BEIJING, April 6. /TASS/. China counts on developing cooperation with the EU and assumes that these relations should not depend on anyone else, Xi Jinping said on Thursday during a meeting with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in Beijing.

"China has always seen Europe as an independent pole in a multipolar world and has supported it in exercising strategic autonomy," China Central Television quoted Xi Jinping as saying, "We insist that relations between China and the EU are not aimed at a third party, are not dependent on anyone and are not controlled by anyone."

The Chinese leader expressed hope that the EU would develop its relations with China on its own.

The French president is on a state visit to China from April 5 to 7.