Interview: Sino-French cooperation important to promote multilateralism, says expert

During their telephone conversation on Wedensday, Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron reached consensus on a number of key points regarding the next phase of bilateral ties, an important feat given how the world must tackle a planetary crisis multilaterally, Prof. Leon Laulusa, executive vice president of the ESCP Business School, told Xinhua.

Prof. Laulusa, who is also executive director of the European Business Confucius Institute, hailed the cooperation between China and France during the coronavirus pandemic.

When the virus spread in China, France provided great support and when Europe was hard hit, China provided great material assistance and shared its expertise with many countries including France, he said.

For Prof. Laulusa, the pandemic has demonstrated the importance of cooperation between China and France on planetary issues because the stakes are essential for both countries. He estimated that future cooperation will focus on subjects such as the urgency of climate change, digital cooperation and big data, cultural and scientific cooperation and trade.

During their talk, Xi and Macron discussed bilateral and multilateral cooperation and agreed on many points with instructions for the relevant departments of the two countries to accelerate their implementation.

On the official entry into force of the China-European Union agreement on geographical indications at the beginning of 2021, Prof. Laulusa indicated that this agreement will promote greater accessibility in particular of quality agri-food products such as European wine and cheese in China, as well as Chinese tea in Europe, "which is very good news."

The two heads of state also noted that China and France agree on the need to preserve multilateralism, the protection of the international system with the United Nations at its core and the maintenance of international order based on international law.

Prof. Laulusa shared the view that multilateralism is a key element in dealing with a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world.

"They (the two heads of state) promote multilateral international cooperation which guarantees peace and world stability and which makes it possible to face together, effectively and durably, the major challenges of today and of tomorrow," he said.