PARIS, April 7. /TASS/. China and France call for peaceful solutions to disputes between countries and seek to consolidate the international system based on the principles of multilateralism and under UN auspices, according to the France-China joint statement released on Friday by the Elysee Palace after talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.
"As permanent members of the UN Security Council, France and China are teaming up to find constructive solutions, based on international law, to challenges and threats to international stability and security. They believe that disagreements and disputes between nations should be resolved peacefully through dialogue and talks. They seek to strengthen the multilateral international system in a multipolar world under UN auspices," one of the paragraphs reads.
The parties reiterated their support for the Joint Statement on Preventing Nuclear War and Avoiding Arms Races adopted by the United Kingdom, China, Russia, France, and the United States on January 3, 2022. They recalled that "a nuclear war cannot be won," and called for avoiding any escalation in this regard. They also reaffirmed their commitment to cooperation on arms control and nonproliferation, including by abiding by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
In the context of bilateral relations, Paris and Beijing reaffirmed their willingness to maintain their strategic partnership "based on mutual respect for each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity along with [each other’s] fundamental interests. The two sides agreed to "deepen exchanges on strategic issues," in particular, to "intensify the dialogue between the PLA Southern Theater Command and the France Pacific Command," and to "consolidate mutual understanding on international and regional security issues."