Xinhua reported (December 9) that Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron had reached important consensus on China-France cooperation in the next stage during their phone conversation on December 9 evening. The report was publicised by the state-owned CGTN. Subtly urging Macron to resist falling into the American orbit, Xi Jinping stressed that relations between China and France were founded on a basis of "Independence, mutual understanding, foresight, mutual benefit and win-win outcomes." CGTN said Xi Jinping also committed to pushing forward France-China ties "no matter how the international situation changes". They reached "important" consensus on a number of issues and instructed the respective relevant departments to step up implementation in: 1. Welcoming the participation of the leaders of the legislative bodies of the two countries in the upcoming 11th meeting of the regular inter-parliamentary exchange mechanism, which will be held via video conference for the first time; 2. Carrying out more cooperation in such fields as biomedicine, biological breeding, moon and Mars exploration and satellite research and development.; 3. Enhancing cooperation on customs inspection and quarantine through hotlines at border posts and other mechanisms to ensure the stability of supply chains.; 4. Speeding up technical consultations on regional management of African swine fever despite the impacts of COVID-19 in order to achieve substantial results on the cooperation agreement as soon as possible.; 5. Taking the opportunity of the Winter Olympic Games Beijing 2022 and the Olympic Games Paris 2024 to increase Olympic and people-to-people exchanges and cooperation, so as to strengthen mutual understanding and friendship.; 6. Welcoming the upcoming official entry into force of the China-EU agreement on geographical indications at the beginning of 2021 and supporting the introduction of quality and brand-name Chinese and French agri-food products such as tea, wine and cheese into each other's households.; 7. Actively participating in the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator Initiative and the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility, increasing support for developing countries and ensuring that vaccines are a public good that is effectively accessible and affordable for all people around the world.; 8. Jointly upholding multilateralism and tackling climate change, making the Climate Ambition Summit on Dec. 12 and the One Planet Summit in January 2021 a success, mobilizing the international community to participate more actively in the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, the 26th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the 7th International Union for Conservation of Nature World Conservation Congress, and promoting the aforementioned important international agenda to achieve positive results.; and 9. The two sides exchanged views on the Iranian nuclear issue and Antarctic marine protection.
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