to conduct a joint feasibility study on a free trade agreement as soon as possible and conclude the China-EU Cooperation 2025 Strategic Plan at an early date.
Third, China and the EU should build a green and digital partnership, Wang said, adding that the two sides are highly complementary in green and digital fields and enjoy broad prospects for cooperation.
Both sides should deepen cooperation in environmental technology, circular economy, clean energy, sustainable finance and other areas, and strengthen cooperation in information and communication technology, artificial intelligence, e-commerce, big data, cloud computing and other fields, so as to expand new growth areas for bilateral cooperation.
Fourth, China and the EU should deepen multilateral cooperative partnership, Wang said.
China and the EU should step up dialogue and cooperation on climate change, biodiversity and sustainable development, Wang said, adding that the two sides should also work together to uphold the Iranian nuclear agreement, promote political settlement of international and regional hotspot issues, strengthen trilateral cooperation with Africa, and make greater contributions to building a more sustainable and safer world. ■
