French President Nicolas Sarkozy (L) and his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy (R) arrive at Xi'an, the capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, on April 28, 2010, kicking off a three-day state visit to China. (Xinhua/Yang Yimiao)
French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrives in Xi’an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi province, Wednesday morning, starting his three-day state visit to China.
Sarkozy will leave Xi'an for Beijing Wednesday afternoon. He will also visit Shanghai and attend the opening ceremony of the Shanghai World Expo scheduled for April 30.
During his stay in China, Chinese President Hu Jintao, top legislator Wu Bangguo and Premier Wen Jiabao will meet or hold talks with Sarkozy. Leaders of the two countries will exchange views on further improving China-France all-round strategic partnership as well as international and regional issues of mutual concern, according to Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Jiang Yu.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy says he wants to enhance Franco-Sino relations at all levels because China has an indispensable role to play on the global stage.
The French president was speaking in an interview with Xinhua Tuesday before his visit to China, where he will attend the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai.
President Sarkozy described bilateral ties and partnership as comprehensive as well as strategic.
"Comprehensive, because it covers all aspects of our relationship; strategic, because China has become an absolutely essential player on the international stage. There is no more big issue today that we can tackle without China," Sarkozy said.
Referring to the establishment of the France-China diplomatic relations 45 years ago, the president said some misunderstanding between the two countries had belonged to the past and he held a firm confidence in China's future.
"This is why I made the strengthening of the Franco-Chinese partnership a priority of our foreign policy," Sarkozy said.
He said relations between the two countries had warmed and France would like to further ties with China "in all dimensions."
Besides political and diplomatic dialogue on all major international issues and the promotion of the development of trade and industrial cooperation, France and China could open new fields for cooperation, the president said.
Current bilateral cooperation on sustainable development, personnel exchange and scientific communication all had room to be expanded, he said.
In his opinion, the "ambitious" will to promote France-China ties was not only a reflection of "the long profound friendship" between the two nations, but also a response to new challenges in the 21st century.
Sarkozy said the visits by leaders of the two countries would bring "France-China partnership to a new decisive stage."
Taking the European Union as a whole, Sarkozy said it was important to establish closer EU-China ties both in economic and political terms.
"I think we must go even further, going deeper in our consultation on all major international issues and providing content to our cooperation (to make it) more concrete and operational," Sarkozy said.
"Europe and China should work together more, especially to organize globalization," he said.
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