French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné will visit China on Monday, Chinese diplomacy announced this Friday, as the two countries celebrate 60 years of their diplomatic relations this year. “At the invitation of Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Minister of Foreign Affairs, French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Stéphane Séjourné will visit China on April 1,” said Lin Jian, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On Monday, the French minister will be received by his Chinese counterpart at the Diaoyutai complex in Beijing, where foreign officials are welcomed. He will also participate in the launch of the exhibition Versailles and the Forbidden City, at the Forbidden City in Beijing, where around sixty works of art and precious objects from the Palace of Versailles will be presented to the public until the end of June.
“Good development dynamic”
“This year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, as well as the year of cultural tourism between the two countries,” recalled the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs this Friday. “In recent years, under the joint leadership of the two heads of state, relations between China and France have maintained good momentum of development, with frequent high-level exchanges and continuous promotion of exchanges and cooperation in various areas,” he stressed.
This is the second time in less than six months that a French foreign minister has visited China, following the visit last November of Stéphane Séjourné’s predecessor, Catherine Colonna. French President Emmanuel Macron visited China in April 2023.
This article is originally published on lejsl.com
