Consolidate strategic consensus and start China-EU cooperation again.
[Special attention]
From May 5 to 10, the Chairman of the Supreme Leader was invited to pay a state visit to France, Serbia and Hungary. This visit is the visit of the Chairman of the Supreme Leader to France again after five years, to Serbia again after eight years and to Hungary again after 15 years. This visit also coincides with the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France and the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Hungary. During the visit, the Chairman of the Supreme Leader conducted in-depth strategic communication with senior officials of all parties, reached consensus on cooperation and achieved fruitful results, which strongly promoted the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations between China and the three countries, China-EU relations and East-West relations, and further promoted the building of a community of human destiny and injected new momentum.
Illuminate the way forward for China-France and China-EU relations.
France is the first western power to establish diplomatic relations with New China at ambassadorial level. Sino-French relations have long been at the forefront of Sino-Western relations and have become a model for peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation among countries with different social systems.
China-France and China-EU strategic communication has been fruitful. During the visit, the Supreme Leader held a tripartite meeting with French President Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and had a long and in-depth communication with President Macron. The Supreme Leader pointed out that China-EU relations have strong endogenous motivation and broad development prospects, and they are not targeted, attached or controlled by third parties. It is hoped that EU institutions will establish a correct understanding of China and formulate a positive China policy. Both sides should respect each other’s core interests and major concerns and safeguard the political foundation of China-EU relations and the basic norms of international relations. The two sides should prepare for the new China-EU leaders’ meeting and high-level dialogues on strategy, economy, trade, green and digital, and build a stable and mutual trust industrial chain and supply chain partnership. Macron said that the current international situation is at a critical turning point, and France and the EU need to strengthen cooperation with China more than ever before, which is related to the future of Europe. The heads of state of China and France believe that the two sides should pass on the baton of history, carry forward the spirit of establishing diplomatic relations between China and France and give it new connotation of the times, so as to start a new journey of Sino-French relations in the next 60 years. China calls on the two countries to join hands to create a new era of Sino-French cooperation and jointly write a new chapter in the community of human destiny. Ursula von der Leyen said that EU-China relations are good, and next year will mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the EU and China. China plays an important role in global affairs, and maintaining good relations with China is of vital importance to the EU.
Pragmatic cooperation in various fields has yielded fruitful results. During this visit, China and France signed 18 inter-departmental cooperation agreements and documents in the fields of aviation and green development. China and France have also accelerated people-to-people exchanges. China supports France in hosting the Paris Olympic Games, pushing the number of French students studying in China to exceed 10,000 in the next three years, doubling the scale of European youth exchanges in China, and extending the visa-free policy for citizens of 11 European countries, including France, Germany and Hungary, to the end of 2025. The French side hopes to maintain close economic relations with China, appreciates the rapid coordination mechanism of the whole chain from French farm to China table proposed by China, and welcomes more Chinese enterprises to invest and cooperate in France. The EU hopes to strengthen cooperation with China and jointly safeguard the security and stability of the European value chain supply chain.
Consensus has been strengthened on major international and regional issues. China, France and Europe have a special mission to prevent the "new cold war" or camp confrontation and safeguard world peace and development. During this visit, China and France issued four joint statements on the situation in the Middle East, strengthening biodiversity and cooperation in the marine field. Regarding the Ukrainian crisis, China, France and Europe all hope to cease fire as soon as possible and restore peace in Europe. China and Europe have a lot of consensus on the Palestinian-Israeli issue. China and France call for a global ceasefire and truce during the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The light of China-Serbia hardcore friendship is dazzling.
Serbia is China’s first comprehensive strategic partner in Central and Eastern Europe. The die-hard friendship between China and Serbia was forged by blood and life, which set a good example for the exchanges between the country and the people.
The strategic, special and high-level relations between China and Serbia are fully demonstrated. During the visit, the two countries announced to deepen and upgrade China-Serbia comprehensive strategic partnership and build a community of destiny between China and Serbia in the new era. Serbia thus became the first European country to join hands with China to build a community of destiny. The Chairman of the Supreme Leader pointed out that the two sides should build a community of destiny between China and Serbia in the new era, continuously deepen and expand high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative and cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries, and help their respective modernization processes. Vucic said that Serbia is proud of having such a great friend as China and the new orientation of Serbia-China relations, and is full of confidence in the future of Serbia-China relations.
The pragmatism and innovation of China-Serbia relations have become increasingly prominent. During this visit, the two countries signed or reached 28 bilateral cooperation documents in the areas of jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative and green development. The two sides will continue to promote cooperation in traditional fields such as transportation and energy infrastructure, and achieve the goal of opening the entire Serbian section of the Hungarian-Serbian railway as scheduled. China also announced six initiatives to support the construction of a community of destiny between China and Serbia in the new era, including the entry into force of the China-Serbia Free Trade Agreement on July 1 this year, supporting 50 young Serbian scientists to conduct scientific research exchanges in China in the next three years, and inviting 300 Serbian teenagers to study in China in the next three years.
The consensus between China and Serbia on issues of common concern has been continuously strengthened. The two sides jointly advocate an equal and orderly world multipolarization and inclusive economic globalization, oppose hegemonism and power politics, oppose camp confrontation, advocate safeguarding the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and practice true multilateralism. The two sides support the efforts of the international community to promote a political solution to the Ukrainian crisis and a ceasefire between Palestine and Israel. Serbia firmly supports and actively participates in the global development initiative, global security initiative and global civilization initiative put forward by the Supreme Leader.
China-Hungary relations have reached an unprecedented new height.
Hungary was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with New China and the first European country to participate in the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative. Sino-Hungarian relations are currently at their best in history and have become a model of new international relations.
The development of China-Hungary and China-EU relations has ushered in a new opportunity. China and Hungary issued a joint statement announcing the promotion of bilateral relations to an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership in the new era. This marks a new starting point for China-Hungary relations. The Chairman of the Supreme Leader pointed out that the two countries should continue to be good friends of mutual trust and mutual assistance and good partners of win-win cooperation, and take the opportunity of establishing an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership in the new era to inject new powerful impetus into the cooperation between the two countries. He pointed out that Europe is an important pole in a multipolar world and an important partner in realizing Chinese modernization. It is hoped that Hungary, as the rotating presidency of the EU in the second half of this year, will play an active role in promoting the healthy and stable development of China-EU relations. Orban said that he would continue to be a "die-hard" friend of China.
Continue to empower China-Hungary pragmatic cooperation. During this visit, China and Hungary signed or reached 18 bilateral cooperation documents in the areas of jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative and green development. The two countries will accelerate major cooperation projects such as the Hungarian Railway and strengthen cooperation in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence and digital economy. Hungary appreciates and welcomes more Chinese enterprises to invest in Hungary, and appreciates China’s trial visa-free policy in Hungary. China appreciates Hungary’s visa facilitation measures for the management and experts of large Chinese-funded enterprises investing in Hungary.
Deepen consensus on China-Hungary relations and issues of common concern. The two countries have similar views and positions on the international and regional situations. China emphasizes that the two countries actively advocate an equal and orderly world multipolarization and inclusive economic globalization, firmly defend international fairness and justice, and promote the building of a community of human destiny. Hungary attaches importance to global development initiatives, global security initiatives and global civilization initiatives, and is willing to strengthen multilateral communication and cooperation with China to jointly safeguard world peace and stability.
Open and confident, explain China’s ideas and China’s ideas.
The international community is highly concerned about China’s development prospects and domestic and foreign policies. During the Supreme Leader’s visit to Europe, he brilliantly explained China’s ideas and China’s ideas, which reflected the leadership style of the World Congress Party.
Show bright prospects and opportunities for China. The Chairman of the Supreme Leader emphasized that China is promoting deep-level reform, promoting high-quality development, transforming and upgrading traditional industries, cultivating and expanding emerging industries, laying out and building future industries, and accelerating the development of new-quality productive forces. He said that China’s new energy industry has developed its true skills in the open competition, which represents advanced production capacity, which not only enriches global supply and relieves global inflationary pressure, but also makes great contributions to the global response to climate change and green transformation. No matter from the perspective of comparative advantage or global market demand, there is no so-called "overcapacity problem in China". All parties stressed that they do not agree with such statements as "decoupling" or "overcapacity" and "risk removal" and are willing to further strengthen cooperation and exchanges with China.
Demonstrate the responsibility of maintaining world peace and tranquility. China adheres to peaceful development. The Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative are China’s programs to improve global governance and solve the problems of human development, which have been supported by more than 100 countries and international organizations. China’s position on the Ukrainian crisis, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and other issues continues to converge on the international conventions for maintaining world peace and tranquility.
Demonstrate the willingness to promote exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations. As important representatives of eastern and western civilizations, China and France have long admired and attracted each other. Serbia is located in "the west of the East, the east of the West", where diverse civilizations of Eurasia have collided for thousands of years. Hungary has a profound historical and cultural heritage, and inventions such as ballpoint pens, holograms and Rubik’s Cube are the highlights in the process of human civilization.
China is willing to speed up people-to-people exchanges with other countries, so as to achieve greater consensus on global cooperation, not only for the happiness of the people of China, but also for the welfare of the people of the world. The visit of the Chairman of the Supreme Leader to Europe sent out a strong voice of peace, unity and cooperation, which fully reflected the global vision, feelings of the world and the responsibility of the times of the leaders of the Congress Party, and once again showed that China has become a responsible big country with more international influence, innovative leadership and moral appeal.
(Author: Zhu Zhongbo, director of the Institute of World Peace and Security, China Institute of International Studies)