Exchanges

2016-01-19 22:46
CHINA TODAY 2015年12期

German Chancellor Visits China

Germanys Chancellor Angela Merkel visited China at the end of October. At a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, both sides spoke positively of China-Germany relations and agreed to further intensify bilateral practical cooperation in various fields and maintain the healthy, stable, and constant development of the China-Germany all-round strategic partnership.

President Xi noted that both sides should consolidate political mutual trust, respect each others development path, understand and take care of each others core interests and major concerns, and maintain the momentum of close exchanges at all levels. Chancellor Merkel said that recent years had witnessed the high-quality development of China-Germany relations. Both sides enjoy close exchanges at all levels and are constantly deepening exchanges and cooperation in such areas as politics, economy, and people-to-people and cultural engagement. Germany is ready to deepen practical cooperation with China in economy, trade, industry, and finance.

In his meeting with the Chancellor, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang hoped that as a major member of the EU, Germany will play an active role in propelling negotiations on China-EU investment agreement, a China-EU free trade area, personnel exchanges, establishment of a China-EU joint investment fund, and construction of connectivity platform. According to the Chancellor, Germany is willing to expand cooperation, based on the sound foundation of existing bilateral relations, for even greater development.

China-France Climate and Green Economy Forum Held in Beijing

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and visiting President Fran?ois Hollande of France together attended the closing ceremony of the China-France Climate and Green Economy Forum in Beijing on November 3.

Premier Li expressed in his speech that the two nationscooperation in tackling climate change shows that they are willing to shoulder common responsibility on vital issues concerning the fate of humankind, and that bilateral ties are always at the forefront of Chinas relations with major Western countries. He emphasized that China would, in line with the green development concept, continuously expand the win-win path of economic growth and environmental improvement.

President Hollande expressed that as major countries, France and China have the important responsibility of pushing global development, and share identical goals and ideas in addressing climate change. Both, therefore, will be proactive in ensuring the success of the Climate Change Conference in Paris, under the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. France highly appreciates the strategy proposed by China in building ecological civilization and pushing green development. The two countries enjoy sound cooperation in clean energy and environmental protection industries.endprint

Chinese Premier Attends the Sixth Trilateral Leaders Meeting of China, Japan and the ROK

The Korean capital, Seoul, played host to the Sixth Trilateral Leaders Meeting of China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea (ROK) on November 1. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, President Park Geunhye of the ROK, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan attended the meeting.

Premier Li put forward specific proposals on China-JapanROK cooperation: to enhance political mutual trust and safeguard regional peace and stability; to give full play to respective comparative advantages and carry out international production capacity cooperation; to facilitate East Asian economic integration and safeguard regional financial stability; to promote structural reform and facilitate innovation cooperation together; to beef up cooperation on sustainable development and better benefit people; and to step up social, peopleto-people and cultural exchanges and to enhance the sense of East Asian community.

President Park said that enhancing cooperation is not only in line with the interests of all three nations peoples but also conducive to stability and prosperity in Northeast Asia.

Prime Minister Abe welcomed resumption of the mechanism of the trilateral leaders meeting and said that the Japanese side adhered to the position of previous cabinets on historical issues and persisted in peaceful development.

After the meeting, the three countries issued the Joint Declaration on Peace and Cooperation in Northeast Asia.

The Second Understanding China Conference Convened

The Second Understanding China Conference was held in Beijing from November 1 to 3. Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli attended the opening ceremony. State Councilor Yang Jiechi delivered a keynote speech. He noted that when attending a series of UN summits not long ago, President Xi Jinping called for the international community to build a new type of international relationship with winwin cooperation as its core, and proposed the important notion of “Five in One” to build a community of common destiny for humankind. The ideas not only root in the Chinese culture, but also accord with the current trend of the times, and will surely exert far-reaching influence on the development of state-to-state relations. Under the new situation, China is willing, together with all countries in the world, to forge a global partnership network, actively promote the common and sustainable development of all countries, strive for the democratization and legalization of international relations, and jointly cope with hot issues and global challenges, so as to write a new historical chapter for the relationship between China and the world.

Over 200 participants, including former presidents and former prime ministers of 16 countries, strategists and business leaders, as well as heads of central and local governments and think tank scholars in China, attended the conference.endprint