Beijing, March 17th—Lu Kang, Vice-minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, met here today with Sophia Chikirou, Deputy of the French National Assembly. 

Lu spoke positively of China-France relations. He said the CPC is willing to strengthen exchanges and dialogues with major French political parties, consolidate political mutual trust, and contribute to the development of relations between the two countries. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the European Union (EU). China and the EU should see each other as a partner, uphold mutual benefit and win-win results, and promote China-EU relations for greater development, so as to provide more stability for the world. Lu also introduced China's principled position on current hotspot issues. 

Chikirou said, the French side attaches importance to its relations with China and is willing to strengthen exchanges between the parliaments and political parties of both sides to push France-China relations for continued and sound development. France and China, as well as the EU and China have consensus in strengthening economic and trade cooperation, improving global governance, and maintaining multilateralism, etc. The two sides should strengthen dialogue and communication to contribute to world peace, security and prosperity.