French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire voiced his opposition to decoupling from China but stressed the need to minimize supply chain risks during talks in Beijing with his counterpart Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng “to avoid any misunderstanding of the two words”. “First of all, we are totally opposed to the idea of decoupling. Decoupling is an illusion. There is no possibility of having any kind of decoupling between the American, European and Chinese economies,” Le Maire said. “De-risking does not mean that China is a risk but means that we want to be more independent and that we don’t want to face any risk to our supply chains as we’ve seen during the Covid period. It is a word that means more sovereignty, more independence to face the risk of a new crisis that might interrupt the good functioning of trade and exchanges.” He said China remained a key partner but access for foreign investors was an issue. “We want to get a better and more balanced access to the Chinese markets,” he added. “We don’t want to face some legislative hurdles or some other barriers to get access to the Chinese market.”
Le Maire was in the Chinese capital for the China-France High Level Economic and Financial Dialogue. As part of the talks, the two countries agreed to cooperate in a range of areas, from debt relief for developing countries and climate change, to civilian nuclear energy, aerospace development, as well as agriculture and food safety. In terms of the digital economy and 5G development, France agreed to “continue the fair and non-discriminatory treatment of license applications from Chinese companies, including those relating to the national security of both countries”. China and France also committed to greater cooperation in lunar research such as on the Chang’e 7 and 8 missions and deep space exploration including the Tianwen 2 Mars project. On the aviation front, China said it would advance the airworthiness certification of the French-made Falcon 8X business aircraft, as well as the Aneto 1K and Arrano A1 engines. As joint partners, they will also work together to push forward the construction of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Britain.
The talks come three months after a state visit by French President Emmanuel Macron, which resulted in a 51-point joint declaration to expand ties, including cooperation on 5G technology and military engagement. China is keen for Macron to return for the Belt and Road Summit in October, but his attendance has not been confirmed yet. Italy, meanwhile, withdrew from the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the South China Morning Post reports.
