France Committed To Dialogue With China- Foreign Minister

France is committed to dialogue with China, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna has said on Friday, affirming ties after a European Union anti-subsidy probe backed by Paris into Chinese-made electric vehicles rankled Beijing.

Colonna’s visit to the Chinese capital, centred around encouraging exchanges between citizens of both countries such as students and tourists, has threatened to be overshadowed by trade issues in the wake of the EV investigation, which Beijing has blasted as “protectionist”.

“We are really committed to dialogue with China,” Colonna told China’s Premier Li Qiang, adding that she was “honoured” and “happy” to see him after their Paris meeting in June.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Colonna repeated that she was “honoured” to have been received by Li.

“With China, we are working to find answers to global climate, biodiversity and debt challenges, and to deepen and rebalance our economic relationship,” she wrote.

European officials have repeatedly vowed to reduce economic dependencies on China in critical sectors – otherwise known as “de-risking” – in the face of what the G7 calls China’s “economic coercion.”