The Director of the Office of the Leading Group of the China-France High-level Economic and Financial Dialogue and the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Finance accept the media interview on the seventh China-France High-level Economic and Financial Dialogue
Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, July 23. The director of the office of the China-France High-level Economic and Financial Dialogue Leading Group and the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Finance recently accepted media interviews on the seventh China-France High-level Economic and Financial Dialogue.
Question 1: The seventh China-France high-level economic and financial dialogue was successfully held in video format. How would you rate this dialogue?
China-France relations have maintained a good momentum of development, leading the development of China-West relations for a long time. Since January this year, President Xi Jinping has made 4 calls with President Macron and reached many important consensuses on joint response to the epidemic and Sino-French relations. Under the special background of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the seventh China-France high-level economic and financial dialogue was successfully held in the form of video on July 21. Vice Premier of the State Council Hu Chunhua and French Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire co-chaired the dialogue. High-level officials from various departments of the two countries participated in the dialogue.
During the dialogue, the two sides conducted in-depth exchanges on the theme of "deepening the Sino-French economic and financial dialogue and jointly responding to the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic" on international and multilateral cooperation in response to the epidemic, and deepening cooperation in key areas and major projects between China and France. Achieved 42 mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation results, which played an important role in actively implementing the consensus of the two heads of state, further deepening China-France economic and financial cooperation, and promoting the continuous development of China-France comprehensive strategic partnership. The dialogue has achieved positive results in the following aspects:
The first is to strengthen China-France cooperation in the fight against the epidemic and promote the recovery of the world economy after the epidemic. At present, both China and France are facing the challenge of focusing on epidemic prevention and control on the one hand and economic development on the other. Both sides agree to strengthen bilateral and multilateral anti-epidemic cooperation, ensure the smooth flow of trade channels for various epidemic prevention materials, and gradually and orderly resume personnel exchanges and exchanges at all levels. Jointly maintain the stability and smooth flow of the industrial chain and supply chain, and promote the economic development of the two countries and the recovery of the world economy.
The second is to firmly support multilateralism and strengthen coordination and cooperation under the multilateral framework. The two sides support the Group of Twenty (G20) to continue to play the role of the main forum for international economic cooperation and encourage the effective implementation of the G20 "Debt Repayment Initiative for the Poorest Countries". The two sides will continue to firmly support the multilateral trading system, continue to advance the reform of the international monetary system, actively respond to global challenges such as public health, climate change, and biodiversity protection, and promote the 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity to achieve positive results .
The third is to consolidate China-France cooperation in key areas and expand cooperation in new areas. In recent years, cooperation between the two sides in nuclear energy, aerospace, advanced manufacturing, and green manufacturing has been intensified. The two parties will accelerate strategic cooperation in the fields of civil aviation and nuclear energy, deepen cooperation in space science and technology and applications, expand cooperation in third-party markets, and jointly create more projects with strong driving force.
The fourth is to expand two-way opening up and deepen trade and investment cooperation. Both sides will take effective measures to promote greater development of bilateral economic and trade cooperation at a high level. China welcomes more French companies and financial institutions to invest in China. It is hoped that France will continue to maintain open trade and investment, pay attention to China's concerns in foreign investment review and other aspects, provide non-discriminatory treatment for Chinese-funded enterprises, and maintain a fair, transparent and predictable business environment.
Question 2: This dialogue is held under the special background of the global spread of the new crown pneumonia epidemic. What results have China and France achieved in the joint fight against the epidemic?
The new crown pneumonia epidemic is a common challenge facing mankind. The epidemic has spread to more than 200 countries and regions around the world, seriously threatening human health, and also leading to a decline in the world economy, transnational trade and investment. Joining hands to fight the epidemic, jointly safeguard human life and health, and promote the stabilization and recovery of the global economy are the most urgent tasks facing China, France, and all countries in the world. In this dialogue, the two sides reached the following consensus on jointly fighting the epidemic:
First, China and France will continue to strengthen bilateral anti-epidemic cooperation and actively work to contribute to the resumption of work and production and deepening cooperation between the two countries. Since the outbreak, China and France have joined hands to strengthen anti-epidemic cooperation and help each other. The two sides will continue to promote cooperation between the customs of the two countries and sign the "Joint Statement of the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China and the French Republic’s Customs and Indirect Taxation Administration on Strengthening Supply Chain Interconnection and Cooperation under the New Coronary Epidemic" as soon as possible to ensure smooth trade channels for various epidemic prevention materials . At the same time, the two sides will continue to advance steadily and gradually resume personnel exchanges and flights between China and France in an orderly manner.
The second is that China and France will jointly support the international community to fight the epidemic in solidarity and make "China-France contributions" to the world's ultimate victory over the epidemic. The two sides support the World Health Organization to play a key leadership role in promoting a comprehensive global response to the new crown pneumonia, support the UN and other multilateral institutions to play a fundamental role, and mobilize all parties to fight the epidemic together. The two sides actively call for the world to resume the normal flow of goods, services, and people as soon as possible, and strive to maintain the stability of the regional and global industrial and supply chains.
Question 3: The current global economy is facing many uncertain and unstable factors, and multilateralism and the free trade system are under impact. How do you evaluate the cooperation between China and France under the multilateral framework?
The current economic globalization is facing a countercurrent, unilateralism and protectionism are on the rise, and multilateralism and the free trade system are under attack. In this dialogue, China and France reaffirmed to jointly defend multilateralism, promote the construction of an open world economy, and improve the global economic governance system.
One is to continue to strengthen cooperation under the G20 framework. The two sides support the G20 as a major forum for international economic cooperation to play an important role, and encourage all parties to strengthen macroeconomic policy coordination and jointly promote the stable recovery of the global economy. At the same time, the two sides emphasized that they will effectively implement the G20 "Debt Repayment Initiative for the Poorest Countries", call on the G20 to further extend the debt relief period for relevant countries including African countries, and encourage multilateral financial institutions including the World Bank to implement the G20 debt relief. Advocate more forceful actions to help low-income countries overcome current difficulties and contribute to poverty reduction and development.
The second is to support the multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core. Both China and France are important members of the WTO, both supporters of free trade and builders of the multilateral trading system. The two sides agreed to strengthen cooperation and jointly oppose unilateralism and protectionism. The two sides will play a constructive role in the China-EU WTO Reform Joint Working Group to promote necessary reforms of the World Trade Organization and jointly maintain the authority and effectiveness of the multilateral trading system.
The third is to continue to work to advance the reform of the international monetary system. Both sides support multilateral development agencies and the International Monetary Fund to play a greater role in global economic governance. The two parties will jointly advance the IMF governance reform and support the IMF to complete the 16th general inspection of quotas by 2023. The two sides welcome all parties to discuss the general issuance of special drawing rights (SDR), expand the use of SDR, and help member states respond to the new crown epidemic.
The fourth is to strengthen international cooperation in the field of climate change. Both parties will follow the principles of fairness, common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities to fully and effectively implement the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Paris Agreement, and promote the 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity to achieve Positive results. The two sides call on developed countries to fulfill their climate change financing commitments to provide and raise US$100 billion each year by 2020, and set a new collective quantitative target of raising a minimum of US$100 billion a year by 2025.
Question 4: China and France are important economic and trade partners to each other. In the context of the current new crown pneumonia epidemic, how can the two sides advance bilateral economic and trade cooperation?
China and France are each other's important economic and trade partners. France is China's third largest trading partner, investment source and foreign investment destination in the EU. China is France's largest trading partner in Asia. In 2019, bilateral trade between China and France reached a new high, reaching 65.54 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 4.2%. French cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and agricultural exports to China increased by 41%, 20% and 5.4% respectively. As of the end of June this year, the cumulative two-way investment between China and France reached US$45.09 billion.
Since the beginning of this year, due to the impact of the epidemic, international trade and investment have shrunk sharply, and bilateral economic and trade between China and France has also been affected. However, China and France are highly complementary in economy and trade, and the areas of cooperation are constantly expanding, and there is huge potential for cooperation. China and France are confident to jointly promote the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries to achieve greater development at a high level.
During this dialogue, the two sides reached important consensus on strengthening cooperation in the following areas:
One is to further expand pragmatic economic and trade cooperation. The two parties will deepen cooperation in major projects such as manufacturing and aerospace, expand cooperation in third-party markets, innovate new cooperation models in agriculture, finance, green economy and other new fields, and jointly create more projects with demonstration effects and strong driving forces to drive more SMEs participate in cooperation.
The second is to continue to maintain a fair, transparent and predictable business environment. China will unswervingly promote a high-level opening up to the outside world, and welcomes more French companies and financial institutions to invest in China. France will also continue to maintain open trade and investment, provide non-discriminatory treatment for Chinese-funded enterprises, and maintain a fair, transparent and predictable business environment.
The third is to continue to work together to improve the level of China-EU cooperation. The two sides support China and the European Union to promote China’s “Belt and Road” initiative and the EU’s Eurasian connectivity strategy and other interconnection initiatives, and actively support the promotion of high-quality China-EU connectivity. The two sides will work together to enhance the level of trade and investment liberalization and facilitation between China and Europe. The two sides support the conclusion of a high-level China-EU investment agreement to substantially improve market access and eliminate discriminatory requirements and practices that affect foreign investors.
Question 5: Agricultural cooperation is a new field of Sino-French cooperation in recent years. What are the highlights and practical results of Sino-French cooperation in agriculture and agro-food in this dialogue?
Agriculture is France's traditional advantage field. France has accumulated advanced experience and development concepts in agricultural scientific research, production, circulation, and food safety supervision. During this dialogue, the two sides reached the following important consensus on deepening bilateral agricultural cooperation and strengthening cooperation in the agro-food sector:
One is to further strengthen exchanges and cooperation in comprehensive fields such as farmer cooperatives. The two parties reaffirmed that they will deepen agricultural cooperation under the framework of the joint statement signed on January 9, 2018, attach importance to the role of farmer cooperatives in agricultural development, and strengthen cooperation in agricultural vocational education and training. This will inject new vitality into my country's poverty alleviation and the development of rural revitalization.
The second is to strengthen cooperation in the agro-food sector. China welcomes more high-quality agricultural products from France to enter the Chinese market. From 2018 to the end of 2019, China's imports of grains from France increased from 580,000 tons to 1.67 million tons, and its imports of pork increased from 50,000 tons to 90,000 tons. It also imported US$1.8 billion worth of wine from France, accounting for the total amount of wine imports. 51%. French agro-food products are known for their high quality. As the consumption of Chinese residents continues to upgrade, the demand for high-quality agricultural products will further increase. China welcomes more high-quality agricultural products from France to enter the Chinese market to meet the increasingly diverse consumer needs of the people.
The third is to further strengthen cooperation in areas such as agricultural and food product quarantine access and business registration. The French side reached a consensus on the registration procedures for French meat companies in China. The 10 pig genetic material export companies recommended by France have all completed their registration in China. The two sides agreed to negotiate and sign the French Breeding Poultry (Egg) Export Protocol to China by the end of August this year. .
Question 6: Currently, China is advancing a new round of high-level opening to the outside world. Financial opening is one of the key points. What are the highlights and practical results of China-France financial cooperation in this dialogue?
There is huge potential for financial cooperation between China and France. The French financial industry is highly competitive. China will actively support the construction of France and Europe as an international financial center, and jointly promote the use of RMB and Euro in bilateral trade and investment. The Ministry of Finance of China successfully issued 4 billion euro sovereign bonds in Paris on November 5, 2019. This is the largest single euro sovereign bond issued by the Chinese government so far. China also welcomes French banks and financial market infrastructure applications for access to the RMB cross-border payment system (CIPS). The French side agreed to support the cooperation between enterprises and China UnionPay on the acceptance of UnionPay cards.
Expanding the opening up of the financial industry is an important part of China's reform and opening up. In the past two years, China has further accelerated the opening up of its financial industry. China welcomes French institutions to participate in the Chinese financial market and expand their business in China. BNP Paribas obtained the qualifications of Class B and Class A lead underwriters for non-financial corporate debt financing instruments in December 2018 and September 2019. In December 2019, French Orient Asset Management Co., Ltd. established the first foreign-controlled wealth management company in China. In August 2019, AXA Tianping Property Insurance Co., Ltd. was approved to change into a 100% wholly-owned property insurance company. In June of this year, Huaan France CAC40ETF, the first investment in the French market, was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The first batch of selected European thematic indexes compiled by China-France cooperation has been officially released in the Shenzhen market.
Both parties will continue to strengthen financial cooperation. China welcomes qualified French institutional investors to actively invest in the Chinese bond market, and is willing to maintain communication with France on issues related to investment and bond issuance in the inter-bank bond market. The two parties will also continue to strengthen cooperation in the field of green finance markets, and jointly initiate and work to promote the work of the Central Bank and the Regulatory Agency's Green Finance Cooperation Network (NGFS).